The Importance of Goal Setting

The whole point of setting a goal is to help you bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. If you set goals and work toward them diligently, you can have all the things you want. People who set and achieve their goals are people whove decided what they want, committed themselves to going after it, and havent let anything stand in their way short of violating the rights of others.

A proper goal gives you all the incentive you need to grow in your awareness of being a perfect expression of an Infinite power, designed for excellence and abundance. As you become more welcoming and aware of your relationship with God, and of all the potential thats been built into you, youll function more effectively in harmony with the laws of the universe. Living in synch with all of this will yield results youve never dreamed possible.

They say that awareness is curative. It gives deep meaning to life because it spells the end of your robotic existence no more walking in the deep ruts formed by your harmful programming and counterproductive thought life. These old ways of thinking arent ways youve chosen they were planted in your heart when you were young by your parents, teachers, and religious leaders. While some of these programs serve you well, many of them are harmful and ready to be replaced. The old way of living has kept you from a truly abundant life.

But, in order to truly change, your old habits have to be replaced with new, healthy practices. Having a solid goal in place serves as a constant help as you do this. In fact, without a specific goal, youre unlikely to ever make a significant change in your life. While youre on your way toward achieving your goals, you learn to choose which thoughts youll allow into your mind. Youll see the connection between these thoughts, the feelings and attitudes they produce, and ultimately the results they yield. Its not something someone else can do for you.

Ever notice how your life never really stays the same? Youre either improving it or damaging it your actions arent neutral. As a spiritual being, your spirit constantly seeks expansion and greater expression. When this deep desire is thwarted, you experience a feeling of dissatisfaction. That feeling is unpleasant enough to serve as a good motivator. We hate feeling unfulfilled, and work diligently to escape such an unpleasant feeling. Well do pretty much anything to satisfy this need.

This need for fulfillment goes way beyond just things and money although they are important. They give you comfort and opportunity. It goes beyond happy feelings or a sense of peace although theyre important, too. Our drive for complete fulfillment includes these things, but goes so much further its a deep desire for a big purpose, something that catapults you into creativity, into meaningful and effective service.

Great you were created to pursue worthy goals. How do you set them? How do you go after them? What can you do to make sure you achieve these grand goals?

Half the battle with goal-setting is determining exactly what it is that you want. Sounds easy enough you answer that question just fine at a restaurant, on your birthday, when you get your hair cut. But when it comes to the big what do you want question, minds go blank. We dont know whats okay to ask for. Whats too much? Am I overreaching? How am I going to feel if I ask for something thats beyond possibility?

Wow, such bad programming we pick up! Ask any little kid what they want to be when they grow up and youll hear answers like: the President, an astronaut, a gazillionaire, a cat, a rock star. Nothing seems impossible; nothing seems like itll come back to haunt you if it doesnt work out.

Deciding what you want is risky. Telling someone else can feel uncomfortable. You might feel like youve got to preface it with something like, Please dont tell anyone Can you keep a secret I know it sounds crazy, but But you know what? People who set and achieve awesome goals are risk takers theyve learned to be. They know that theyve got the privilege and duty to design their own lives, make their own decisions. They dare to dream, and dream big. The power is in going after what you want, not in going after what you need.

Think you dont have what it takes to meet your goals? Then heres some great news youve already got everything that could ever be necessary to produce amazing results in your life. Youve got access to all you need whether you see it right now or not. So, dont worry about that as you choose goals. Assume you have every resource you need, right at your fingertips because you do.

Andrew Cocks and Terry Zambri are Certified Life Success Consultants, Network Marketing and Internet Marketing Coaches. Their exclusive 3 step marketing system, combined with their unique home based business training program is creating massive success for their team. Visit: http://www.AndrewAndTerry.com/incomeaccelerationsecrets.html to learn how you can be coached by them for FREE.

Copyright, MMVVII- AndrewAndTerry.com. All rights Reserved

Repairing a Leaking Toilet

Let me explain how a toilet works. First when you go to flush the toilet a little arm pulls a rubber flapper up and lets the water drain into the toilet bowl. The water draining into the toilet bowl forces the old water out along with the number two or number one waste and extremities.

If the toilet sounds like it is running there is a good chance that the seal between the rubber flapper and the plastic rain at the bottom of the toilet is broken somehow. The sound you are hearing is water running around this ring and in to the toilet bowl.

This leak is actually causing no damage to the toilet itself but is wasting water. Hence the water bill will be a little higher if you don't fix the leaking toilet. The best way to find out if this is actually your problem is to take the toilet tank lid off. Then stick your hand down into the toilet bowl and press gently on the rubber flap.

If the water stops leaking or starts running faster this is your problem. Turn the water off to the toilet. There will be a shut off valve on the wall under your toilet bowl in the bathroom. After you turn the water off removed the plastic flap and examine it.

You will be looking for a warped toilet flap or of some sort or grooves on the flapper itself. Take the toilet flapper down to your local home improvement store and buy a new one. Go home and replace the new toilet flapper and this should solve 90% of your leaking toilet problems.

There is one more thing it could be. With the toilet tank lid off, check to see if water is overflowing into the little round plastic pipe. This plastic pipe should have a small hose running from the float valve assembly into it.

If the water is over flowing from the toilet tank into this little plastic pipe you will need to adjust the float.

First thing you will need to do is while the toilet is running lift up on the float lever arm. If the water stops you can simply bend the metal arm of the float lever. The purpose of bending the arm will force the float deeper into the water there for stopping the water from rising over the small tube in the center of your toilet.

There are few parts to a toilet and most parts can be purchased at your local hardware or home improvement centers. Toilet repairs like this can be made simple and the parts used to replace are inexpensive.

Happy Toilet Repairing.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more House Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and Some Great Plumbing Ideas

Impact Of Christian Mentors

Satan's Little Kingdom

In 1967, the world was abuzz with something sinister going on in San Francisco, CA. A new church had arisen, a church dedicated to the Devil. Created by a former musician and magic enthusiast Howard LaVey who renamed himself Anton Szandor LaVey, it performed public rituals supposedly dedicated to the glory of Satan and the celebration of Earthly pleasures and delights.

Every Friday night, LaVey and his friends and followers conducted a black mass that was a purposeful perversion of Christian church traditions. The music was a corruption of Catholic hymns. The altars were nude women. Semen and milk were used instead of wine. And crowds of reporters looking for shocking pictures and juicy stories (especially reporters for men's magazines) snapped away at the show in front of them, writing story after story. Many Christians were aghast in fear that Revelations 13 was slowly starting to play itself out especially as the Church of Satan's membership grew by leaps and bounds.

But hidden from the cameras was an internal struggle within the Church. The whole point of the Church was to scare and shock Evangelicals and Catholics. It was a show, a performance and many members joined for the glory of being associated with the infamous church, its naked altars and sinister allure. In an interview, Tom Blackwood, a former Priest of the Church shared that when it came to its membership tally, LaVey would pad the numbers.

"If you sing a song with Satan in it, write a book or some articles about Satanism or black magic and you're in."

LaVey also realized the problem of Satanists joining the group just to scare the willies out of Christians among their family and friends. In a Newsweek interview in 1971, he addressed the problem head-on.

"Satanism is developing two circles, an elitist group which I always intended my church to be, and the faddists who are becoming Satanists because it's the thing to do."

He was growing tired and frustrated of just spooking people he didn't like very much. He wanted to practice what he called real Satanism. Combining Nietzsche, Rand and supposedly some writings of the infamous Cabalist and Hermetic Aleisteir Crowley, LaVey preached an ideology that celebrated the human being and all the inherent flaws, imperfections and pleasures the human form entailed as divinity in its own right. While Ayn Rand preached that people should only worry about themselves and their own personal interests, LaVey took the concept one step further and said that each person was a God or Goddess.

But that caused even more of a problem, especially after LaVey's death and the subsequent splintering of the Church. Each member was a supposed divinity and free to create his or her own doctrine. These individual doctrines competed with each other and leaders of small Satanic groups were constantly fighting with their flocks which often thought they created a better magic theory after a year or two of listening to the High Priest. As Blackwood puts it...

"Because LaVeyan Satanism teaches that each human is a God, everybody thinks he's Zeus or Thor. So what happens when you get Thor and Zeus in the same room? They're going to fight. Satanists today bicker endlessly about what's true Satanism and who has the best theory of it."

When LaVey stopped all public ceremonies in 1975 and worked until his death to create a real culture of celebrating the individual and Earthly pleasures, he unwittingly engineered the splintering of the Church. The infamous Black House from which the group was ran since the 1960s was demolished in 2001 after its condition declined so much, it was deemed unsafe for habitation by the city. The current leaders of the Church of Satan are now based in New York City. They advertise some events and a radio show but the original group that made headlines in the 1960s and 1970s is no more. Satan's kingdom on Earth is limited to a small number of people busily engaged in arcane arguments over the finer points of what they think is black magic.

This article is featured on Weird Things (http://gfish.wordpress.com), a blog that explores the strange, unknown, technology, space, science and strange things with a skeptical and analytical eye.

Need Help Remodeling In Carlsbad

What you are thinking about remodeling your house and you live in Carlsbad. Let me give you some advice about some local contractors and some of the people involved. I used a company called Service Magic to find a local heating and air conditioning contractor. All I had to do was go on the internet , type in some information about my self and what I wanted to have done to my home. This didn't seem that bad of a idea at the time. But look what I found out.

I went to their web site, filled in my information and with in minutes I had received the names of at least 4 contractors. Wow this is neat. I didn't even get to start calling any of them when my phone rang. It was one of the contractors secretaries. She introduced herself and asked what would be a good time for someone to come out to look at the work I wanted done.

I was surprised at the speed things were taking place but in a way glad that I had a reputable contractor from one of the largest construction referral services on the internet. I told her 10:00 would be fine. I got a call shortly after that from one of the other companies. He wanted to meet me that mourning at 8:00 if it was Ok with me. I told him of course, let's do this. Then the next one called and I thought great you can come at 1:00. Well you guessed it the next one was coming over at 2:30.

The first contractor showed up as scheduled at 8:00. We talked about what I wanted done and he whips out his note book and starts figuring out a price. This took place around 15 minutes into the meeting. This guys good I thought. Being a General Contractor in Carlsbad myself, for a job like this I would go back to my office and figure out a price and then double check my figures for a accurate estimate. It took this guy less than 5 minutes to create a proposal of around 10,700 dollars for every thing.

Well I was thinking to myself, the job should be around 7,000 dollars but what do I know about construction. I informed him that I would think about it and that I was going to meet with a couple of other contractors that day. He ask me who the other contractors were. I proceeded to tell him that I probably shouldn't tell him who they were. Well your not going to believe this. He put on his physic hat and told me who was coming over. The only thing he didn't know was what time they where coming over.

Oh I forgot to mention before he left he told me he would knock ten percent off the job if I signed the contract right now. I pretended like I was excited just to see his reaction. He looked at me like he had won the gold metal in sales. I told him thanks but I bet your new offer with the ten percent discount will be good for the next few day. Right I asked. He wasn't looking that excited any more as he replied with a Yes it will be good for a while. I thanked him and he went on his way.

My 10:00 never showed but his secretary gave me the old, " He had to go do a emergency job and could he reschedule tomorrow at the same time. I said that would be fine. As a contractor myself I have always put the work I had to do first and foremost.

About 12:30 I get a call from my next heating and air conditioning contractor. He is running late but will be there at 1:30. I appreciate the call and I will see you then. The only problem now is that I have another contractor coming at 2:30. That give the next contractor less than one hour before the next guy shows up. I never liked going over to someone's house and running into another remodeling contractor.

The next contractor was very informative and knew his stuff. I listened and learned. He told me he was going to have to go back to his office and would have a price back in the mourning. Great I told him as I hurried him out the door.

The last contractor of the day shows up and wants to know whose been over to the house, was it these guys or those guys. I told him I wasn't going to tell him who was over. Now this guy was a salesman. He did a little more probing before he let me in on the fact that his company doesn't do complete home installations. He made up some story that his company only replaces the forced air units. I could tell he didn't want to do the job once he found out I knew what I was talking about. So I said my good byes to Mr. Salesman.

The bad part about him was latter on that week his company sent us some mailers. The kind that doesn't have your name on it and everyone in the neighborhood get's one. I couldn't believe my eyes when I started to read this letter. It said we would be glad to give you an estimate on all your heating and air conditioning needs or services. " We Do Complete Installs". I told my wife we could have used this a few weeks ago. Then I recognized the name of the company and now knew that the salesman had lied to me for sure.

That night I started to think about what was going on here it seemed like I was being set up. Everyone knew what was going on but me. It seemed clear to me that these people knew each other.

Well as time went on we ended up hiring the first guy that came over. He seemed to have the best product at the most reasonable price. His company also did a great job. Keep one thing in mind here out of five contractors that I gave the opportunity to bid the job. Only three showed up and from them I only got two bids. Why didn't I get more bids? Quite frankly I was to busy working at the time and of course the other two guys were always going to show up and that kind of strung me along. My mistake.

Here's the kicker to all of this. Service Magic calls me up one day to tell me they would like to start sending me construction leads as a General Contractor.

I listened to what they had to say and was almost ready to sign up with them again. That's right, I was signed up with them when they first started until they changed the rules on me. The salesman that originally contacted me said if I paid them the 100 dollar sign up fee they would let me pick what jobs I wanted to do. That lasted about 5 months before I noticed that they were not sending me siding referrals to pick from. I called them up only to talk to someone who didn't understand the State Of California Contractors Licensing Board.

Well I wasn't about to reinvent the wheel. I simply told them that I should a least get my money back, right. They said they would look into it further as I never heard from them again about my 100 dollars. Well things have changed at Service Magic since I was with them when they started.
As a home owner you don't think you are paying Service Magic because all you do is fill out a simple form giving some information about yourself.

I found out that Service Magic sent all four of these contractors my original information. Each contractor then had to pay 55 dollars each to Service Magic for a total of 220 dollars. All I have to say is how are they getting away with charging this much money for sending a out a simple referral to these contractors.

The contractor unfortunately passes this expense on to his customers. You as the home owners end up paying these fees as a cost of doing business with them. Some contractors think this is a great way of doing business but you might think differently in the future if you start paying over 100 dollars for a simple construction referral.

Greg Vanden Berge has been in the home building and remodeling business for over 30 years. With this knowledge he has created a few websites that provide useful information for home owners as well as contractors. His main goal is to educate professionals in the home related businesses, dealing with problems that can easily be avoided with just a little bit of information.

