3 Simple Ways to Change Your Behavior and Take Control of Your Life

The French philosopher, Henri Bergson, once said that, "To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly."

Change is unavoidable, continuous, and is occurring all the time. 

Our country changes, our city changes, our neighborhood changes, our family changes, and we as individuals change. Sometimes it may not be perceptible by someone on the outside.

But, we know ourselves better than anyone else when we have changed. 

Our political views may have changed, our attitudes may have changed, our appearances may have changed, and even our faculties may have changed.

The term change itself has an even deeper significant when it is in reference to a change in behavior that represents coming to a fork in the road and having to choose one direction or another. If you're dissatisfied with your present state and want to change, that is significant. 

If you are dissatisfied with your career; if you're dissatisfied with your marriage or other important relationships; if you're dissatisfied with your lifestyle; or if you're dissatisfied with your career; a major change may be necessary. A desire to change and a willingness to do so is essential. No one can change you or your situation. It has to begin with you. It has to begin inside.

1. Some people continue to change jobs, mate, and friends, but never think of changing themselves. Don't become that person. If you feel that you are stuck in a rut and is seriously desirous of making a change in your life, don't hesitate to seek professional help. 

If you don't have a close friend who has your best interest at heart, then find a therapist that you can trust and establish a good working relationship with that particular person. 

2. Be willing to take your therapist's recommendations seriously. Just talking about your problem will not bring about the change you need. You must be willing to do homework between the sessions and talk about your efforts and experiences when you return to the session. Most people do not change because willingness to make the effort is lacking.

3. Think about change as taking control your life. Get off of the roller coaster ride where you are allowing others to affect your emotional level by what they say or do. It is about making the decision to become that person you want to be, to begin taking the necessary steps in that direction, and to resolve to continue to grow the rest of your life

 
You may also like Take Control of Your Life with Lifestyle Changes. Let me know your thoughts. Leave your comments below.

Connection Between Spirituality and Mental Health

Spirituality has been defined as the belief and practices that develop based on personal values and ideology of the meaning and purpose of life as part of a larger scheme.

It refers to the belief that there is a power outside of one's own that transcends understanding.

For many individuals, identifying with a religion and having religious beliefs influence their spirituality. However, spirituality is not confined to those who belonged to an organized religion or have religious beliefs.

People can develop spirituality without practicing a particular religion or believing in the powers of a supreme being. 

However, whatever is the nature of their spirituality, many individuals achieve a sense of inner peace and harmony as well as emotional fulfillment by believing that life has a purpose.

In my view spirituality and religiosity are interrelated with religiosity focusing on the external expressions of spirituality or faith. In other words religious practices can foster spirituality while spiritual practices could involve aspects of religious participation.

Nevertheless, a breakdown in spirituality can have a negative impact on one's mental well-being.

The key issue here is that whether changing their lives to improve their mental health or dealing with the recovery from a health problem, people with strong spiritual beliefs benefit from the foundation of confidence and purpose that their beliefs provide.

Now let's look at the three dimensions of spirituality. They are:
a. making personal meaning out of situations
b. coming to an understanding of self
c. appreciating the importance of connection with others.

Spirituality then may be considered a mechanism of social support, positive coping, and decision-making, avoidance of substance abuse, and help in times of stress.


What are your thoughts about spirituality? Leave your comments below.

Sick of Worrying? Control Your Destiny with these 3 Steps Now

To a degree, everyone worries, some people worry in nearly every situation. Whether things are good or bad, they worry that this situation would surely get worse.

Understand that worrying is a drain on your energy and enthusiasm and if uncontrolled, it can be a terrible burden to your existence.

How you handle worry can determine whether you are going to live a happy, normal life or one filled with neurosis, depression and negativism. 

The good news is that any situation which can be used to generate worry can also be used to generate hope.

Psychologists have found that worrying is simply a matter of choice unrelated to the event in our lives. In fact, some people experience worry more than 10 times as often as others, and, not surprisingly, they reduce their likelihood of happiness by 64%.