His website http://gregvan.com provides all kinds of answers to remodeling and new house building issues that could create major damage as well as possible damage to your pocket book.

Visit us now for Home Improvement Tips

Religion Articles

Using Yoga to Promote Mental Health & Fitness

When suffering from a physical illness we have obvious symptoms of pain and discomfort and rely upon familiar medical practices or natural remedies to provide relief. But psychological disturbance does not necessarily carry with it such readily discernible symptoms. This can result in the disturbance becoming clinical over time, demanding the need for psychiatric care.

In order that we avoid any anxiety about our own mental health, we need to know what the early symptoms of mental disturbance are-symptoms that have the propensity to develop into mental illness. This will enable us to be aware of any problem should it begin to develop in ourselves.

Not only that, but we need to know how we can empower ourselves to change our psychological states and habits so as to improve our mental well-being, in the event that we do develop a concern about our on psychological well-being. Studies show that the majority of people in these circumstances have little confidence about identifying or embarking upon a self-help program. Few people are aware that a proven system of psychological and intellectual betterment is at hand in the teachings of Raja Yoga.

So then, what are some of the common symptoms of mental illness?

Aside from the well known and generally acknowledged disorders such as serious stress and clinical depression which manifest in varying degrees of intensity, we can readily observe other signs of mental and emotional problems, for example:

-Exaggerated emotional responses
-Sudden mood swings
-Nervousness and fears of all kind
-Irrational speech and behavior
-Anxiety (this can apply to a limitless range of concerns)
-Chronic Allergies
-Morose or negative moods
-Lack of enthusiasm for life
-Inability to demonstrate affection
-Cruel or selfish behavior
-Chronic insomnia
-Nightmares
-Lying, stealing and other unethical behavior
-Violent behavior
-Lack of creative activity
-Reluctance to talk in a one- to-one situation
-Extreme dependence
-Inability to relax
-Unhappiness

However it is important that people don't rush headlong into self-help situations should they be experiencing one or some of these symptoms, for they man well be the result of some malady that requires the care of a health professional. In the event that such is not the case though, then some serious thought can be given to following a program of self-help; and one of the very best self-help programs a person could possibly follow-one that has stood the test of time over hundreds, even thousands of years, is Raja Yoga. People need to open their minds to the possibility that this ancient teaching can help them. They need to take a really hard look at it.

Sally Janssen is a writer and educator who from an early age trained in Raja Yoga--that branch of the ancient science that deals with the mind and its complexities. She subsequently gained an international reputation for her skills and her wisdom in the training of the mind.

In her wonderfully readable book entitled Mental Fitness: The Complete Self-help Guide she presents simple, self-help practices that help to generate and maintain mental fitness just as the natural principles of physical fitness can be personally applied by us all. The book may be found here: http://www.mentalhealthandfitness.com This really is a must-read book for us all. Sally also welcomes you to visit her blog at http://www.mentalhealthandfitness.com/blog

Need Help Remodeling In Carlsbad

What you are thinking about remodeling your house and you live in Carlsbad. Let me give you some advice about some local contractors and some of the people involved. I used a company called Service Magic to find a local heating and air conditioning contractor. All I had to do was go on the internet , type in some information about my self and what I wanted to have done to my home. This didn't seem that bad of a idea at the time. But look what I found out.

I went to their web site, filled in my information and with in minutes I had received the names of at least 4 contractors. Wow this is neat. I didn't even get to start calling any of them when my phone rang. It was one of the contractors secretaries. She introduced herself and asked what would be a good time for someone to come out to look at the work I wanted done.

I was surprised at the speed things were taking place but in a way glad that I had a reputable contractor from one of the largest construction referral services on the internet. I told her 10:00 would be fine. I got a call shortly after that from one of the other companies. He wanted to meet me that mourning at 8:00 if it was Ok with me. I told him of course, let's do this. Then the next one called and I thought great you can come at 1:00. Well you guessed it the next one was coming over at 2:30.

The first contractor showed up as scheduled at 8:00. We talked about what I wanted done and he whips out his note book and starts figuring out a price. This took place around 15 minutes into the meeting. This guys good I thought. Being a General Contractor in Carlsbad myself, for a job like this I would go back to my office and figure out a price and then double check my figures for a accurate estimate. It took this guy less than 5 minutes to create a proposal of around 10,700 dollars for every thing.

Well I was thinking to myself, the job should be around 7,000 dollars but what do I know about construction. I informed him that I would think about it and that I was going to meet with a couple of other contractors that day. He ask me who the other contractors were. I proceeded to tell him that I probably shouldn't tell him who they were. Well your not going to believe this. He put on his physic hat and told me who was coming over. The only thing he didn't know was what time they where coming over.

Oh I forgot to mention before he left he told me he would knock ten percent off the job if I signed the contract right now. I pretended like I was excited just to see his reaction. He looked at me like he had won the gold metal in sales. I told him thanks but I bet your new offer with the ten percent discount will be good for the next few day. Right I asked. He wasn't looking that excited any more as he replied with a Yes it will be good for a while. I thanked him and he went on his way.

My 10:00 never showed but his secretary gave me the old, " He had to go do a emergency job and could he reschedule tomorrow at the same time. I said that would be fine. As a contractor myself I have always put the work I had to do first and foremost.

About 12:30 I get a call from my next heating and air conditioning contractor. He is running late but will be there at 1:30. I appreciate the call and I will see you then. The only problem now is that I have another contractor coming at 2:30. That give the next contractor less than one hour before the next guy shows up. I never liked going over to someone's house and running into another remodeling contractor.

The next contractor was very informative and knew his stuff. I listened and learned. He told me he was going to have to go back to his office and would have a price back in the mourning. Great I told him as I hurried him out the door.

The last contractor of the day shows up and wants to know whose been over to the house, was it these guys or those guys. I told him I wasn't going to tell him who was over. Now this guy was a salesman. He did a little more probing before he let me in on the fact that his company doesn't do complete home installations. He made up some story that his company only replaces the forced air units. I could tell he didn't want to do the job once he found out I knew what I was talking about. So I said my good byes to Mr. Salesman.

The bad part about him was latter on that week his company sent us some mailers. The kind that doesn't have your name on it and everyone in the neighborhood get's one. I couldn't believe my eyes when I started to read this letter. It said we would be glad to give you an estimate on all your heating and air conditioning needs or services. " We Do Complete Installs". I told my wife we could have used this a few weeks ago. Then I recognized the name of the company and now knew that the salesman had lied to me for sure.

That night I started to think about what was going on here it seemed like I was being set up. Everyone knew what was going on but me. It seemed clear to me that these people knew each other.

Well as time went on we ended up hiring the first guy that came over. He seemed to have the best product at the most reasonable price. His company also did a great job. Keep one thing in mind here out of five contractors that I gave the opportunity to bid the job. Only three showed up and from them I only got two bids. Why didn't I get more bids? Quite frankly I was to busy working at the time and of course the other two guys were always going to show up and that kind of strung me along. My mistake.

Here's the kicker to all of this. Service Magic calls me up one day to tell me they would like to start sending me construction leads as a General Contractor.

I listened to what they had to say and was almost ready to sign up with them again. That's right, I was signed up with them when they first started until they changed the rules on me. The salesman that originally contacted me said if I paid them the 100 dollar sign up fee they would let me pick what jobs I wanted to do. That lasted about 5 months before I noticed that they were not sending me siding referrals to pick from. I called them up only to talk to someone who didn't understand the State Of California Contractors Licensing Board.

Well I wasn't about to reinvent the wheel. I simply told them that I should a least get my money back, right. They said they would look into it further as I never heard from them again about my 100 dollars. Well things have changed at Service Magic since I was with them when they started.
As a home owner you don't think you are paying Service Magic because all you do is fill out a simple form giving some information about yourself.

I found out that Service Magic sent all four of these contractors my original information. Each contractor then had to pay 55 dollars each to Service Magic for a total of 220 dollars. All I have to say is how are they getting away with charging this much money for sending a out a simple referral to these contractors.

The contractor unfortunately passes this expense on to his customers. You as the home owners end up paying these fees as a cost of doing business with them. Some contractors think this is a great way of doing business but you might think differently in the future if you start paying over 100 dollars for a simple construction referral.

Greg Vanden Berge has been in the home building and remodeling business for over 30 years. With this knowledge he has created a few websites that provide useful information for home owners as well as contractors. His main goal is to educate professionals in the home related businesses, dealing with problems that can easily be avoided with just a little bit of information.

His website http://gregvan.com provides all kinds of answers to remodeling and new house building issues that could create major damage as well as possible damage to your pocket book.

Visit us now for Home Improvement Tips

Effects Of False Prophets

Reading Feng Shui Books - Get Great Advice

Quite simply, a different style of living. If you're the kind of person who eats the same food week after week, shops and the same stores and only socializes with a few people, feng shui is probably not something you're going to be interested in. However, if you're someone, who wants to try something different, the Chinese philosophy of feng shui could be something that you, just might be interested in.

Where can you find feng shui books? Of course we all know you can find them at your local bookstores like Barnes & Noble, Amazon and other online sources. Here's something that might be a little new age or something that most people often forget about, how about going down to your local public library. Public libraries are a great source for books and if you don't like them, you never had to pay for them.

Feng shui books have become popular in the last 20 to 40 years and seems to create an environment out of your home. The Chinese have been practicing this for over a thousand years and it almost has a mystical power to it. If you're tired of the same old house and would like a little change in your life, I would suggest using some of the simple methods, suggested in these books.

One $20 book on home building or feng shui, can save you lots of money, if you're willing to do a little research and the labor to complete almost any home building project.

By the way, if you're interested in learning how to repair a roof, build your own house, interior decorating, structural engineering, building a deck, gathering some more information about home painting or even remodeling your bathroom. Our online home building bookstore can save you money if you're willing to do the work.

You can learn a lot by reading feng shui books and I would suggest, that if you're interested in interior design or even spirituality, these books will provide you with the information, you need to create a little change in your life.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more building stairs books and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Cost Effective Stair Building

What is the most cost effective way of building stairs? Why do the tract homes use on site methods of construction? When you think of a factory assembling a product on a assembly line you think why not a home. Why do they still build homes on lots or residential home sites?

If homes could be built in a factory cheaper than on site that is exactly what every home builder would be doing. They just haven't quite figured it out yet. When dealing with the large amounts of materials required to build a house and of course the expense of shipping. It is not cost effective to build a conventional home in a factory and ship it over long distances.

This is the biggest problem with cost effective stair construction. Most prefabricated stairs you will notice are spiral stairs. These stairs are smaller than most stairs that are used for multi level construction.

Spiral stairs are hard for your average carpenter to build. These stairs can be purchased from a factory easily and quite inexpensive.

The stairs in your average two story house are going to weigh about 3 times the amount of a spiral set of stairs that could be shipped in a cost effective way. Spiral stairs are not going to be the main stairway in a home and normally go up to a loft or an attic. Most spiral stairs don't meet the minimum building requirements for the main stairway in your home.

When building tract homes the lumber is shipped in bulk directly to the house site where it will be assembled. The lumber and other building materials will be shipped once. If it went to a factory and then assembled it would also have to be sent to the site on which the house was to be built. This added expense in shipping the materials twice is the problem for such a large and heavy item such as a set of stairs.

There are other prefabricated types of stairs that are built locally and the shipping usually is not a major expense. If you are building a stairway that is not to difficult to build for the average carpenter it will normally be cost effective to build the stairs on site. This would require having the carpenter build the stairs as part of the rough framing and then after drywall have the finish carpenter build the stair handrail system.

Visit us now for easy Home Constuction Help

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more building stairs books and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Ask And You Might Receive Or Ask

Bullying Awareness - How to Become Aware of & Clamp Down on Office Bullying

The 7th November marked National Ban Bullying at Work Day. As a part of this, a leading employment solicitor in the south has joined the campaign to help reduce bullying in the work place by raising awareness of this epidemic that causes companies a mind-blowing 19 Million work days every single year. Despite this there are still companies that are either unaware or ignore this problem within the work place.

Despite radical improvements over the past few years, around 40% of UK based companies have not got an explicit and effective policy on workplace bullying in-place. The head of employment law at a leading Southampton based solicitor has recently commented on that are clear policy is needed as bullying can cause a whole range of problems for any business. These can include reduced productivity and performance, poor morale, increased staff turnover and tense inter employee relations. Over 2 million people a year are bullied every day at work and the, 'come to your senses' theme of the campaign centers on reducing the fear for employees and to encourage co-workers who think that someone is being bullied to have the courage and the conviction to speak out and not to ignore the problem.

The Hampshire Solicitor has detailed some advice to anyone looking to minimize the threat of bullying in the work place: Create and implement a clear, widespread ant-bullying and harassment policy that can be read and communicated by all staff members. Ensure that this policy is zero tolerance and that any complaints made will be treated with the utmost severity and the company will investigate all cases and act accordingly. Prevent bullying from happening in the first place. Team building days and social events are always appreciated and enjoyed. This can raise staff morale, as-well-as help strengthen inter-office relationships.

Put up anti bullying posters around the office to re-enforce the message laid out by the original policy. Communication is always paramount in any company and by conducting regular meetings between management and staff, barriers can be broken down and trust increased Keep informed. Most people do not know that email bullying is one of the most common forms of bullying, therefore by taking steps to monitor and filter-out and bullying emails. If you do find yourself as a victim of bullying, it is best to remember this quote by Benjamin Disraeli. "Courage is fire, bullying is smoke."

Check out Divorce Lawyer and Family Solicitor at http://www.mooreblatch.com

Moisture Against Gravity - Destroying Walls

Well I'm going to start this article with a little information on a job I did once.

I had been repairing a rental house for one particular homeowner for about three years when all of a sudden I got a phone call from him telling me the rental house was destroyed and he had never seen nothing like this. He sounded so upset over the phone I told him I would meet with him immediately.

On my way to the house I was trying to get an idea in my head what the house was going to actually look like. Since I have been repairing rental properties for over 20 years at this point of my career, nothing really shocked me. I had pretty much seen everything that could possibly be done to rental property by the tenants that lived there. There is a lot to be said about taking care of it as if it were your own.

He was waiting for me at the front door and he looked thoroughly disgusted. As I approached him he was shaking his head and yelling at the same time can you believe these people, can you believe what they did to my house. I was expecting to see the front door ripped off and all the windows broken out of the house but this wasn't the case.

As he led me through the home and I could see the usual clothing on the floor, broken cabinets, a few holes in the walls and of course that awful smell of mold and mildew. All of this stuff was nothing new to me because I'm the guy they call to fix it when a renter moves out of the property.

As I entered one of the bedrooms I got my first glimpse of something I had never seen before but heard stories about and could not believe my eyes. Looking at the walls in the bedroom about 3 feet from the floor all the way around the room, the plaster was soft. It actually looks like someone shoved popcorn into the wall somehow.

The homeowner wasn't even looking at this because of the rest of the damage in the home. I started to explain to him I'd never seen nothing like this but I could guess it was water damage somehow since the plaster was soft. I could actually stick my finger into the wall, that's how soft the plaster was.

My first thought was to examine the carpeting a little closer to see if it was wet. Well it was damp but it wasn't as wet as I would've expected it to be with the amount of water in the walls. With a little more home inspecting I had found the culprit, it was a broken water bed. The water bed was now in the backyard looking innocent.

I couldn't believe a broken water bed could do this much damage so I looked around for broken or leaking water pipes and could not find any. The other bad news I had to inform the homeowner was that the water had damage the bathroom and closet walls also. These walls of course were on the other side of the bathroom walls that were damaged.

Well the point of this story is that water will actually wick its way up or worked its way up into a wall. I had to remove 4 feet of drywall all the way around the room. The plaster or drywall actually acts like a sponge pulling the water into the walls. Hard to imagine that gravity in this case seems to reverse. I would've never thought that water would've traveled so far up the walls creating that much damage.

To repair the rental property I had to remove the damaged drywall, remove the carpeting, dry the wood framing out and put the whole thing back together.

I'm still amazed and will remember that project for as long as I live.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on House Water Damage

Meditating On Religious Scriptur

Set Goals Without Limits

Everybody on this planet has the ability to dream. But what exactly is a dream? The Websters Dictionary offers sixteen definitions of the word dream, but here we will only list two.

1. A succession of thoughts, images, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep.

2. A vision voluntarily indulged in while awake; daydream; reverie.

Whether we remember them or not we all have dreams while we sleep. But for the most part our dreaming occurs while we are awake. What are your dreams? Do you dream of making more money at your current job or do you dream of owning the company? Do you dream of owning your own home with a white picket fence or do you dream of owning your own ocean front estate on a tropical island with your own private beach? Maybe it's your dream to become president of your country or to become a motivational speaker and help millions of other people to realize their dreams. Whatever your dreams, the only thing stopping you from achieving them are the limits that you set up in your own mind.

This may seem difficult to believe but the only person that can stop you from attaining all that you desire is YOU! All the power and ability you would ever need to make your wildest dreams come true already resides within you. Inside your head is the key to ultimate success. Your mind is a vast source of energy that can never be fully consumed. The problem is that most people never learn how to direct this energy to create the lives they desire.

Dreaming, in and of itself is not enough. You must create a dream big enough to keep your interest, turn it into a goal, and in turn transform that goal into a burning desire. Anything short of that is a waste of your time and effort.

Goal Setting:

1. You must decide what you want and must absolutely have. Remember to make your goal big enough to keep you excited about accomplishing it. Nothing is impossible unless you believe it is!

2. Determine where you are now in relation to reaching your goal.

3. Once you know where you are, you need to determine what steps are necessary to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. This will act much like a map on your journey to success.

4. Chart all this information down on paper. This step is absolutely necessary. Writing down your goal on paper is the first step to transforming your vision into its physical equivalent.

5. Review your written goal various times throughout the day. As you do this, try to imagine already having achieved your goal. Visualize yourself in possession of that which you want most, or of the person you will be in the future as if it were right now. Perform this step until your goal becomes a burning desire. Once you reach this point, doubt about your ability to succeed will fade away, and the vast source of energy which your mind contains will now back you in your effort to achieve.

Visit http://www.inspirationtochange.com for life improving resources!

Bathroom Faucet Leaks

Faucet leaks can waste more water than you think. Have you ever put a cup or bowl underneath a leaky faucet and actually seen how much water is wasted. Leaky faucets should be repaired as soon as possible to prevent the waste of water in your home. Water is a precious resource and should be used wisely.

One slow drip from the faucet can waste over 5 gallons of water per day. If you think that's not a big deal, let me put it in perspective for you. 5 gallons of water per day equals 35 gallons per week, times 52 weeks in a year, that equals over 1800 gallons of water, and that's a lot of water.

The problem with a faucet leak isn't just the amount of water it waste, it will soon start to deteriorate your sinks, bathtubs and showers and could damage other sections of the home, like the wood framing. I've seen a water drip in a steel kitchen sink, in just a few years, wear a hole right through it. Keep in mind water and wind formed the Grand Canyon, water can be extremely erosive.

Faucet leaks can attract house pests, like mice, flies, ants and a wide variety of other insects.

Most faucets can usually be repaired for under $20. Most of the time the problem will be in the valves or handles that turn the water on and on. If you're not familiar with plumbing parts, you could pick up a do-it-yourself home repair manual or go online and look up the manufacturer of your faucet, for more information.

Usually the manufacturer has a diagram of the faucet, broken down into sections and you could get a pretty good idea, what parts you will need to remove, in order to replace the damaged part or parts that are creating the water leak.

Calling a plumber seems to be most homeowners last resort. They only do it if they absolutely have to. If you don't understand how a faucet works and have no desire to learn how, I would suggest you call a plumber or contact someone who can help you with your faucet leak, but get the faucet leak fixed and quit wasting water.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.
If your looking for some more bathroom remodeling or home building ideas.

Are Christians Really Interested

Make Someone's Day!

When someone compliments me, it can make my day! I bet it's that way for you, too. Think back to a time when someone gave you a genuine compliment. Can you feel those warm fuzzies? But wait. Maybe you can't remember the last time you actually received a compliment. I've found there are people all around us who seem to have forgotten how to give compliments. Then again, maybe they never knew how in the first place. Sad, isn't it.

Knowing how good a compliment makes me feel makes me eager to do the same for others. It's my goal to give a compliment to every person I meet, and in fact, I work very hard at this. I'm not telling you this to brag on myself, and I don't want you to think I'm some brown-noser who uses compliments to manipulate people into doing whatever I want. No way! Tat is not what giving a compliment is about. Compliments must be given sincerely, in a spirit of thoughtfulness and caring, from a true desire to make a positive difference in the lives of others. This doesn't come naturally, but with a little effort you can learn how. Start by observing others closely, waiting to catch them doing somethingor being someoneyou sincerely admire. Then, be willing to "expose" your observations to that person.

The best way to give a compliment is to be sure you always back it up with evidence. Here's an example: "You are so great with kids!" (Now most people would stop there, but you need to give some evidence.) "They are so well behaved whenever you are in charge. I think it's because they can tell how much you care about themand I loved the game you taught them to help them wait patiently in line. You are so creative and fun. no wonder kids love you.

You'll be amazed at the results, when you make giving compliments a part of your daily life. So go aheadmake someone's day! Oh, and by the way, the best way to receive a compliment it to simply say, "Thank You!

2003 Professional Development Systems All Rights Reserved

Robert Prentice of Professional Developments Systems has spent the last twenty years bringing inspiration and motivation to business owners as well as their employees. For more information visit his website at http://www.mrattitudespeaks.com

Window Header Framing Problems

As a building contractor it is my job to assemble the house to meet the specifications from the architect and the structural engineer. I do this by looking at the building plans and installing the specified lumber sizes. I can take it upon myself to install a larger size wood beam or window header adding an additional cost to the job of course. I don't think so.

It's not uncommon for a framing contractor that has an additional 5 foot scrap piece of 4 x 8 left over that he now has no use for. He can then choose to use the 4 x 8 instead of a 4 x 6 for the window header. This type of building is common and acceptable.

If the structural engineer calls out for 4 x 6 window and door headers do not take it upon yourself to replace the 4 x 6 with a 4 x 4. I have seen too many framing contractors or carpenters make an on-the-job judgment like this.

A good example would be a single story house with 2 foot wide windows that require a 4 x 6 window header. As the carpenter builds homes over the years he can come to his own conclusion that a 4x4 will work fine for this application. Again keep this in mind as a framing contractor and a carpenter you are assembling the home not designing it.

Do not change the sizes of any headers or beams.

A long time ago carpenters used a standard rule of thumb, you could go up two sizes larger than the window opening for your header. Let me give you an example of what I'm trying to explain.

A 4 foot wide window opening would require a 4 x 6 window header. A 6 foot window opening would require a 4 x 8 window header. This should give you an idea of what I mean by going up two sizes larger than the window opening to figure out the lumber necessary to use for your window header.

This rule of thumb does not necessarily apply in today's building industry. The reason for this is structural changes from earthquake damage. The structural requirements that are required for building a home require a lot more metal bracing and strapping. Therefore some of the lumber requirements for beam sizes and window headers will be different.

This message is for general contractors, framing contractors and carpenters. When installing a window header and you take it upon yourself to change the size you also assume the responsibility if the building fails. This type of mistake is common and you guys know what I'm talking about.

It's not worth it. Keep in mind you are the assembler and not the designer of the building you are working on.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and House Framing Structural Repairs

Are Your Prayers Being Answered

Estate Planning - The Life Estate

The life estate is something every first year law student learns about when they study the arcane and often bizarre history of property law that harkens back to the days of English knights, lords and serfs, and the transfer of property through the ceremonial throwing of dirt clods with oaths of duty to accompany. The life estate is about as old as they come as instruments of wealth transfer go and students love it, because it is relatively easy to understand. Apart from what students love and what is easy to remember, however, the life estate still has practical value today in your estate planning and assets management schemes.

The basic idea of the life estate is that a person can be left a piece of property for life, and upon their passing, the property in question can go to whoever is designated to receive that property afterward. The individual or group who receives the property after the life-tenant passes is called the remainderman or remaindermen, which is useful only in that it helps one to remember that the person who remains gets the property. If, for example, one wants to leave a family estate that has been with the family for many generations to their spouse and then have it immediately pass on to their children or another relative who will maintain the estate for the generation to come, then a life estate might be the perfect vehicle to do so. Another example is the same family estate, left to a surviving spouse until the surviving spouse either dies or remarries. Again, the aim is to ensure that the estate stays in family, a contingency which is threatened by the remarriage because that creates a new marital joint-tenancy, absent any other provision. Often the life-estate was used to keep assets, like the family home, headed down a single line of familial ownership.

However, the life estate has other uses, for example, it can leave an asset to be owned by one person until the death of third person. If an older relative has become incapacitated, such that it is difficult for them to make decisions for themselves, then the asset can be left in the care of another for the incapacitated person's lifetime. An example might be, that Blackacre (the fictitious name for a piece of property used in law schools everywhere) is left in the care of cousin Tilly, until great aunt Nelly's death. Thus, Tilly is allowed to make Nelly comfortable at Blackacre (the family home) until Nelly passes on. In this instance, Nelly's life is what is called, the measuring life of the life estate, and Tilly's ownership ends when Nelly is gone.

On the whole, the life estate may be falling out of use for a number of reasons and being replaced by the much more fluid instrument of the trust. But, the life estate still captures, from time to time, our instincts regarding how property is to pass from one generation to another and that is why it is still relevant even for an estate planner who uses it very rarely. It helps us to ask and to get the answer to very difficult questions, which is part of the act of estate planning. Both the client and the attorney must face tough questions, and the life estate (even if it is sometimes regarded as a legal relic of the past) tells us how people used to answer questions of intra-generational wealth transfer and why. We may use different instruments to bring about our legal ends (or we may not), but even if we do, the life-estate still has relevance in helping us think about the questions that underlie the choices to be made in estate planning.

Ronald Hudkins is an advocate for consumer awareness. He has noted that more than 70% of the American public fails to make appropriate estate plans prior to death or incapacitation and as such; authored an Ebook "Asset Protection and Estate Planning for All Ages" It is available for free download at http://stores.lulu.com/rhudkins

Dog Creates Remodeling Nightmare

How many homeowners normally leave their dog in the backyard or they have full time access to the backyard through a doggie door. You're probably wondering how can a little dog create a remodeling nightmare for any contractor.

This wasn't the case this dog was a large Labrador retriever and tore up everything in the backyard constantly. The house remodel we were working on was a two story room addition over a single story house. This job lasted around six months and the dog was a daily reminder of how much attention a large dog actually needs.

Let's start with the first item of value the dog actually destroyed. It was my favorite tool bags of course that I have taken care of for over five years and deeply appreciated the fact that they were broke in just the way I wanted them to be. Kind of like a baseball mitt that doesn't quite fit right because of how stiff it is until you break it in.

While the homeowner of course apologized and never even offered to replace them. Oh but after that he did mention never to leave anything lying around in the backyard. Lesson learned of course and never forgotten. Well to make a long story short this large dog could chew up tools, lumber, plumbing pipes, electrical wire and was even able to destroyed the plywood fencing we would use to keep him away.

I'm going to stop right there with the remodeling nightmare created from this dog in hopes that other contractors can learn from my valuable lesson. As a contractor you should never assume that a homeowner will replace any damaged or broken tools and materials.

As a homeowner with a dog reading this article, think about having a place to enclose the dog if necessary while remodeling work is done on your home.

I love being around dogs and other animals but sometimes a problem like this can make life extremely miserable for both parties.

Greg Vanden Berge has been building and remodeling for over 30 years and his information has proven valuable to most contractors and homeowners all over the world. He usually tries to write at least two articles a day on home improvement or remodeling problems.

Greg is in the process right now of working on a home inspection website that will revolutionize the home inspection business. He is also working on a book to help homeowners and contractors as well as other home related professions in dealing with the home inspection process.

You can visit the home inspection website currently under construction at Home Inspection Help

Using Words In The Bible Effecti

10 Significant Tips For Positive Thinking

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle by positive thinking will help you to neutralize negative thoughts, develop positive affirmations, build self-image and confidence in yourself and achieve success in life. There are situations sometimes which may find that your career is not going in the proper direction and your income is not according to your expectations.

This situation is worse, if you find that your career even after trying many is not generating desired results. In such hard times habit of positive thinking can help you to fill your mind with good and productive thoughts which will give you peace of mind. Then why not to use God's precious gift to create true happiness in life?

You must have observed that when you wish to do something creative in your life, and if you think that 'I can't do this', it is sure that you will not! But when you say that ' I can do this', automatically, your job becomes easy and also gets over soon. This is called positive attitude. 'I Can do this' is the secret.