Here are the three steps to stop worrying:
1. Concentrate your energy on today. Effort that can be used to solve today's problems is wasted when you worry about tomorrow; and to make matters worse, most things that people worry about never materialize.

James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the United States, once said," I have had many troubles in my life, but the worse of them never came." Chances are that if today's problems are handled in an efficient manner, they will not only make you more confident to handle tomorrow's problems, but also may have a minimizing effect on those problems.

Determine if you have immediate cause for worrying. Ask yourself, "Can the things I am worried about materialize?" What will happen if they do? Do they represent real dangers? Can something be done about it today? If nothing, then force yourself to attend to matters at hand.

2. Assuming that you have cause for worrying: what is the worst that can happen? Lose your health? Your job? Is your family, prestige, or self-esteem in danger? It is of particular importance to the final step that you identify the worst that can happen. If this identification process indicates no real dangers facing you, then concentrate on the real problems of today, rather than the imaginary ones of tomorrow.

3. After considering the worst that can happen, then now is the time to do something about your worries by contemplating methods of handling them. When real danger faces you, more good can be accomplished by outlining alternative courses of action rather than worrying about the dangers, and when no alternative exists then face the problem squarely.

When you get caught up in your worries and anxieties, take these three steps: live for today; consider the worst that can happen; and then do something about it. You will find yourself living a happier life.


What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below.

3 Quick Tips to Get Motivated and Stop Fooling Around

Motivation is the force that leads people to take action. When you’re motivated, you do something. And that’s something that you do are tied to the pursuit of your goals.

The goals that you choose and adopt reflect your feelings or emotional involvement with current circumstances and the hope that you can make things better.

Motivation comes from action that reflects your inner needs. You are motivated when you are dissatisfied and want to improve your situation.

Now, here are the 3 Quick Tips to Get Motivated 

1. Mapping Out Your Destination
On close examination, motivation flows through you in three phases. Consider the first phase as your goals.  Define your goals and your route plans – – your trip to your final destination. You need to evaluate and juggle information.

Sift through all the would-be objectives to determine which are the most beneficial. Weigh all the potential risks. And, calculate all the possible outcomes until you lock in on the best goal under the circumstances.

2. Get Revved Up

Once you fix upon your goals or goal, you need to get revved up. You need to turn on the key, adjust the mirrors, and, hit the gas pedal. With the route map in hand and a full tank of gas, you need to hit the road.

3. Start Driving
Now, you will not be driving around aimlessly, you will be moving in a very specific, goal oriented direction. Moreover, when you form new goals, you begin a motivational cycle all over again. This can happen in a matter of seconds, over a long period of time, or anywhere in between. 

This mapping, revving up, and driving is the sequence that you have to go through no matter what goal you pursue and is fundamental for helping you to overcome setbacks.

You may want to think seriously about Goal Setting and if you need some motivational thoughts, go to Success Sayings.

Leave your comments below.

6 Ways to Keep Your Attitude Positive and Control Your Destiny

The dictionary defines attitude as a state of 
mind or feeling with regard to some matter, 
a disposition. 

Here I am suggesting that your consistent 
state of mind should be positive. 

The philosopher and psychologist, William 
James once said that "the greatest discovery 
of my generation is that man can alter his 
life simply by altering his attitude of mind." 

With this in thought mind, here are 6 Ways 
      to Keep Your Attitude Positive:

1. Stretch your feeling capacity. Feelings are at the heart of life. Yet most of us lack the vocabulary to distinguish and describe the subtle nuances of our experiences.

Shades of love include affection, tenderness, admiration, liking, attraction, caring. We may hate, despise, dislike, or feel indifferent. Attraction may take the form of desire, longing, craving, or coveting.  

Hope leads us to anticipate, trust, rely, feel confident. Despair may take the form of desperation, despondency, doubt, suspicion, discouragement, disappointment, defeat, helplessness. Feel good about yourself. Value what you are and what you have.

2.  Next time you feel frightened, try to pinpoint the exact color and intensity of your emotion. Are you Anxious? Apprehensive? Panicky? Scared stiff? Terrified? Aroused? Exhilarated? Worried? Troubled? Disquieted? Uneasy? Appalled? Timid? Alarmed? Petrified? Jumpy? 