Most of us talk to ourselves and 90% of it is negative. We do this in our bad times just due to fear or frustration. It is possible to overcome such situations by way of positive thinking.

There are 10 ways to do positive thinking:

1. Discover the amazing power of Positive thinking.
2. Develop the habit of thinking positive only.
3. Find out why particular thing is not working.
4. Never lose confidence.
5. Efforts and hard work changes worst situations.. Think it will work for you too.
6. Maintain friendly relations with others.
7. Request someone to help you in times of crisis.
8. Find ways to change adverse situations. Never give up.
9. Practice techniques of 'Meditation' to get control over your body and soul.
10. Think that your best time is yet to come and it will.

Occupy your mind with pleasant, and productive thoughts. Just concentrate on the positive thoughts. This way negative thoughts will automatically begin to drop or you will never mind them. Remember those people are successful who work with spirit and excitement. If you check with history, you will find that positive thinking has produced wonders in life and have given a major contribution towards human progress.

Pankaj Mistry is a freelance professional copywriter and content developer. He has won couple of awards for his concepts and themes for various topics. You can contact him at: artystry@hotmail.com

Structural Framing Beams

Let's start with the beams. They can be Glulam, Parallam, Microlam or even wood beams. What are all of these and why do I need them in my house. The beams are used to hold up parts of the house and are located in your walls, roofs and floors. Beams are used to transfer a load from one point to another.

Structural framing beams allow the architect to create large openings, floors and roofs in your house. The beams are also used to support the weight over the doors, windows and other openings in your home. These beams support massive amounts of weight in some cases and are even made of steel if needed.

Another growing problem is the lack of old growth trees in the forest. If we just used wood beams with out using the new engineered beams we would have to cut down a lot more of the bigger trees. So you can add these guys to your Christmas list. The lumber or wood engineers have come up with all sorts of alternatives for new building products. These new beams are just some of them. Keep up the good work guys...

Glulam is a engineered wood product comprised of wood laminations, or 2 x 4s that are bonded together with strong, waterproof adhesives. If you use a Glulam beam on the buildings exterior you will have to order a exterior Glulam beam. In this case the manufacture will use special exterior rated glues for the beam.

When ordering any wood engineered beams specify to the lumber yard what you are using the beam for. Exterior or Interior of the building. If you use a interior glulam over time there is a good chance of the beam delaminating or cracking apart.

Parallam is made from almost all of the wood on the log using veneer strands that are aligned parallel for maximum strength. The end product is a rectangular beam; which is longer, thicker, and stronger than solid-sawn lumber. They are often used as beams, headers, columns, and posts, among others uses.

Microllam is an engineered wood product that uses multiple layers of thin wood assembled with adhesives. It offers several advantages over typical milled lumber: it is stronger, straighter, and more uniform. It is much less likely than conventional lumber to warp, twist, bow, or shrink due to its composite nature. Made in a factory under controlled specifications, Microllam products allow users to reduce the onsite labor. They are typically used for headers, beams, rim board, and edge-forming material.

These beams come in all sorts of different lengths, widths and heights. They are engineered to hold amazing amounts of weight. They really are great engineering marvels.

Tip: I have had to replace almost all of these types of beams over the years due to some form of damage. Like anything else in your home if it is used improperly there is a good chance your are going to have some sort of failure. I have seen people add weight to these structural beams with no thought of them ever failing.

If you are planning on building a room addition, rebuilding your roof, adding a floor or any other type of construction where you are adding a addition load to your house. You might want to consult with a building contractor or structural engineer.

Thanks Greg For Another Super Article On Home Building. For more great articles visit Greg at http://gregvan.com/

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more building stairs books and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry. Causes of Structural Failure

Ask And You Might Receive Or Ask

Twelve Pillars by Jim Rohn and Chris Widener

Jim Rohn has been imparting wisdom and sharing his success philosophies and principles for over thirty years. Chris Widener is a rather newcomer to the field of personal development compared with Rohn, but he has also shared the stage with some impressive people sharing his wisdom through speaking and writing. Now these two personal development professionals have teamed up to write a short little novel that contains a tremendous amount of wisdom in twelve secrets of success.

The book, titled "Twelve Pillars," is short, only 120 pages, and very easy to read. It is a story of a young man named Michael. After his car breaks down, Michael meets an old man named Charlie. Charlie teaches Michael about the twelve Pillars of Success. The Pillars, or lessons, are very simple, but that does not mean they are not extremely powerful. If you really take what Rohn and Widener are teaching through this story to heart, you will undoubtedly achieve more and live a more productive and happy life. You will live a life that is much more fulfilling and be rewarded with more meaningful relationships.

Just because the lessons are simple, does not mean they are necessarily simple to incorporate into your life. However, if you have this little book there to remind you and keep you on track, you will surely become a more successful person.

I really enjoyed the story and I'm sure I'll read it again and again each time I need a quick boost and reminder of those things to focus on. It is such a quick read with so powerful a message, I'd encourage everyone to read it more than once. Let the lessons these two teach sink in and make sure you act upon them.

"Twelve Pillars" by Jim Rohn and Chris Widener will surely inspire you to take your life to the next level and beyond. It will challenge and encourage you to become the best that you can be. All you need to do is read it, learn from it, and take action on the twelve pillars of success.

Alain Burrese, J.D. is a mediator/attorney with Bennett Law Office P.C. and an author/speaker through his own company Burrese Enterprises Inc. He writes and speaks about a variety of topics focusing on the business areas of negotiation and success principles as well as self-defense and safety topics. He is the author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks, several instructional dvds, and numerous articles. You can find out more about Alain Burrese at his websites http://www.burrese.com or http://www.bennettlawofficepc.com

Window Header Framing Problems

As a building contractor it is my job to assemble the house to meet the specifications from the architect and the structural engineer. I do this by looking at the building plans and installing the specified lumber sizes. I can take it upon myself to install a larger size wood beam or window header adding an additional cost to the job of course. I don't think so.

It's not uncommon for a framing contractor that has an additional 5 foot scrap piece of 4 x 8 left over that he now has no use for. He can then choose to use the 4 x 8 instead of a 4 x 6 for the window header. This type of building is common and acceptable.

If the structural engineer calls out for 4 x 6 window and door headers do not take it upon yourself to replace the 4 x 6 with a 4 x 4. I have seen too many framing contractors or carpenters make an on-the-job judgment like this.

A good example would be a single story house with 2 foot wide windows that require a 4 x 6 window header. As the carpenter builds homes over the years he can come to his own conclusion that a 4x4 will work fine for this application. Again keep this in mind as a framing contractor and a carpenter you are assembling the home not designing it.

Do not change the sizes of any headers or beams.

A long time ago carpenters used a standard rule of thumb, you could go up two sizes larger than the window opening for your header. Let me give you an example of what I'm trying to explain.

A 4 foot wide window opening would require a 4 x 6 window header. A 6 foot window opening would require a 4 x 8 window header. This should give you an idea of what I mean by going up two sizes larger than the window opening to figure out the lumber necessary to use for your window header.

This rule of thumb does not necessarily apply in today's building industry. The reason for this is structural changes from earthquake damage. The structural requirements that are required for building a home require a lot more metal bracing and strapping. Therefore some of the lumber requirements for beam sizes and window headers will be different.

This message is for general contractors, framing contractors and carpenters. When installing a window header and you take it upon yourself to change the size you also assume the responsibility if the building fails. This type of mistake is common and you guys know what I'm talking about.

It's not worth it. Keep in mind you are the assembler and not the designer of the building you are working on.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and House Framing Structural Repairs

Personal Development

What Do Your Goals Say - Self Help Tips

Do you have goals? How to you set things in motion to accomplish your goals? What is your game plan of success? You can either focus on the results or you can focus on the activities you are doing. If you have the right steps in place, you will achieve your goal.

You should be attempting to link your daily steps to your weekly achievements and then to your monthly goals. So that your efforts are always working in your favor.

Set achievable steps - let them have a purpose to your overall goals. You don't want to fall into activity traps. Yes, you are expediting energy, but it is not helping you to reach your goals, You are busy, but to no end.

Use project management software or a system of your own design of checks and balances. You know where you are on your path to goal achievement. Be realistic and know that there will be days when you may not accomplish what you intended, but "get back on the horse" the next day.

Write your goals down and review them. That way you will know if you are making strides to achieve them. Change them where you need, if something isn't working or a new approach becomes known to you. Improve your tactics and make the necessary changes. Success is yours to carve out. Complete at least one goal step each day. Keep adding to your goals. There is always more to achieve. Keep asking yourself, "Is what I am working on leading to the my achieving my goals?" If it isn't, do not waste your time doing it! You are the Captain of Your ship of life.

Gloria-Jean Brown

http://www.CoachingbyGJ.com

Bathroom Moisture Problems - Home Repair

Right above my bathtub in my master bathroom the paint is peeling off the wall. The area is peeling above the tile in my bathtub and shower combination. I tried to glue the peeling paint back and only made the situation worst.

First things first. The paint is peeling because there is to much moisture in the bathroom while you are using it. Do you have any windows you can open or a ventilating bathroom fan. If you have a window crack it open part way while you are showering.

The water droplets will accumulate on the walls and drip into any cracks. Right above the tile grout is a great place for moisture to accumulate. Oh yeah moisture loves grout and drywall. If you have any unpainted areas or an area that has cracked. Guess what you have now.

Your paint is peeling because the bathroom gets hot and cold. Moist and dry. If you have the door and windows shut. You just created a moisture trap. Most people prefer their privacy and will closes the door when using the shower. Well then open the window and let some cold air in while you are taking a nice warn shower. I don't think so. Most showering fools don't like that idea either.

Ok one more idea keep the windows shut so you don't let the cold air in. Then lock the door so no on barges in on you. If you have a ventilation fan turn it on. This will at least pull fresh air in from under the door and send the moist air out of the house.

But the fan is so noisy and I can't enjoy my nice warm vapor producing shower that will eventually cause me to get sick from mold particles floating around in the air while I am using my bathroom.
Does this about sum it up for you and don't we all do this from time to time. We want to enjoy our shower time, so we close up everything and when we are in our bath sauna environment relaxing our house is getting some damaging moisture that could cause mold and mildew.

Open a window or door a little when you shower. Get some air circulating through the bathroom and prevent damage to your nice house.

Put up with a little inconvenience for you homes sake and your pocket book.

Greg Vanden Berge has been in the home building and remodeling business in California for over 30 years. With this knowledge he has created a few websites that provide useful information for home owners as well as contractors. His main goal is to educate professionals in the home related businesses, dealing with problems that can easily be avoided with just a little bit of information.

His website provides all kinds of answers to remodeling and new house building in North San Diego Home Remodeling Carlsbad Home Remodeling

Visit us now for Bathroom Ideas

Greg Vanden Berge Quotes

Tips to Effectively Manage Stress

Life today is filled with various kinds of stresses and strains. All of us are trying to cope up with one or the other kind of stress. While most of us manage to keep our chin up and swim through our personal sea of troubles, there are those among us who simply succumb to it and fall prey to the petty issues of life.

The presence of stress and tension robs us of our natural vitality and enthusiasm for life, rendering us dull and grumpy, far reducing our levels of efficiency in all aspects of our life. If we want to start leading a truly happy life, we first need to free our mind of all that accumulated tension.
For the body to remain healthy, we first need to control our mind. A healthy mind alone gives rise to a healthy body. We will never be able to achieve our goal until and unless we learn to relax and let go of our own bondage of negativity.

What exactly is relaxation?

Relaxation is not about stopping all activity and shirking work. Quite on the contrary, it is about getting rid of all the negative energies within you, thereby optimizing your energies to get the most possible success and happiness out of your life. Relaxation is all about understanding and accepting the various challenges thrown at you, with a balanced outlook, without getting upset at the slightest provocation.

You can get your life back on track by employing various methods of relaxation, some of which are discussed in detail below:

Meditation

Meditation, which is about mental control and exercising the mind to remain still, is indeed one of the best ways to manage stress. While meditation does not help in changing life circumstances, what is does is to teach you enough mind control to tackle difficult and unexpected events in your life. This ancient relaxation technique, practically a way of life with the people of the Indian sub-continent and the whole of the Orient, is a method of focusing oneself on the 'Higher Self', thus remaining unruffled by mundane, day-to-day events of life.

Meditation is best performed in complete silence, controlling breathing patterns in a certain prescribed method.

Relaxation by way of visualization

You can effectively use projected mental images to ease your way out of mental and physical stress. Practicing visualization techniques for relaxation helps bestow tremendous peace on the mind. For instance, if you feel stressed out at work and are dying for a break, you could close your eyes and picture yourself watching a glorious waterfront sunset at some exotic destination. It will immediately relax your mind and put it to rest at least for the time being!

Progressive relaxation

With this technique, you can achieve total relaxation by consciously tensing and releasing your muscles one by one, giving your body a sense of complete ease and comfort. This technique is especially useful to tackle several types of common aches and pains.

Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a recent and much-debated technique to achieve relaxation, which requires you to observe and formally record your mind-body responses with the help of certain medical equipment. While there are many who swear by this method, there are an equal number of other experts who do not at all recommend this technique of mind control.

The above are only a handful of techniques you can employ for relaxation. Here is a word of caution. Do visit your healthcare professional before you choose any one method. There are some mental control techniques that require you to get a clean health chit from your doctor, especially if you are suffering from some medical disorder. Some techniques might actually end up changing your physiology in some way if taken to the extreme. So always be moderate in your approach and go slow and steady with your progress.

Priya Viswanathan is a Performing Artiste, an Internet Marketer and publisher of Inner Power Positive, a website that focuses on looking at positive thinking as a way of life.

Home Improvement Tip - Fixing a Squeaky Floor

Question: I have a floor that every single time I step on it I get the most annoying sound. I don't know what it does to me or why it bothers me so much. My kitchen floor squeaks and actually moves up and down if you are standing on it. The whole floor moves. How do I stop it from moving and squeaking. Help Me Greg!

Answer: It sounds like you have a broken floor joist. You are going to have to go under your house. If you have a basement this will be a little easier to fix. It is my guess that you don't have a basement or you would have seen the broken floor joist by now.

Have someone stand on the floor in the spot that squeaks and have them move up and down while you are under the house. Don't have them jump up and down while you are under the house. This could cause more damage to the structural framing of the floor. Once you are in the right position under the floor you can have them start moving slowly. What you are looking for is one of the floor joist that are moving.