As you expand your feeling-word vocabulary, you may be surprised to discover a new depth and richness in your experiences.

3.   Associate with optimistic, successful people. Talk about your good spirits and expectations, because that kind of thinking is contagious. Let your fears rest in  peace. Life  presents us all with an array of problems, many of which we have little or no control over. Don't be obsessed with what might happen. 

4.   Look for the silver linings. Choose to be positive. Every coin has two sides; every experience both a cost and a benefit; every life, an up side and a down side. Consider your spiritual side. Trust in yourself. Trust in your life. Saying, " everything will work out OK in the end," is phony only if you do nothing to help it work out. Laugh rather than complain. Play "ain't it funny" rather than "ain't it awful." Pop mental bubbles with humor.

5.   Practice the attitude of gratitude. To a great extent our attitude determines the kinds of feelings we experience. A cynical, fearful, negative attitude will fill us with negative experience. A positive, hopeful, open attitude will fill us with warmth. 

6.   In your conversations use positive, encouraging words. Concentrate on upbeat adjectives and adverbs; use action verbs. Practice positive speech from morning to night.


What do you think of these 6 Ways. Leave your comments below. 

4 Secrets of Setting Goals in Life

We are all increasingly bombarded by events beyond our control. Wars, inflation, recession, and other outside stresses impinge on our emotions. 

When we add these events to career, family, health, financial, and personal problems, it is apparent why stress overload is such a common problem.

While these realities are here, with its rapid changes, our delicate human nervous system remains unchanged.  We continually search for firm ground on which to stand and meet our problems. 

Goals and Setting Goals in Life is that firm ground. 

Have a Goal Oriented Plan for Your Life
The truth is that if you don't have a goal oriented game plan for your life and personal development, you may well lose control of those events upon which you can exercise control. For example, you may feel reasonably secure in your career today, but are you prepared for a second, or perhaps a third career if circumstances make such a decision necessary?

Things happen unexpectedly - - career crisis, health problems, and family problems - - and, without planning you will end up being a reactor rather than an actor in life.  

Goal setting makes you an active agent in molding your life and enables you to be clear what you want. Keep in mind that not much of life is accomplished without specific, smart goals.

The pleasure of taking control of your life is, by itself, worth the effort. It prepares you for the inevitable changes that occur as you pass from decade to decade through marriage, children, career changes, retirement, and so on. 

It gives you a full perspective on your life. You can see, perhaps for the first-time, whether or not you are structuring your life to realize your potential and achieve personal fulfillment.

Here Then are Four Principles to Follow:
1. Define your goals clearly 
The failure to establish clear goals is one of the chief obstacles to achievement and personal fulfillment. The art of goal setting lies in your ability to focus on one well-defined objective at a time. A clearly defined goal is one that is specific and measurable and one that is set within a specific time frame.

2. Put your goals in writing 
Goal writing is the tool for achievement and fulfillment. Your goals must mesh with your commitment and your purpose in life. Successful people in all walks of life have found that goal writing can provide the energy and the will to achieve them. Writing down goals forces you to be specific. Your goals become more real and you avoid the dangers of vague, indefinite objectives.

3. Record baseline data 
In setting goals in Life, you need specific information about your present actions in order to establish a basis for change. It is important to have a complete and accurate record of where you stand now if you are to establish a goal for change. 

For example, if your goal is to double the amount of time you spend walking each week, keep track of the time you currently spend walking and figure the average. In setting baseline data, don't rely on memory. Make a record as it occurs and give yourself a long enough period of time to get a fair average. Good baseline information is the foundation for setting successful goals.

4. Break goals into sub goals 
Trying to make the transition from present performance to a desired goal in a single jump can lead to early failure and loss of confidence. Sub goals are stepping stones to success. A big goal is not a measure of your present status. 

It is a target -- something you need to attain ultimately. You shouldn't feel like a failure if your goal is not achieved tomorrow or the next day. You need the smaller sub goals that are just beyond your current ability but still within the realm of present possibility.

These goals can be very supportive as they help build your winning streak. Most importantly they can provide the foundation for successful activity.


Do you set goals? What has been your experience?

8 Ways to Know If You Are Goal Directed

A person going nowhere can be sure of reaching his destination. Don't go nowhere. Your success improves when you set goals that are specific, short-term, and challenging. 

The big goal is not a measure of your present status. Rather, it is a target -- something you mean to ultimately realize. 

What you need to focus on are smaller, short range goals which are just beyond your current ability but still within the range of present possibility.

Set Supportive Goals
Your goals should be very supportive and satisfying as they will help you build your winning streak and a foundation for successful activity. 

The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that our aim is too low and we reach it. Moreover, make your commitments in bite size chunks. A house is built one brick at a time. An artist paints one stroke at a time. And, you also should work in small increments.

Set Challenging Goals
Besides setting supportive and satisfying goals, set challenging goals. Strong interest and involvement in activities are sparked by challenges. Easy to reach goals spark little interest or effort. However, unrealistically high goals can bring failure and diminished self-confidence.

It is also important that your goals are concerns that you want to accomplish and not what you want to avoid. Researchers have found that the choice of avoidant goals is associated with poor performance and distress. 

Here then are the 8 Ways to Know if You are Goal Directed:

1. Do you set long-term and short-term goals?.
2. Do you set challenging goals that are neither too easy or beyond your reach?.
3. Are you good at managing your time and setting priorities to make sure you get the most important things done?.
4. Do you regularly make to-do lists and successfully get things done?.
5. Do you set guidelines and consistently meet them?
6. Do you regularly monitor how well you are progressing towards your goals and make changes in your behavior if necessary?
7. When you're under pressure, do you still plan your day and weeks in a clear and logical manner?
8. Do you set task-involved, mastery goals rather than self-centered or work-avoidant goals?

If most of the descriptions characterize you, than you are likely to be a goal-directed individual. If these statements do not characterize you, then consider ways that you can become more goal-directed.

Planning how to reach your goal and monitoring progress towards your goal are critical aspects of your achievement. 

Researchers have also found that high achieving individuals monitor their own learning and systematically evaluate their progress toward their goals more than low-prescription achieving individuals.

Have you been to a motivational speech, gotten charged up and then felt disappointed afterwards? The key is to try and see if you can internalize it and make it personal through goal formulation.

I'd like to hear from you. Leave your comments below and don't forget to Share it.

Control Your Destiny by Working Smarter and More Efficiently

As a blogger, you must be organized and your computer must be your best friend and assistant. 

Using your computer efficiently, being organized, and working smarter is the key.

If you can't find an important document, if you forget to make an important phone call, or you forget to pay an important bill on time, you will not only waste time, but it can cost you money.

Here are 7 ways to work smarter and keep this type of stress at a minimum:

1. Keep your desk organized.
Keep your files that you are currently working on close to your desk. I use two file crates that accommodate file folders always nearby. One crate has the folders that I am currently working on while the other crate has the research that I need to support the articles, blogs, and letters that I'm writing at that time.

2. Manage your time wisely.
Break your time down into segments associated with tasks. Here's how to do it. Determine what tasks that need to be completed each week. If you are like me, there are certain tasks that are consistent from week to week such as Phone Calls, Copywriting, Operations (organizing, filing, planning), Meetings, and Accounting. You may have other tasks that may not have to be addressed each week. Lay all this out and associate a segment of time to each task, either 30 minutes or more.

3. Learn keyboard shortcuts.
Here are some shortcuts for using Windows Logo: Start Menu Windows; Windows Logo +R: Run dialog box;  Windows Logo +E: Windows Explorer; Windows key +D  Desktop to foreground ; Alt + Tab: Switch to another running program; Alt + F4: Quit Program; CTRL+ ESC: Opens the Start Menu;  ALT+SPACE: Displays the main System menu; ALT+F4: Closes the current window. 