If you see one of them moving. Look to see where the damage is. Is it a split, crack, wood rot or a big knot in the wood that has loosened up and fell out. Once you find the damaged floor joist you can now think about repairing it.

If you don't see any floor joist moving. Have the person on top start moving a little bit more and you can even have them jump on it a few times until you see something out of place. If you still don't see any broken floor joist. Start looking at the sub-floor, this will be plywood of some form, 1 x 6 or 2 x 6 materials.

What you are looking for is movement of any kind. Is there a separation or movement between the sub-floor and the floor joist. If you still can't find the problem maybe it is time to call in a professional.

The main thing you are going to be looking for is movement of any kind.

Most squeaky floors are caused from the sub-floor rubbing up and down on a nail. If you have carpeting and you have a squeaky floor you can do your best to locate a floor joist and screw right through your carpeting into the floor joist.

For more help on fixing squeaky floors visit http://gregvan.com/wood_repair.htm

Thanks for the great question. I hope it helps.

Greg Vanden Berge has been in the home building and remodeling business for over 30 years. With this knowledge he has created a few websites that provide useful information for home owners as well as contractors. His main goal is to educate professionals in the home related businesses, dealing with problems that can easily be avoided with just a little bit of information.

His website http://gregvan.com provides all kinds of answers to remodeling and new house building issues that could create major damage as well as possible damage to your pocket book.

Visit us now for Home Improvement Tips

Nothing Will Be Impossible

How the Universe Will Make You Rich

If you are an avid watcher or listener of motivational products like DVD, Podcasts or Life Coaching then you may have heard of The Law of Attraction. This is a concept that has been around since the beginning of the twentieth century and has been debated and discussed in many texts throughout the last 100 years.

Very basically, the concept is based around the following four steps;

1. Know what you want.

2. Ask the universe for it.

3. Feel and behave as if the object of your desire is on its way.

4. Be open to receiving it.

Should we be considering this concept or is it merely just another collection of new-age philosophy that is designed to encourage a wave of positive thinking? Let us discuss what the Law is, whether it is real and how we can use the concept to help our personal development.

It is easy to view the Law of Attraction as the easy route. Just think of what you want and it will happen for you. The obvious response is to think to yourself that there is nothing to worry about because success will just come to you. But this is not the concepts purpose, as you will have to actually do something for it to work. But you can activate it by amending your thinking to begin the process towards success and growth.

Have you ever thought about someone and the telephone rings and it is them? I think we have all had this at least once or twice. If this happened once to a friend or family member, we could think how amazing that is and it is a co-incidence. But to happen to many people has to make us stop and think. The philosophy is that what we think about will happen to us, whether it is good or bad. Therefore it is sensible to make our thoughts pure and totally focused on what we want to achieve. The Law of Attraction says that when we think about something the Universe will help make it happen. Noel Edmonds a popular U.K television presenter wrote down that he wanted a new T.V. show after having success in the 1990's with Noels House Party. He has said in many interviews that without the Universes help he would not be enjoying the success of Deal or No Deal or Noels Christmas Presents, which are his latest two successful shows.

Look at your current lifestyle critically. Lots of people have the goal of getting up, going to work, getting home as quickly as possible and then watching T.V. The universe makes this happen and they tend to achieve this quite well! But the law does not care what we want, it merely provides it blindly. So it is very important that you empower yourself to implementing some change and take control of your earning power and future. It does not necessarily need to be a business or even making money, but follow your goals with complete focus and the law will do the rest.

The law is based on what the power of positive thought can achieve. The fact you are here reading this article suggests you have an awareness of this and can relate to it, even if it at present observing others is the only tangible evidence. Everyone who has a rags to riches story is testament to the power of positive thought. In 1937 Napoleon Hill published his book Think and Grow Rich which became one of the best selling books of all time selling over 60 million copies. He discusses the importance of controlling your own thoughts in order to achieve success, as well as the energy that thoughts have and their ability to attract other thoughts and therefore opportunities.Can youwork out what Hills great secret of the book holds? He said it is better if you work it out for yourself, and it is widely believe the Law of Attraction is the big secret he alludes to throughout the book.

Scientists are critical of the law because they cannot measure it. The word law implies a set of rules, so when the only way we can measure the success of the law is through occurrences which could easily be looked on as luck we are obviously open to criticism when believing in things like this. Another very obvious criticism is that if merely thought produced positive results then why poverty, famine and death in third world and other suffering countries?

Readers are encouraged to watch The Secret (2006 which focuses on the Law of Attraction. This can be found on amazon. This gained so much exposure that Oprah Winfrey dedicated two shows to the concept, and Larry King also had a lengthy discussion on the subject.

My personal take on the idea is that it enforces things I already hold close to me. Positive thinking never hurts, but to think negatively or not at all means you can never reach your potential. If you decline to learn how to ride a bike do not expect to be able to cycle. So do not be one of these people who sits back and shouts that life is not kind to them, stand up and force life to consider you as a potential success.

Whether or not you are helped by the Universe in reaching your goals, a lot of your assistance will come from within. The dogged determination to let nothing stand in your way will break as many barriers and obstacles as any law can. If the law does exist, then combining your own positive attitude with the universes help will make you unstoppable.

Malcolm Clarke is a self-help and personal success writer.

He maintains his success website that offers articles, podcasts and products.

Visit http://www.itsawinner.co.uk today.

Crystals For Moon in Aries

Moon Crystal: Snow Quartz

Intuition Crystal: Aventurine

For your fiery moon, Snow Quartz works perfectly as it helps you understand the value of co-operation and finding the middle ground in situations. Snow Quartz also assists energy to go to its perfect balance for your being and it also helps the behavior patterns that always seem to be ingrained in the Aries Moon sign. Snow Quartz also helps negativity and clears the mind and brings clarity.

You have great courage and are very initiative, with strong ideals and lots of stamina, with the ability to assert yourself. You are an enthusiastic leader and others will follow where you lead. Aventurine will support these positive moon qualities and assist you in your care and concern for others. Aventurine is also used to elevate your spiritual vibrations, this crystal works very quickly and that works well with your impatient moon.

You have charisma in all that you do; you are full of passion, freedom and adventure along with emotional needs that demand instant gratification. You seldom like advice and/or being told what to do and some would say that you tend to be headstrong, but your real desire is to move out of selfishness to make contact with others and be open to friendships; the crystal that assists you to compromise between your needs and the needs of others is Kunzite, this crystal helps compulsive behavior, immaturity, depression and any thing related to stress.

Pyrite is excellent for your self worth and inner peace, you hate to be kept waiting and Pyrite carried with you all the time reduces this frustration and also helps negativity.

Blue Lace Agate assists in anger, impatience and encourages acceptance, discipline and reliability with the headstrong Aries Moon; it can also bring balance and emotional stability and improves communication on all levels.

Thought for the Day: "If you have not consciously made the decision to be rich, excellent, and healthy, then you have unconsciously made the decision to be poor, mediocre, and unhealthy." -Wallace D. Wattles-

Darlene has researched, practiced and implemented many spiritual and personal growth paths: Crystal Readings for Vibrant Living; Feng Shui for personal tranquility; Sacred Movements for a disciplined life; Gentle Touch Energy Healer; Whole and organic food advocate-Food as Medicine; Artist of hand woven and beaded amulet basket necklaces. She resides in California in her own personal wellness center and sanctuary. She brings her wisdom, knowledge and spiritual self to you in all that she does. Darlene's mission is to teach and encourage individuals how to find and maintain their balance in mind, body, spirit connection, which brings peace, joy and prosperity into their lives. They learn how to experience the joy of balanced living. She accomplishes this thru her Crystal Readings for Vibrant Living and her Wellness Coach Program, which is offer to individuals and corporations. Darlene Siddons Spirited Boutique

Another Point of View on 2012

Dovid Krafchow author of Kabbalistic Tarot explains the meaning behind the Mayan calendar according to Jewish knowledge and scientific investigation.

If you're really seeking the kingdom of heaven, the glory of God and the true vision that Jesus had, check out some great Christian articles . These articles are designed to teach and educate Christians.

Wandering Or Lost Souls

Mexican Food Appetizers

Mexican foods today are increasingly becoming popular and a favorite. Individuals who are looking for different types but delicious foods always ask for Mexican food especially those enticing Mexican food appetizers. Another reason why many are asking for these Mexican foods is that this type of cuisine usually is very healthy. It uses lean meat and variety of vegetables mixed with choice spices. Some of the Mexican foods even showcased the use of maize, corn, tortillas, beans, hot chili peppers and tomatoes among others.

Mexican food appetizers have long been the preference and favorite of many Americans because of its strong flavors and healthy colorful ingredients. Chili, tomatoes and beans are the usual content or main ingredients of many Mexican foods and appetizers in most menus or recipe that you can find today. The taste is also unique but delicious, thus Mexican food really appeals to American people as well as those visitors who like their food hot but appetizing most of the time. The Guacamole, Mexican pizza and Quick Quesadillas are some of the most common Mexican appetizers that are popular to many resto goers.

Today, a lot of cuisine authorities like chefs and food experts are coming up with variety of Mexican food appetizers to serve to their customers and families. One of these new appetizers are Green Stuff Guacamole is an avocado dip that is created with several of the green vegetables. The Edamane Dip or Edamole which is said to be rich in protein and fibers is another new adaptation of the famous Guacamole. It tastes like guacamole to some. It goes perfectly with raw vegetables, pita bread and Mexican tortilla chips. The Montery Jack and White Bean Dip is another of these new appetizers that you may also try to make in your homes today rather than getting the first plunge in famous restaurants.

Actually, Mexican food appetizers are easy to make if you like to have your own. All you have to know are the basics in Mexican food cooking and you may find your way in discovering your own appetizer recipe and dips. You do not have to be chef either. There are several online recipes and Mexican recipe guide books that you can use. You just need to be patient and get your brains working. Creativity is one characteristic that you should have if you decide to make your own Mexican appetizers. This will be your tool to create the best Mexican appetizer of your choice.

Candis Reade is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about Mexican Food Appetizers, please visit My Great Mexican Food for current articles and discussions.

False Prophet Are Biblical Facts- Movie Video

Can you believe this guy, if you look up these verses in the Bible, you will see that there and there, but how did he come up with these ideas about the Sabbath, teenagers and the fact that the Bible is repulsive.

If you're really seeking the kingdom of heaven, the glory of God and the true vision that Jesus had, check out some great Christian articles . These articles are designed to teach and educate Christians.

Persistence Or Failure In Goals

Where to Find a Licensed Acupuncturist

If you want to be relieved from your pain or be treated from some of your disorders like eating disorders, habitual disorders and the like with the help of a licensed acupuncturist, you should definitely know where to find one. There are several acupuncturists you can find but it is very much important for you to know who among them are indeed licensed to avoid risking your health and to avoid paying for the services of someone who isn't a licensed acupuncturist.

The most important thing that you must do to help you find a licensed acupuncturist is to first and foremost check online. If you happen to live in a country that does not widely practice acupuncture, you might find it very difficult to know which one is actually licensed. It would therefore be wise for you to conduct a brief research to see all the options that you have.

It would also be a good thing for you to ask around with your friends and family members who have tried acupuncture on who they could actually recommend. This way, you can find it much easier to be referred to an acupuncturist that you can also be assured is also a licensed one.

You can also ask help from your physician or from famous hospitals in your area where you can find a licensed acupuncturist. This way, you can have the peace of mind when it comes to ensuring that your acupuncturist of choice is not only good but is also licensed and would not risk your health and condition in any way.

Do you want to have a healthy body? Discover the Traditional Chinese Medicine that will enable you to live a long and healthy life.

Spiritual Connection to the Earth

From an oversea's show, spliced to view the message from one elder (Floyd Red Crow Westerman)...how america has come and is destined to go. .. added the Elders Speak to the title

Life of Jesus

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a spiritual help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Spiritual Benefits

Shuistrology Could Bring You Good Luck This Year

What is shuistrology you ask? It's a term coined by author Ellen Whitehurst when she combined feng shui and astrology.

It's mostly for fun but it has its roots in traditional wisdom that could make this year lucky for you. She gives this advice in her new book:

Make a clean sweep. Dig in to your house or apartment with a deep cleaning to clear the way for an exciting new year. Don't clean on New Year's Day itself; you might sweep away the good luck.

If cleaning the whole house seems like too big a chore, try just concentrating on the kitchen. That's the room that brings you prosperity and health. Look around your house and find 27 things that you can rearrange to bring good look from all directions. To attract good fortune, put 27 one dollar bills in your wallet and 49 coins in your pocket or change purse. Sprinkle some ground ginger on them and on your checkbook.

Focus solely on the future. Conversations about events that took place in the past should be avoided. Talking about dreams, hopes and wishes for the future is encouraged. Take nine small oranges and place them in a bowl on your kitchen table. This will attract sweet things in the coming year. If you don't have oranges, bowls of candy, nuts or fruits are lucky as well.

Rid your life of all the negatives. Scare away any destructive influences in your life by lighting firecrackers at midnight (don't scare the neighbors though) or banging pots and pans together.

The first words of your day should be positive ones, even if they are not said by you. Tell someone to give you a positive message just after midnight. This can encourage good fortune for you. Make an effort to not lose your temper or swear during the day, this can have a negative effect on your luck.

Eat foods that are considered lucky. Some swear by corned beef and cabbage. Others will tell you salmon and oranges. Leafy greens symbolize money. Collard greens along with black eyed peas are eaten in the south for good luck. Folks in Texas prefer cabbage or turnip greens.

Cheri Brennan is an organization and planning specialist. To get more articles, tips and resources about Feng Shui, please visit http://fengshui.newinfohighway.com

Oprah Winfrey Show and the Movie the Secret

the Movie the Secret Was a Big Success, Watch Some Clips from the Oprah Winfrey Show on This Video

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a religious help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Lou Holtz

Clean House, Clean Head

When you walk in the front door of your home after a long, hard day, do you feel soothed, comfortable, and truly at home? Or does it look like a scene from the film Animal House?

Imagine looking around you and only seeing, feeling, hearing, smelling appealing things. Imagine coming home from work to a home where you love every single thing you see. Where every single thing has a purpose and a space, and you know exactly where everything is, and it all functions beautifully.

You CAN live this way!