4. Keep adequate supplies available. Don't have your printer running out of toner when you have an important document that need to be printed immediately. The same goes for ink cartridges. Always keep spares on hand.

6. Don't get caught up in playing games or engaging in idle chit chat. I have two adult acquaintances that hold responsible positions in my community who play games on their computers almost from the time they arrive home to the time they go to bed. Personally, I believe in a life time of personal growth. 

In my opinion this is not the way to do it. I don't do idle text messaging, idle conversation (although I do love good intelligent and invigorating conversation) and I prefer to read for both relaxation and personal growth.

7. Read newspapers and articles online. Almost every print publication has an online version. I use Feedly and Pocket for these purposes.Save it and read periodically during the day. But, to each his own. By the way, there are some print publications that I prefer to have as a physical copy to read while I'm traveling.

To work smart requires you to have the proper mindset. Make it a priority and your will have satisfying results

What are your strategies. Leave your thoughts below.

9 Steps Serious Bloggers Can Use to Increase Reading Speed 50% to 100%

                 Time Your ReadingIf you are like most bloggers and self-employed people, you want to learn how to read fast just to keep current in your industry and to gain valuable information for yourself and to share with others. 

If you read all the available and useful information word for word, you'll wind up spending all your time reading and not have time for anything else.

These 9 Steps for Increasing your Reading Speed will help you to experience reading, not as a chore to be put off as long as you can, but as an enjoyable and satisfying skill as well as another way to take control of your future.

You can learn to read faster by following these 9 steps:

1. Take at least one minute to review the material before reading it. 
First, skim to get a feel of what the piece contains, then the introductory material, section and chapter titles, index, and any other signposts. Next, treat the body of the text as a series of paragraphs, each paragraph being a self-contained unit with his own message to convey.

As soon as you have grasped the message, move immediately onto the next paragraph and repeat the process.

2. Become an active, rather than a passive reader. 
Instead of reading individual words, actively search out the important, descriptive, and meaningful ideas. Don't get bogged down in details. Move rapidly over the material.

3. Develop the knack of concatenation (linking two things together). 
Stop reading one word at a time and develop the habit of joining several words and repeating them as one unit. Learn to read by thought units rather than by individual words. You should take in between four and six words in a single glance.

4. Don't linger or reread words, phrases, or sentences. 
As difficult as it may be to break this non-productive habit, doing so will pay tremendous dividends. One way you can do this is to place a small slip of paper over the lines you have just read.

5. If your time permits, read at least one hour every day. 
Break it up into 20 minute segments, if necessary, and both select your reading materials carefully and find an optimum reading speed. Get rid of distractions and concentrate on what you are reading.

6. Eliminate poor physical habits such as sounding out the words in silent reading. This step doesn't need any further explanation.

7. Watch for the signpost in reading. 
Signposts are words or phrases which tell you in a split second whether there's going to be an abrupt change in the author's trend of thought or whether, on the contrary, the writer is really going to add more details to what is already been said. 

Some of the common turn about signals are: but, despite, on the contrary, however, nonetheless, yet, and rather. When you see these words you know instantaneously that the author is about to introduce a thought that is in opposition to the one he has just stated.

8. While you shouldn't sacrifice comprehension for speed, make a conscious effort to increase your reading speed. Still, make sure you understand what you are reading.

9.Reinforce what you read. At the earliest opportunity, think back on what you learned in your last reading session. Review the important points and any related information relayed by the author.

To make it easy, here are 5 questions you can ask yourself about what you read, What was the piece about? What important information was presented? What, if any, opinions did the writer present? What is your opinion of the piece? Name one element of the piece that makes it stand apart. This procedure helps to firmly implant the information in your memory.

Your Thoughts. Leave your comments below. 

Quick Guide to Managing Your Anger

Anger is a destructive emotion even though it's a very common experience. 

Everyone gets angry at some time or another. Although some people have learned such self-control that they won't show their feelings, rest assured that their close friends, relatives, and especially their doctor know that they are angry. 

It can show up in migraine headaches, ulcers, skin problems, allergies, and even sexual problems. While these problems are not always or even most always related to angry feelings, there is a relationship between feelings and physical well-being.

Anger is an amalgamation of many negative feelings and both can and should be expressed in a constructive, healthy way. It is, therefore, necessary to learn how to manage anger and act in appropriately assertive, but not an aggressive way.

Assertive or Angry
Now, a distinction needs to be made between being assertive and being aggressive. Being assertive means letting others know what you feel in a way that doesn't put anybody else down. Whereas, aggressive behavior is always at the expense of somebody else. You will get your way, but you will step on somebody else to do it.

Common situations that provide great opportunity for practicing assertiveness include returning faulty merchandise to a store; asking a neighbor to quiet down, starting a conversation with a stranger, giving a speech in public, or asking someone for a favor.

In contrast to this, aggressiveness is demonstrated by you believing that you have to be right or have the right to be the winner, thus, you find yourself attacking the other person. If you always must have your way at the expense of the other person, as I mentioned earlier, you will get it, but, your relationships will deteriorate, others will reject you, and you will find yourself suffering from a negative self-concept and poor self-acceptance.

Managing Anger

So, to manage anger, begin with the knowledge that anger can be controlled and resolved. You must cease placing demands on yourself and others through shoulds, oughts, and musts. Often anger specifically entails a should. "You should have known better." "You should not have given the car keys to your brother. " The more shoulds and should nots - the angrier you will be. Increase your overall level of happiness. 

Happiness is not like height. You just don't get a certain amount of it and have to live with it. Learn to let go of the unimportant anger triggers. Realize that your anger will hurt you more than the target of your ire. Learn to express justified anger in an assertive and not in an aggressive way. 

And, keep in mind that the fewer shoulds, oughts, or musts you have, the happier you and all those who associate with you will be. Call (773) 614-3201 if you need help. 

Your Comments?

5 Great Success Habits You Need to Have

Let's agree that we first make our habits and then our habits make us. 

From a psychological point of view, habits are well learned responses that are performed automatically in response to some stimulus, often unrecognized by the performer.

If you had to stop and think about anything, it's not a habit.For example, most of us have acquired the habit of using the mouse for navigating the internet, using a word processor, reading, composing e-mails, and so on.

Nevertheless, using the mouse for these tasks and other related tasks are much less efficient and productive than using the keyboard. Once you begin using the keyboard, you'll quickly realize a more effective use of your time and increased productivity.

If you are skilled in using the keyboard, you cannot tell without stopping to move your fingers which finger is used to type "k" or "r". Your typing has become a string of habits too fast for thought but highly desirable for efficiency.

In that you are likely using Windows, here are some simple Microsoft Windows keyboard shortcuts you can be using now: Windows key + D (Desktop to Foreground); F2 (renames a selected file or folder); Context Menu (Right Click); Alt + underlined letter (Menu drop down, Action selection); Alt + Tab (Toggle between open applications); Alt, F +X or Alt +F4 (Exit application); Alt, Spacebar + X (Maximize Window); Alt, Spacebar + N (Minimize Window); Ctrl + W (Closes Window); F2 (Renames a selected file or folder). Getting the keyboard habit is the key to productivity.

It is easier to form good habits than to change bad ones. However, forming new habits requires a daily commitment. Here are some additional good habits that can add to your success That as an independent consultant I have found to be useful:

1. Read consistently at least 15 minutes a day in your chosen field. It doesn't matter whether they are books, articles, or reports.

2. Get to the bottom of the subject or issue to understand the pros and cons and arguments for and against it. The habit of getting to the bottom of things, usually land you on top.

3. Clear your desk at the end of the day. A cluttered desk at the beginning of your day, makes for a confused start and detracts from a sense of focus.

4. Identify six items that can be accomplished by the end of your day, write them down and make a sincere effort to complete all six.

5. Get some file crates. Put them next to your desk and place, in them, the files you are working on for easy access.

Habits are either your best servants or your worst of masters. Make your habits your best servants.

Are your habits your best servants? Leave your comments below.

 

Best Ways to Exercise Your Mind and Body for Today's Challenges

The old adage, you are what you read, still rings true. When your reading materials are success-oriented and optimistic, your achievement level will be high. 