Do you have clutter in your home or office? Are you behind on bills? Are there stacks of papers or other items that have been there since the 80's, and you are waiting to get "a round tuit?" Are you simply a busy person, or are you a packrat or a hoarder? If you are a chronic packrat or hoarder, you may consider seeking professional help and/or medication to feel safe without the "protection" that all your "stuff" provides.

Well, there is a direct psychological parallel to "stuff" out there; whatever is going on in your head is generally reflected in your house. Certainly some of us are more affected by our environments than others....some of us are more sensitive than others...some seem to frankly be completely oblivious to mess. Some actually swear that they do better with a mess, but it is generally an organized mess, yet they'd be even more functional if their environment were more efficient.
Yet underneath it all, they are simply comfortable with the familiar.

Many people would love to have an organized environment, but keep procrastinating while their piles of stuff and their guilt/fear/anxiety increase! Here are Ten Tips - - some really simple steps to help you get started on a cleaner house, head, and life:

1. Make a list of every closet, drawer, etc. that needs to be cleared. For example, master bathroom: 8 drawers, one linen closet. Home office: 6 desk drawers, 5 filing cabinets drawers, sofa stacked with papers. This crucial first step is not to overwhelm you; quite the contrary, it's to give you the big picture so you can break it down into easily manageable baby steps. Allow yourself all the time you need.....one or two hours a day or a week. This entire project may take you weeks or even months to complete. But you will feel better every single step of the way.....just imagine the burden being lifted by simply starting! Some couples and families find creative ways to do this together.

2. Next, prioritize which area needs to be tackled first. If you are close to bankruptcy, you might want to handle your office first. If your spouse is researching divorce attorneys because of the bedroom clutter, you might want to start there. Get your list in order, and choose one room, one area to make your debut. Pick your favorite time of day and day of the week to work on this project. Write it in your calendar/datebook/Blackberry and honor this date with yourself as if it were as important as a DDS or MD appointment so you are psychologically geared up for it. If letting go is already difficult, why not set yourself up for success by making it easier in every way possible? Enroll a friend of family member to help you, but only if he/she can be lovingly decisive. If you have children, allow them to help you. Know that you are modeling excellent behaviors for them to take on and pass on to their children. You are training them to be more decisive, organized, and let the small stuff go. Wear comfy clothes, put on your favorite upbeat music, and have your favorite meal and beverage (or fresh flowers, etc.) ready for you as a reward when you complete this.

3. On D-Day (De-clutter Day): Take every single thing out of the closet or drawer. Vacuum and/or clean out all dust and dirt. Thoroughly. Have rags and antibacterial cleansers handy and perhaps an air freshener. Polish the furniture. You may wish to line drawers with paper, and/or add organizational dividers.

4. Next, sort items into piles of (A) must keep because I use it frequently, (B) not sure, haven't used in a while, and (C) haven't used in years and frankly forgot I had it. Remember, nothing is gone forever. If you find later that you discarded something you still need, you can get another....perhaps an updated, better one. When we hold onto the past, we deny the future possibilities of improvement.

5. Put all of C items in a garbage bag and label for your favorite church, charity, homeless people, shelter, mission, or Salvation Army. OR, label for the garage sale you will plan when complete with the clearing phase.

6. Sort A items in an organized fashion: color code, size, etc. You can get very inexpensive racks and containers for drawers and closets that will keep all your items neat and orderly. Call me anal, but my closet is arranged (and labeled) DRESSES, SUITS, BLOUSES, PANTS, SWEATERS, and all color coded within the category. A REAL time saver when I want to mix and match.

7. Revisit B items and rate each on a scale of 1-10 in attachment, 10 being you really feel attached/scared to let it go. Anything scoring 5 or lower goes you know where.......in with the C items for recycling or garage sale. Another way to deal with the Bs is by asking yourself: Is this item a reminder of my past, or in line with my future?

8. Repeat this cycle in every area of your home or office. You will probably feel like your home has "lost weight," as indeed it has. Enjoy the feeling! Celebrate with that favorite meal, beverage, flowers, etc. You've earned a treat.

9. With all the items you are letting go, have a garage sale and make a few extra bucks. Or take to a local eBay seller and have them do it for you. Or give away the items to a friend, a college student, to a shelter or Salvation Army or a church. Remember, you are not losing these things.....you are recycling, sharing with others who can really use them. You've outgrown them. Others need them more than you do.

10. If even the thought of this is overwhelming, you might consider hiring a master of Feng Shui, a personal organizer, or a clutter buster, to come in and work with you patiently through every step of the process. Be prepared for emotions to come up. A good Feng Shui master or organizer will know how to walk you through this crucial phase. Keep a journal close by if you are working this alone, and write out your feelings. Bottling them inside you is exactly what is bottlenecking your home's energy.

After you're done, you want to put a maintenance plan in effect to insure continual comfort and psychological health. Once a week, more or less, check in and survey your home or office. Throw away or file away everything you can. Organize bills in a chronological fashion and keep in some sort of TO BE PAID stack. Look at it every week and see what needs to be paid. Debts (like excess pounds!) are definitely a form of clutter. Check out your closets and clothes drawers with every season's change, or just at the New Year, to clear out the C items, and survey the B items.

A healthy psyche can flow as easily as a ship on an open sea. Imagine how difficult it would be for a ship to sail through cluttered waters. It would take enormous energy and time to maneuver around obstacle after obstacle.

Here's to smooth sailing on the sea of life!

Dr. Nancy B. Irwin is a Los Angeles-based psychotherapist/therapeutic hypnotist, and author of nonfiction YOU-TURN: CHANGING DIRECTION IN MIDLIFE, a collection of over 40 stories of people over 40 who made successful life transitions.

Spiritual Connection to the Earth

From an oversea's show, spliced to view the message from one elder (Floyd Red Crow Westerman)...how america has come and is destined to go. .. added the Elders Speak to the title

Life of Jesus

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a spiritual help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Is Imagination Better Than Knowl

Stair Lighting Problems

Walking up and down the stairs in the dark could become a safety issue. If the stairs in the house are not that old, there should be a light switch at the top and a light switch at the bottom of the stairway. This is a three way switch and is designed to allow you to turn the stair lighting on as you walk up the stairs and then turn the stair lighting off, once you've safely reached the top of the stairway. And vice versa as she walked down the stairs.

If you don't have a light switch, there are motion sensor lights that are battery operated and can be installed easily in the stairway. These lights can provide you with peace of mind, while protecting your family from accidents.

Stairway accidents are nothing to joke about, I lived in a two-story house with four other people and was the last one to fall down the stairway. None of us got seriously injured and the stairway was built to meet local building codes and was inspected by a building and safety inspector. The stairs were built correctly and the stair lighting was no problem, but people still fell down the stairway and it always happens in the evening.

During the day time there were two windows that let plenty of light into the stairway and in the evening the stairway became quite dark, rarely was the stair lightning ever turned on. This could have been outright laziness but nevertheless, it was rarely used and eventually became a safety issue.

Lighting your stairway might not end all of your problems but it can and some of your problems. There are plenty of stair lighting systems available on the market today and some of the battery operated stair lighting systems can be installed by most homeowners.

Think safety always and do your best to solve your stair lighting problems as soon as possible to prevent injuries or accidents.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If your looking for some more building stairs or home building ideas.

Faith Belief Or Education

Repairing a Leaking Toilet

Let me explain how a toilet works. First when you go to flush the toilet a little arm pulls a rubber flapper up and lets the water drain into the toilet bowl. The water draining into the toilet bowl forces the old water out along with the number two or number one waste and extremities.

If the toilet sounds like it is running there is a good chance that the seal between the rubber flapper and the plastic rain at the bottom of the toilet is broken somehow. The sound you are hearing is water running around this ring and in to the toilet bowl.

This leak is actually causing no damage to the toilet itself but is wasting water. Hence the water bill will be a little higher if you don't fix the leaking toilet. The best way to find out if this is actually your problem is to take the toilet tank lid off. Then stick your hand down into the toilet bowl and press gently on the rubber flap.

If the water stops leaking or starts running faster this is your problem. Turn the water off to the toilet. There will be a shut off valve on the wall under your toilet bowl in the bathroom. After you turn the water off removed the plastic flap and examine it.

You will be looking for a warped toilet flap or of some sort or grooves on the flapper itself. Take the toilet flapper down to your local home improvement store and buy a new one. Go home and replace the new toilet flapper and this should solve 90% of your leaking toilet problems.

There is one more thing it could be. With the toilet tank lid off, check to see if water is overflowing into the little round plastic pipe. This plastic pipe should have a small hose running from the float valve assembly into it.

If the water is over flowing from the toilet tank into this little plastic pipe you will need to adjust the float.

First thing you will need to do is while the toilet is running lift up on the float lever arm. If the water stops you can simply bend the metal arm of the float lever. The purpose of bending the arm will force the float deeper into the water there for stopping the water from rising over the small tube in the center of your toilet.

There are few parts to a toilet and most parts can be purchased at your local hardware or home improvement centers. Toilet repairs like this can be made simple and the parts used to replace are inexpensive.

Happy Toilet Repairing.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more House Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and Some Great Plumbing Ideas

Do You Believe In The Bible

Old Versus New Construction Adhesives

When I first started building in 1978 as a young carpenter and an apprentice to my father. I had the grand illusions of becoming what they call on the east coast a master carpenter and on the West Coast a journeyman carpenter.

Part of my training in construction was learning to use the proper adhesive and caulking for different parts of the building project. We used to use a standard solvent-based construction adhesive when we were building our stairs and they would also use this adhesive on the floors to eliminate squeaks.

This glue dried extremely hard and everyone thought the harder the better. This construction adhesive was great when I started using it in 1978. There wasn't the polyethylene super elastic expandable multi-use glue and caulking construction adhesives at that time.

We used this brittle glue and it always seemed like a waste of time. As the wood dried and started to shrink the brittle hard glue would crack and break away from the wood it was glued to. Normally the glue was breaking away from plywood floor sheeting. I have seen 2 x 12 shrink 3/8 of an inch before in as little as a few months during the summer.

Now as time went on the old construction adhesives were replaced with a new window sealant made by a company called TOPS. This stuff was the hottest and best product of the decade to me. I used this stuff for everything.

This new urethane glue was now being used for sub floors, stair treads, sealing the windows flashing and siding. This stuff is still in use today and is a great choice for all of the uses I mentioned above. The price for this sealant is about double that of most water-based or solvent-based glues. But it's worth it.

So there you have it I like the urethane glues because of their flexibility, elasticity, their ability to adhere to wood concrete or metal and their performance in the years ahead.

There is one thing to keep in mind when using construction adhesives. Most construction workers seem to ignore the fact that the wood needs to be dry and clean before applying the construction adhesive. There have been quite a few times I have witnessed carpenters working with me and ignoring my advice.

Don't put yourself into this category. Doing quality work and following the manufacturers recommended installation instructions for their product will decrease your liability if there is ever a problem. Read the instructions carefully on all of the building products you use.

The manufacturers of these construction adhesives have thoroughly tested them. So use them properly and follow all safety warnings.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and Carlsbad Structural Repairs

Getting Up Earlier

Planning Your Bathroom Remodel Budget - Home Improvement Ideas

As a bathroom remodeling contractor, I get calls from people, that have no idea what they want or how much anything is going to cost. Here's some simple tips that can be very helpful when planning a bathroom remodel budget.

Bathroom Remodeling Investment

In 2008, the average mid-range bathroom cost around $16,000 and you could recoup around $12,000 of your original investment upon the sale of your home. According to a popular remodeling magazine, larger bathrooms using expensive fixtures, tile, bathtubs, woodworking, toilets and showers had an average of $52,000. Upon the sale of a home, you could recoup around $36,000 of your original investment.

Finding out How Much Things Cost

My first suggestion, would be to visit your local home improvement center, lumber yard or plumbing supply warehouse. Larger stores like Home Depot and Lowe's, seemed to provide you with value pricing but don't have a large selection. While doing some research on the Internet I noticed that some of their pricing is outrageously, outrageous. Some plumbing supply warehouses can provide value but beware others won't.

Create a List of Bathroom Remodeling Parts

You can get a good idea of your bathroom remodel costs for your budget by making a list of bathroom parts with pricing and then adding them up for a grand total. If you're a total bathroom remodel budget is $15,000 and you have a $6,000 bathtub with $4000 worth of tile, you could have a budget problem.

Figuring out the Labor

You will have to contact a contractor to get an actual cost for the labor. Sometimes you can double the cost of your bathroom remodeling parts to get a rough idea. If you have a list or a couple of lists and a few pictures of some sample bathrooms, this will make the contractor's job easier and often they can give you a labor price within a few days.

Give Yourself a Cushion

I would suggest leaving yourself a small financial cushion for any additional remodeling items. For example, you could see a different toilet, or instead of painting the walls, you now choose to wallpaper, you could incur additional expenses that you haven't planned for. If you know exactly what you want and stick to the original bathroom remodeling plan, you shouldn't need the cushion.

Financial problems often transfer into construction problems, so spend some time figuring out, how much money you want to spend on the bathroom remodel and try not to go overboard on the budget. I hate to see homeowners struggling with home improvement loan payments. Try to create a bathroom remodeling budget that is realistic and will not create a financial burden upon you or your family.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a home buyers guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If your looking for some more bathroom remodeling or home building ideas.

Is Money A Big Part Of Organized

Hiring a Contractor For Bathroom Remodeling - Remodeling Contractors

Well here's the age old question, how do we go about finding a decent bathroom remodeling contractor.

Here's some things you will be looking for in a contractor.

1. Is Your Contractor Fair and Honest?

2. Does Your Contractor Have Experience Remodeling and Designing Bathrooms?

3. Can You Actually Find a Contractor Who Will Complete the Job in a Timely Manner?

4. Do You Think the Workers Will Be Able to Clean the Job up Daily?

5. Will the Contractor Show up on Time?

6. Is the Contractor Going to Work At Least Eight Hours a Day?

7. Does the Contractor's Crew Have Experience?

8. Is Your Contractor and His Crew Courteous?

If you find a contractor for your bathroom remodeling project that has answered yes to all questions above, hire that person immediately. Most contractors can sincerely answer yes to half of the questions above. If you're looking for the ultimate bathroom remodeling contractor, you could be searching for quite a while, you're looking for some one that is competent and you feel comfortable with.

When hiring a contractor, look for someone who has your interest in mind first and not theirs. Find someone who is willing to help with the designed process of your bathroom and the remodeling. If you find a contractor to be arrogant or controlling, there is a good chance, your bathroom might not turn out the way you envision it.