If your reading materials are pessimistic or depicts people as victims of circumstance, your achievement level will be low. 

It seems that achievement oriented literature will help you to think in terms of goals and success. It can be most supportive of you in your pursuit of inner strength and self-reliance. 
 
1. Keep the book you never get to read either in your car, your briefcase, or your purse. If you are waiting in a long line some where, or if you are caught waiting for a tardy child, it will become an opportunity to read.

And, finally, think about a book that you absolutely loved when you were in college and reread it. Great literature is every bit as great the second time around.

2. For the body consider this. Nearly six out of ten people experience no daily exercise. However, like any other activity, it takes both choice and commitment. Walking, jogging, biking, or working out regularly on a home exercise machine such as a stationary bike can have a positive impact on your physical and emotional health. But you have to choose and commit to doing it. 

Do it even if you think you don't have time for it. It's good for the mind, good for the soul, and it doesn't have to cost you a cent. Also consider walking with a friend. It's a perfect way to do two things at once: exercise and create an opportunity for good conversation. In addition to a regular exercise routine, get extra exercise by walking up a flight of stairs rather than using an elevator.

Back to the simple home exercise machine. It works fine. Forget the fancy looking exercise machines you see advertised on television and forget joining the local health club. You don't need either before you start exercising.\

In reality, the foundation of any good exercise program needs to be no more complicated than taking a walk or a jog for free and adding a few other activities such as sit-ups, push-ups, or jumping on an exercise bike if you just want to work on certain parts of the body and to give yourself some variety. This is all that is required for you to have a positive effect on your health.

To get the maximum enjoyment from life, you need to pursue the care and feeding of both your mind and your body. Think about health as a broad goal for both your mind and your body.

Your Comments?

3 Ways to Write a Great Rather than Just a Good Business Letter

In an earlier post, How to Write a Good Business Letter, I emphasized the importance of writing in a conversational style. Here in addition to emphasizing that the business letter be as specific as possible -- typed and both free of spelling errors and incorrect grammar, I will expand on the three essential points.

     

1.      A good business letter should be kept to one page. You can take it for granted that the person you writing haven’t the time nor the interest in wading through a long letter. Therefore, pare your letter down to the essentials by eliminating every sentence that will not help the letter’s recipient to help you.
2.      The average length of a sentence should be 15 to 20 words and a paragraph about six to ten lines. Definitely do not let your paragraph be more than 10 lines. Frequent paragraphing breaks up the solid looks of the letter and gives the reader courage to go on. Moreover, keep you words short. Don’t try to impress the reader with long or unusual words or phrases. You may not be using them correctly in the first place. In the second place, the reader will tend to be put off by them.    
3.      The letter should be simple, warm and as brief as possible. Clearly state the subject in the first paragraph in a matter-of-fact way and then find a way of emphasizing the positive. Tell why you are writing, give the important facts, and describe what you want the recipient to do. Telling the recipient why you are writing immediately lets him know what’s on your mind. It gives him a framework in which to read your letter and a signpost telling him where he’s to focus his attention.

Giving the important facts to support your first sentence will show that you are businesslike and thoughtful. Limit the facts to the one, two, or three that are most important. I suggest put each of your reasons or arguments in a separate paragraph, preceded by a number.

Finally, describing what you want the reader to do gives him something to act upon. You will confuse the reader if you don’t tell him specifically what actions you want him to take.

To repeat these guidelines, ask yourself these questions:

Why am I writing?

What facts support the reasons why I am writing?

What do I want the reader to do?

Write all your letters in everyday conversational language much as you would speak. Make your letters interesting and a reflection of your personality. This shows you off as a clear thinker instead of a blowhard.

Apply the conversational test to your all your business letters.  Ask yourself, “ If I was speaking to this person instead of writing to him what would I say and how would I say it.” 

Check each completed letter to see if its wording really does match what you would say in person. Follow these guidelines, and you will increase the power and effectiveness of your letters.

     I'd like to read your comments. Leave them below.