When hiring a contractor for your bathroom remodeling project or any home improvement project, the most important thing to keep in mind is, whether or not you feel comfortable with this person or not. Never hire a contractor you're not comfortable with.

If a contractor is referred to you by someone you trust, this does not guarantee you will be happy with the bathroom remodel. Most referrals that I have gotten over the years are like rolling the dice, I believe I would have done just as good picking a name out of a hat.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more building stairs and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Overcoming Difficulties Talking

Installing a 32 Inch Back Door

In some older houses you will find a 30 inch back door. Have you ever tried to move a refrigerator or some large furniture through a 30 inch door? Keep in mind most bedroom doors are 30 inches wide and are in 36 inch hallways. 30 inch doors and bedrooms make it tough to move some furniture in too.

Let's start with the price difference between a 30 inch door and a 32 inch door. The cost difference is usually going to be around $20. If you are building a hundred homes this could become quite an additional expense. So we can understand why the home builder installed a 30 inch door in the back of our home.

He got the extra money in his pocket, you got a headache.

Here's the big problem. If you ever want to install a larger door you will need to replace the structural door framing. Now this is where you could run into a little bit of an expense. Changing the framing for a wider door could become quite costly. It could actually cost over $1000 in some cases.

Now if the homebuilder would have originally installed a 32 inch door in your house it might have ran him as high as an additional $45. How can this be? I will give you the first clue. There is a good chance the homebuilder will not be moving into any of these houses. If for some strange instance he did move into the house, he would learn the same lesson whenever he needed to move a large item into the house.

I'm a contactor and learned this lesson in a long time ago.

If you are building a new home you might even want to consider installing a 36 inch back door. This door will give you plenty of room when it comes to moving large items in or out of your house. The cost difference between a 36 inch door and a 32 inch door is usually around $20 also.

When building a new home most people don't give very much thought about their interior or exterior doors. Here's a simple chart I made to help with some basic door decisions.

Bathroom Doors Should Be 28 Inches Wide Minimum.
Bedroom Doors Should Be 30 Inches Wide Minimum.
Front Doors Should Be At Least 36 Inches Wide
Back Doors and Garage Doors Should Be At Least 32 Inches Wide

If you are a professional football or basketball player don't use these numbers above.

If you have large sliding glass doors or French doors throughout your home and can use them to move large items into the house you can install whatever size doors you choose that are comfortable to walk through.

Give some thought when installing a new door on your next project and keep some of the above tips in mind..

If you are designing a home give some thought to the stairways and hallways in the home as well.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and Bay Window Ideas

Bible Verses That Don

Self-Help Anxiety Advice - Stopping Worries From Transforming Into Anxiety and Panic

Self-help anxiety advice can teach you effective methods to control worries that get out of control and turn into outright panic attacks. Worries can become a frequent unwanted guest in our lives that just won't go away. When worry takes up a significant portion of your minds daily activity, the chances of that worry boiling into a panic attack become soaringly higher.

Worry and anxiety are normal and necessary human reactions. Mankind has always had to contemplate the "fight or flight" dilemma and anxiety is the ingredient that fuels the answer. Without worry we would likely get ourselves in a ton of trouble. It's unlikely that our species would have survived this long without some old fashioned fear to let us know when to run and hide. Like all animals, a little bit of anxiety is key to our survival.

Worry can also become our worst enemy when it appears in all aspects of our lives. When you're mind is riddled with worries, anxiety soon occupies your mood. At some point this overabundance of anxiety can trigger a terrifying panic attack. Self-help anxiety methods that minimize worry may be the solution to such a problem. Learning effective ways to lessen the amount of worrying you do throughout the day will start you on the path to a calmer mindset.

Awareness of when your mind starts worrying or thinking negative thoughts can make a big difference in the amount of anxiety you deal with. Most chronic worriers rarely realize when they're worrying. It becomes such a normal activity, therefore it's hard to imagine life without it. Negative thoughts will run rampant if they are allowed to. Self-help anxiety methods like conscious mindfulness of worrisome thoughts can begin to interrupt the familiar flow of negative thoughts.

When you can actively identify the negative patterns of your mind, you gain the ability of being able to make the decision to stop worrying. When this awareness is practiced, you become an active participant in what kind of thoughts rule your day. If you choose to let worry continue, it will manifest physically into the common symptoms of anxiety. Stop worrying and you stop the cycle.

It's normal to worry about things effecting our life; so don't drive yourself crazy trying to eliminate every ounce of worrying. Allow the common initial worry that may accompany stressful events. But also be aware of how long it lasts, or if the same worry surfaces again and again. This is the kind of worry that is completely unnecessary and guaranteed to transform into anxiety.

This repeating pattern of negative thoughts is what brings about the symptoms of anxiety. Self-help anxiety curing methods are designed to end these harmful patterns and restore order back to your life. Just realizing that this cycle of worry and stress is what causes so much anxiety can make a substantial change in the amount of anxiety you deal with and will have a lasting effect on your overall well-being.

Awareness if the first step in ending the anxiety cycle. You need to practice this awareness of your thought patterns everyday. With enough practice, those anxiety causing thoughts will give up trying to rule your life.

If you're interested in learning about the single most effective anxiety curing method, visit Mike's self-help anxiety website:

http://self-helpanxiety.blogspot.com/

Gustav Davidson

Could We Be Wrong

Greek mythology is taught in most schools during some time of your education, if you grew up in the United States. I remember looking back at the Greeks and thinking, "I can't believe these people were that stupid, who believes that there is a God of the ocean or one for love." I couldn't believe as a young elementary school student, that these people got caught up in these beliefs.

I mean come on, I was a Christian at that time and there was only one God, how stupid can these people be or misinformed about the way things really and truly are. It's kind of sad, but all the people in the past that did not accept Jesus Christ as the one true God are all living in hell. Well, that's how I thought when I was a child.

Some of the mythological stories are about pain, love, happiness, plotting, scheming and power. Now we're talking about something that most people can understand. These gods were just like regular people, except some of them had extraordinary powers and if they used them poorly, they would have to answer to the gods god, Zeus.

At the time in history, that the Greeks believed and their gods, they were one of the most civilized groups of people on Earth. They had some of the best and brightest scholars around. The Roman Empire and some of the United States government was based on information provided by Greek scholars.

Have you ever thought about your religion as being wrong? If we now know that the Greek gods and goddesses do not exist, do you think our modern day beliefs can also be wrong. If we could go into the future 1000 years, could children be studying about Christianity, Islam or Buddhism, like modern day children study about Greek mythology and other beliefs that we view today as unbelievable or impossible.

The Greek gods and goddesses made sense to the citizens of Greece in the past. Do you think in the future that our modern day religions will be viewed in the same way as we now view Greek mythology.

Looking back at the past, often inspires me for a better future.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing, marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, You Can Have It All

Greg is currently working on a self help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion

Crimes Solved With Psychic Power

Super Christians and Conversion

Gregs Videos
Four Agreements

Top Keynote Speakers and Event Speakers

There are many people who have the skills and understanding necessary to be effective when it comes to public speaking. However, not all speakers have what it takes to command an audience, making them effective keynote speakers. When choosing the right keynote speaker for your engagement, it is necessary to choose a speaker that can command your audience properly and can maintain their attention long enough to get their message out. Five of the most effective keynote speakers are Keith Harrell, Vince Poscente, Joseph Michelli, Ram Charan and Michael Treacy.

Keith Harrell -- Keith Harrell is a former marketing executive for the IBM Corporation, and has more than thirteen years of corporate experience as one of IBM's top training instructors. Keith Harrell travels all across the world in other to impact the lives of his clients on both a professional and personal level. Keith Harrell works as an author, a consultant, a trainer and a speaker, and is highly recognized for the enlightening and innovative presentations that he makes in order to share his ideas with other business owners.

Vince Poscente -- Vince Poscente has the mind set which is necessary in order to meet the demands of corporate culture, including the perfect balance of a passion for excellence, a dedication to the journey and a balance of mental toughness. Vince Poscente had what it took to turn himself into a Olympic skier from a recreational one in the span of only four years. Willing to try absolutely anything and everything once, he took part in his first Hi-Tek adventure race in July of 1998, then went on to the competition at Castaic Lake in October of that year. Against 259 teams, Vince's team emerged in 45th place.

Joseph Michelli -- Joseph Michelli is a speaker who is sought-after on an international level. He is also an organizational psychologist, and a business consultant. Joseph Michelli is known for urging people and businesses alike to achieve the extraordinary. Joseph Michelli is known for writing best-selling books about business principles, and he also hosts a radio program in Colorado. Joseph Michelli works to share his knowledge of business practices by delivering keynote presentations which work to develop productivity in the workplace.

Ram Charan -- Ram Charan co-authored a title called "Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done", and is an active advisor to CEOs who belong to fortune 100 companies, as well as emerging firms funded by venture capital. Ram Charan strives to convert visions into action and reality using his business techniques and ideas. Visit Rams new book Know-How The 8 skills that separate people who perform from those who dont.

Michael Treacy -- Michael Treacy is an expert on corporate strategies and the transformation of businesses who is widely known and recognized for giving companies what they need to help them achieve leadership in the market. Michael Treacy has been working to help improve businesses for more than 25 years and continues to be a strong presence in the business marketing industry. Michael Treacy takes on the greatest strategic challenges in order to transform businesses all over the world, and has plenty to say about business practices and what it really takes to get a business off the ground.

2007 RightNow Communications

Public Speakers

Dr. Joseph Michelli Video

Vince Poscente Video

BOOKING INFORMATION:

Brooks International Speakers Bureau
763 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204
PHONE: 303.825.8700
FAX: 303.825.8701

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Ideas About Your Religion and Trees - Something To Think About

Experiment With Your Waitress
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The Secret to Positive Affirmations

An affirmation is a statement or concept of belief. Affirmations are synonymous with everything we say and think. We are constantly affirming to ourselves through our subconscious thoughts, which are sometimes called mind chatter, mind-scripts, or self-talk. This subconscious stream of affirmations is vitally important to our life results because they create a foundation on which our conscious actions are built.

Many times our self-talk is the result of experiences from our childhood. Our thought patterns usually reflect self-impressions that we created long ago, as children. They can be positive and work in our favor, or they can be negative and cause huge problems in our lives. Positive affirmations are a way to let go of outdated attitudes and feelings about oneself.

A powerful way to sculpt our self-talk is to create beneficial affirmations and review them on a consistent basis. These positive affirmations are short statements meant to override and replace any negative beliefs held by the subconscious mind.

Using positive affirmations is a conscious effort to stay focused on goals. They remind us to target our thoughts and words on what serves us best. Positive affirmations are a type of prophecy that when imagined with true belief and passion can come true.

When our conscious mind believes our positive affirmations, it feeds them to the subconscious mind. The subconscious may easily consume the belief, or it may reject the belief. Daily repetition of positive affirmations is the most effective way to overcome resistance and realize an improved inner truth.

Once you have firmly established a positive belief in your subconscious self-talk, it can begin to manifest great changes in your conscious reality. The faster you are able to embrace change and alter your beliefs, the faster positive affirmations can work to make tangible improvements in your life.

The format for positive affirmations is very important. They are best constructed as if the desired result has already occurred. For example, "I enjoy sharing my wealth with others", or "I have boundless energy to exercise each day". This format enables the mind to begin thinking like a person who has already accomplished those results.

Positive affirmations can be super-charged when accompanied with high levels of emotion and passion. A way to evoke powerful feelings is to involve as many of the senses as possible. Using a program that automatically incorporates images and audio with your affirmations leverages the benefits of the experience.

An image or visual representation that accompanies each of your affirmations sends a strong message to the subconscious about what is truly desired. And using audio that incorporates brainwave entrainment technology puts the mind in the best possible state to receive and hold those messages permanently.

When you want to see change in your life, it's wise to use the most powerful tools that exist today. Video programs that utilize cutting-edge scientific technology help users maximize their life results. These programs allow change to happen on the subconscious level by simply opening and viewing a video file on your computer.

How would you like to manifest your ideal life by tapping the power of YOUR subconscious mind? Revolutionary videos from Get The Dream combine an electronic Vision Board with Brainwave Entrainment technology. Put the Law of Attraction to work in your life with only 20 minutes per day! Manifest more Wealth, Peace, Health and better Relationships with video programs available for instant download at http://www.getthedream.com

Wayne Weiten

Positive Attitude Maintenance - Self Help Tips

The thing that people must realise is that you won't suddenly decide to feel good and that's it. It is a process of bit by bit feeling a bit happier and a bit more positive every day. There may be days when you go into a bit of a relapse for a few days but don't loose your resolve.

You can improve your attitude and become happier by many means:

Saying your Affirmations
Facing your fears
Thinking more positive thoughts
Helping others
Being kinder to yourself
Stop procrastinating
Whatever works for you

But you have to keep up this activity on a daily basis, just like a piece of machinery your happiness and positive attitude need regular maintenance.

You might ask yourself, why is it that my unhappy, depressive, negative attitudes come so easily, why don't I need to maintain them.

The truth is that you are maintaining them through negative habits that you have taught yourself over many years, you just might not realise it.

There will be a point where you cross a threshold, if you have not crossed it already. Where you will wake up and realize that feeling good and positive is the norm and feeling bad and stressed is unusual.

It will then be easier to maintain your positive attitude and happy state, but you will still have to continue your maintenance program. So design your positive attitude maintenance program now.

Design some Affirmations that work for you
Start identifying negative messages you tell yourself and replace them with positive ones
Build your own support group of friends to support you in your quest to become more positive
Make lists of your abilities and the things you are grateful for in life
Help others to be more positive

And put it into action, using it and updating it on a regular basis, and now is as good a time to start as ever.

I am a husband, and father of one son who works as an engineer. I became involved in writing articles about self improvement and positive attitude as part of a process of developing a more positive attitude to life myself.

I am committed to making my thoughts freely available to anybody who takes interest in reading my articles in the hope that they can similarly make their attitude more positive.

For anybody who is interested in improving their attitude to life and would like to see more of my articles or simply wants some advice on how they can feel better about themselves please visit my website http://www.positivity.9f.com - I am interested in any feedback about whether my articles are providing a positive benefit.

Trust Matters Now More Than Ever

Given the state of the world political stage and the perception that highly important business people are often crooks, it's easy to make the assumption that simple things like integrity and ethics are nice to have but not essential to everyday life. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth - and truth still matters as much, if not more, than it ever has. In fact, it's crucial to building and maintaining trust which, in turn, is perhaps one of the most underrated business tools at our disposal.

Stephen Covey, son of the driving force behind the Habits of Highly Effective People books, is convinced that we are in the middle of a trust paradox. The lower our current levels of trust become, the more we see its importance. No where is this more apparent than in the business world where we can actually measure the results on both sides of the trust equation.

The old adage that says time is money perfectly applies when we look at our present situation vis--vis trust. We see how expensive and time consuming most business has become. Consider how much longer it takes to fly from one destination to another since we've lost trust in the ability of the airlines to protect us. Think too about how financial negotiations have gotten bogged down where we've become suspicious that the people we're bargaining with are untrustworthy.

Conversely, we see how things move ahead when the opposite is true. With trust the speed of doing business changes exponentially. For example, when someone well respected -- like Warren Buffet -- is in the room, the level of confidence rises dramatically, the process of negotiating a deal is streamlined and significantly less time is spent creating transparency and building a slew of safeguards to insure that no one is taking advantage of the other.

Furthermore, once we come to see how indispensable a business variable trust can be, we want it for ourselves as well for others. The important thing is to understand that being trustworthy is a learnable skill that requires the adoption of positive habits that can be practiced on a regular basis.

As Stephen Covey has pointed out, there are several key aspects to this process of garnering trust. In addition to being honest and ethical, we need to be competent, to show up when we say we will and do what we've promised to do. By combining strength of character with such competence we can begin to reap the benefits that come with being trustworthy.

Check out Raymond Aaron's Wealth Creator Source...access over 90 powerful interviews with business experts and thought leaders (like Stephen Covey) from across the globe...go to http://www.WealthCreatorSource.com

Well-known international speaker Raymond Aaron is author of seven books and a New York Times bestselling author of "Chicken Soup for the Parents Soul" His latest book, hot off the press, is "Double Your Income Doing What You Love".

Christianity Saved Me

I would like you to think about something for a minute, have you ever met somebody who has been saved in a Christian church. There's a good chance you know quite a few people if you live in the United States of America. Over the years I've heard people tell me, "I've Been Saved," it can be a new beginning for some or lead to a life of frustration and pain for others.

If you don't know what being saved is, or have never heard of it, let me give you a brief description of a saved Christian. This would be someone who accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior, it's not that difficult and you really don't have to go to church, this ritual can be performed anywhere.

If you're reading this article and would like to be saved, here's how you do it. Get up out of your chair, run outside the building you're in and start running up and down the streets yelling, I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, 1111 times. Be careful because if you missed this by one number, in either direction, you have to start all over again.

Okay I'm just kidding about the running out of the house, and yelling at the top of your lungs, oh yeah and the 1111 times. Anyway the truth about being saved according to the Christian church, is quite simply saying the words to your self or out loud, "I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior."

That's it, it's really quite simple and your saved.

The problem becomes a little bit later in your life and this could be within a few days or even a few hours, if most people don't see a drastic change in their life, they quit their newly founded Christian religion and go back to their old ways.

I hope you have a pretty good understanding about being saved in the Christian religion and you can do it anytime of the day, at any period of your life. If you're going to die and you been a liar, committed adultery, murdered or raped another person, lived a life of crime, ruined the lives of others or even been part of another religion you're whole life, simply state the words "I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior," and you're instantly a Christian. That's a pretty good deal for anyone.

Oh yeah I forgot to tell you, this simple statement gives you a one way ticket to heaven and spend eternity in one of the grandest most beautiful places you could ever possibly imagine, even though you might not have been, what most people would consider a decent person. Now this is looking pretty good isn't it.

Being saved can provide you with a lot of benefits if you're a believer but I forgot to tell you one very important thing about this whole process. There is no hard evidence and most Christians will tell you that they base their whole life on faith and a book written by a man but inspired by, one unbelievable, supernatural and incredible entity.

I've seen a lot of people live their lives tormented from the decisions they've made throughout their lives. If you choose to believe in Christianity, I would suggest you spend some of your time reading the Bible but most of your time gathering information about other religions also. Don't take someone else's word, that this is the way to eternal salvation. I beg you to at least, find out where the Bible really came from, always question your religion.

Education has freed me, to pursue other ideas and release me from the bondage and fear of organized religion.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, The Four Agreements

Learning to Create the Life of Your Dreams With - BEing the Titus Concept, by Al Diaz

The world is full of self-help books that tell us we need help, and where we've messed-up our lives, and what we should do to fix them; but "BEing The Titus Concept," by Al Diaz, isn't another one of those. Having read hundreds of self-help and personal development books, I came to the conclusion that life is supposed to be simple; and so are the fixes to common, everyday problems. In fact, I didn't really realize exactly how right I was, or exactly how simple life could be, until I finished reading, "BEing The Titus Concept!"

In this book, Al Diaz adeptly guides all of us, regardless of our various levels of "spiritual maturity," or "spiritual development," into a place of deep understanding and abiding love for our Source - The Source of All Creation. With gentle reminders of the wisdom you already possess, and simple exercises to help unlock powerful, but hidden and untapped, resources within each of us, "BEing The Titus Principle" is tantamount to a "spiritual GPS" device - accelerating your progress down the path of self-discovery and self-realization.

I read this book in my spare time over the course of two-days - hardly a major investment in time - and found it easy, and even fun, to read. After reading the first fifteen-pages, I was already incorporating some of Al's principles and awareness into my own practice with The Belief Formula - amplifying what I feel is the most important variable in the process of creation: the Power of Love, Acceptance, and Gratitude. This book could have easily been named, "The Techniques of the Masters of Life," or, "The Gracefully Simple Way To Make Your Life Graceful and Simple;" because this book provides just that - simple, easy-to-understand, step-by-step guidance to understanding our power and role as co-creators of our own experience.

With the techniques, methods, and concepts contained within this book, we can all become masters of our own experience and creators of our own destinies. "BEing The Titus Concept," for that reason alone, is a definite must-read, and a powerful and valuable addition to the library of any spiritual student or aspirant!

Pete Koerner is the author of The Belief Formula: The Secret to Unlocking the Power of Prayer. The Belief Formula is a look at how you can use ancient wisdom and modern scientific awareness to learn how to use your mind to reclaim your health and create the life of your dreams. Visit Pete's blog and download your Free Illustrated Guide To Self-Empowerment With EFT, at: http://www.ExploreExpandEvolve.com/free_download/

Visit http://TheTitusConcept.com/BEingEbookSalesPage.html/ for more information about this wonderful book and find out about the FREE GIFT you will receive for purchasing BEing The Titus Concept on Amazon during its Official Launch on December 5th, 2008.

The Power of Gratitude - Gateway to Riches

Gratitude is said to be the single most positive element to contribute to your Wellbeing, Fulfillment and Wealth

Heartmath conducted an extensive study which showed thoughts of Gratitude are the fastest way to move into your power and influence things around you with positive energy - Athlete's Performance increases, Students Test Scores improve, Executive Thinking and Creativity expand, Powers of Intention grow, no matter what he situation.

Gratitude restores confidence. Gratitude about your current situation - no matter what or how simple, will bring about a feeling of improved wellbeing. Gratitude can help to change feeling alone into appreciating being supported.

The feeling of lack and negativity are often brought on by focusing on what we don't or feel we cannot have. Expand your focus, raise your eyes, look outside your immediate surroundings. Walk around and look to see, or think, of the many things you have access to, which you have no need to own - community, sunshine, the stars, the sight or sound of children playing, a casual hello from someone you meet.

We can even be grateful for things that at first glance may not appear a blessing, such as: * Exercise you get if you cannot find a nearby parking spot
- Cleaning up the house after having friends or family around - think of the special time or what they mean to you
- The early morning alarm - moving into a new day of being needed
- Whatever your income - 2.4 billion people on the planet live on less than $1,000 per year

A large study conducted by Dr Michael McCullough and Dr Robert Edmonds involving more than 700 people separated their field of study into 3 groups of people - those that merely tracked events through their day, those that took particular note of unpleasant events that occurred to them, and lastly a group which focused on being grateful for whatever happened. The third group consistently showed High Alertness, Enthusiasm, Determination, Optimism, Better Energy, Less Depression and Stress, Better Inclination to Help Others, and Ability to Express Love to Others.

You must feel rich to become rich - when you start to feel grateful for whatever you have you will attract more. In today's world Intelligent Quotient (IQ) and Emotional Quotient (EQ) are often thought as important but these both pale when compared with the direct benefits of GQ - Gratification Quotient.

The Power of Attraction which we hear about so much today as so well described in "The Secret" is supercharged through Gratitude.

Gratitude is the fastest path to Riches. Focus on what you have and more will appear. Others will be drawn to your energetic field of gratitude. Riches are more about what you feel than just counting in money. Another Heartmath study showed when we are in a state of gratitude others can sense this up to 6 metres away. This has a direct positive affect on their heart rhythm and their brain waves change to more positive thinking.

Pay attention to what you are focusing on, don't blame or complain this will drain your gratitude. Be grateful for your challenges, create a greater peace of mind and you will open the pathways for opportunities.

Watch out for negative attitudes creeping into your life. Apathy leads to negative thinking. Look for the silver linings in all situations. Slow down, recognise what you already have - especially the simple things in your life, wherever you go. Gratitude will help you feel complete, no matter what your immediate situation.

Gratitude doesn't cost anything but it generates huge riches.

You deserve to be Rich so be grateful and share your gratitude with others. A daily practice of Gratitude will lift and advance all areas of your life rapidly.

Brian Fincham
- Life Coach and founder of Life Development Australia.
Brian has over 20 years Experience Developing and Leading Winning Teams
http://www.lifepathdevelopment.com.au
- a company dedicated to Personal Development and helping individuals build successful home businesses using the proven LifePath Unlimited system.

Secrets of Qigong Meditation

Qi ("chee": life energy) circulates through a network of meridians or channels in the human body. Qigong means "working with life energy." Through qigong training we can facilitate the movement of qi through the body. The movement of qi leads the circulation of the blood and other bodily fluids. The effects of qigong practice include: stress reduction, improved health and energy, emotional balance, mental calmness and clarity, and an awareness of the wholeness of life.

Qigong is a truly holistic philosophy and system of health care and self development. The primary principle of qigong practice is this: Where qi flows smoothly there is health, happiness, and well-being. Where qi flow is impeded, there is disease, distress, and conflict.

Smooth qi flow is regarded as a natural state of being. This natural state is affected by our responses to the demands of life. When we become sick or have dis-ease on any level of our being the questions in this system are: 1) Where is qi flow impeded? 2) What is impeding smooth qi flow? and 3) How do we facilitate smooth qi flow?

Qi flow is interrupted by the way that we handle internal and external stressors. Qi can be impeded by physical tension, emotional holding patterns, rigid thought patterns, and patterns of spiritual resignation. The more general pattern of impeded qi flow is experiencing yourself as a passive victim of circumstances that cause the conditions of your life. By contrast, in qigong we learn to experience ourselves as empowered participants in our health and self development.

This leads us to a second qigong principle: The mind leads the qi and the qi follows the mind. The term mind here means mental powers and spiritual intent. In qigong meditation, we learn to use powers of mind and spirit to feel, gather, store, cultivate, refine, and circulate universal qi. The circulation of qi leads the circulation of blood, lymphatic fluid, and nerve impulses along their respective pathways.

We lead qi in qigong meditation by following these cues: 1) Relaxing and aligning posture, 2) Smiling and breathing consciously, 3)Visualizing qi pathways, and 4) Imagining and feeling universal qi flowing smoothly along these pathways.

One further note on this principle: It may be more accurate to say we "allow" qi to flow smoothly rather than we "lead" it, because smooth qi flow is natural. We allow this natural process to occur when we stop restricting it. When we live in stress mode we restrict qi flow. When we center our awareness in universal qi, we allow a greater wisdom to work through us. We let go of ego control and allow higher powers of mind and spirit to come forth. Letting go leads us to the next qigong principle.

The third basic principle of qigong is active relaxation. The ability to actively relax is the first step toward a Core Energy State. When practicing, Qigong Master Tianyou Hao says "Don't forget, don't pursue." In qigong one is present and aware while being relaxed and calm. We learn to detach from our patterns of stress so we can recover the original joy and vitality which resides steadfastly ever-available at the core of our being.

What does smooth qi flow feel like? The classic signs of qi activity in the body are called the eight sensations. These are: heat, cold, pain, numbness, soreness, swelling, itching, and twitching. The less pleasant qi sensations occur when qi is blocked or when it is beginning to move in an area that has been stagnant. Most commonly the positive feelings of smooth qi flow are warmth, fullness, tingling, and a sense of overall happiness and well-being.

Now that you know some qigong basics, it's time to get to the most important part--practicing. Daily practice is the key to realizing the amazing positive effects of qigong meditation.

If you are interested in more articles in this series or my Learn Qigong Meditation Program visit: http://www.learnqigongmeditation.com

Copyright 2006 by Kevin Schoeninger

Kevin Schoeninger: M.A. in Philosophy, Certified Qigong Instructor, Personal Trainer, and Reiki Master. http://www.learnqigongmeditation.com

Social Etiquette

The subject of personal hygiene is very sensitive, be it at work, social gathering, public or at college. The big question before us is how one can address the problems without embarrassing or hurting the feelings of those concerned. Also that the person who think is offended does not engage in the same offensive malady.

It is largely suggested that most people believe a lot of things can be done to encourage friends, workmates without tearing asunder the rapport, be it in the work place or at home.
Nose picking some investigation suggest that males have high habits of picking their nose. This seem to have its ancient roots in ancient time not only in Africa, but also in Europe.
It is disgusting and alienating especially when the individual sees it fit to eat whenever they have "dug out". Men are said to have developed this habit much more than women. At times your girlfriend will notice this and feel shy to tell you to use a handkerchief.

Different cultures have different ways of maintaining their health. Men and women have got different roles and expectation they are required to follow. At times a person can offend the table manners depending on the culture that he follows. Culture as define by Cumming et al as a totality of life transmitted from one generation to the other. Scholars like Fiske 1980 views "culture" as something that is ordinary. What one does be it at workplace, home, school or at church can be defined as culture.

Above all hygiene at times cuts across multiple of culture and needs to be preserved to enhance development. Human beings are different from animals because they have certain ways of upholding their hygiene. It is important all the times to maintain high standards of hygiene that can improve our lives