Then thereâ??s the anticipation of taking the leap and buying a new supplement, tearing open the bottle and taking it for a few days, only to find out itâ??s a glorified caffeine pill that does nothing more than make you feel like youâ??re gonna shake yourself unconscious in the gym.

The fact of the matter is: No supplement fits into a one-size-fits-all category. Thereâ??s no such thing as a magic pill to lose weight or gain muscle.

However, there are supplements out there that actually DO assist you towards getting that lean, firm body, those rippling muscles, and the turning-of-heads by the opposite sex youâ??re looking for (and that goes for both men AND ladies!)

Keep in mind: The key to remember about ANY supplement is timing! Just like you wouldnâ??t eat a large meal 15 minutes before bedtime, you gotta know when to feed your body the right supplement to get closer to your body goals!

Key Supp #1: Whey Protein IsolateThis amino acid is highly prized by most in the strength training community for its bio availability (aka how much of it is actually absorbed by the body) and that its more easily processed by the body (read: less tummy aches).

However, you gotta keep in mind that whey protein causes an insulin spike, therefore raising your blood sugar level, so you want to confine your intake of this one to strictly after youâ??ve worked out, and not at night. In about an hour, youâ??ll have burned through the protein and find yourself hungry again.  And at 2am, the last thing you wanna think about is whatâ??s in the fridge (â??cause youâ??ll prolâ??ly go for something of the junk food variety!)

Key Supp #2: CaseinSo if you canâ??t drink a whey protein shake before bed, how do you keep that full feeling throughout the night? The answer is still protein, just a different kind.

While whey protein is a byproduct of milk, it only makes up about 20% of the protein in milk. The other 80% is casein! This stuff can take as long as 7 hours to fully release all the amino acids into your blood stream, making it perfect to nosh on before bed. The result? Casein protein keeps you full overnight! Just donâ??t take right after your workout. It sits in your stomach like a lead weight. Casein protein turns to glue in your gut (literally). Down your casein shake about an hour or so before bed for best results.

This author prefers a chocolate flavored casein shake mixed with a tablespoon of peanut butter. Can you say Reeseâ??s Cup? Yum!

Key Supp #3: CreatineProlâ??ly the most widely researched and scientifically sound supplement on the market today! Women fear itâ??ll turn them into the Incredible Hulk. Men believe itâ??ll turn them into the Incredible Hulk.

But theyâ??re both wrong.

When properly consumed, your body converts creatine into phosphocreatine which stores energy for use by the muscles (along with water, but more on that in a sec). Studies indicate it may also help maintain muscle mass and prevent wasting of muscle strength while recovering from muscle injury!   

Creatine is not for cyclists, runners, or â??pure cardioâ?? fans â?? you know, lower intensity, repetitive endurance activities. Use it more for short bursts of energy like those needed during weight lifting or playing a sport like basketball.

But youâ??re in no danger (whether you see it as a good or bad thing) of turning into the Incredible Hulk. Creatine merely gives your muscles energy to perform when you need them to.

Take 15-30 grams daily for 3-4 days followed by a maintenance dose of 2-5 grams daily. (Donâ??t wanna take it in pill form? You can always just eat more wild game, lean red meat, and fish (including salmon and tuna).) Source: Solve It with Supplements by Robert A. Schulman, MD

Note: Due to its water-retaining properties, creatine isnâ??t necessarily for someone trying to lose weight (youâ??ll gain a pound or two while taking it, but the water weight goes away if you stop taking creatine). Also, caffeine may inhibit the effects of creatine. Finally, (as if you needed to be reminded) drink lots of water to make up for that being used by creatine in the muscles.

Key Supp #4: GlutamineOur next supp is produced in small amounts when you eat and helps with recovery after a workout. Due to its muscle sparing effects, glutamine stimulates biocarbonate production which neutralizes acid production in your muscles (put simply, less soreness after youâ??ve hit the gym!) Your body manufactures glutamine from the glutamic acid in the liver, which is why liver-related diseases can often result in a glutamine deficiency (think liver cirrhosis or cancer).

Itâ??s even been suggested by scientists that glutamine may prevent some athletes from getting sick or infections after â??periods of major athletic exertionâ?? (think contest or competition). Glutamine is stored in the muscle tissues to be converted to glucose and used for energy as your body needs it.

Glutamine is available in powder form and can be mixed with most fluids (except hot water or high-acid juices like orange as it changes its chemical composition).  Glutamine pills are also quite common. Dosage ranges from 1-10 grams daily.

Note: Occasional constipation may occur. Drink 10 glasses of water and keep an eye on your soluble fiber intake while taking glutamine.

Key Supp #5: L-Arginine Wouldnâ??t it be great to have a supplement that took care of sexual dysfunction, aided in the healing of wounds, removal of ammonia from body, secretion of important hormones, functioning of immune system? Arginineâ??s your supp on this one!

Its main role is to help body produce nitric oxide, a substance that dilates blood vessels and relaxes them to allow blood to flow more freely throughout the body.

In plain English â?? think of your blood vessels as pipes. The bigger the pipe, the more thatâ??ll flow through it. Keep in mind that if you arenâ??t keeping an eye on your nutrition as well, all the arginine in the world wonâ??t help. Itâ??ll be like giving a garbage truck its own freeway. The garbage just gets there faster and certainly wonâ??t smell any better!

Note: Weâ??re talking vasodilation here. That means if youâ??re on anything else that would also increase blood flow (read: V1agra) pick one of the two. You canâ??t take both.

But Wait, Thereâ??s More!Not content with simply the FIVE supplements you shouldnâ??t do without, here are an extra three to give you the edge youâ??ve been craving!

Bonus Supp #1: 5-HTP Ah, 5-hydroxytryptophan. Thereâ??s a word you donâ??t use every day! Better known as 5-HTP, your body uses it to turn it into serotonin (which also works to combat insomnia, depression, headaches, and chronic pain).

Serotonin acts as a gossip line (neurotransmitter) that carries messages between nerve cells. The cool thing about 5_-HTP is that itâ??s got all the positive effects of prescription meds without the negative side effects that go with them (see any commercial where the guy talks fast at the end and says, â??Side effects may includeâ?¦â? and then lists a series of horrible, much-worse-than-the-original-symptom possibilities.)

In one study, overweight women took 5-HTP and changed nothing else in their lives (diet or exercise) and lost 2% of their body weight. When they followed a weight loss plan in conjunction, they lost 3%! Creates a feeling of saiety after eating.

This author I uses it because, with all the energy from a good workout, blood flowing freely and quickly, it can be hard to relax at night (and your muscles canâ??t recuperate without 8 hours of rest!) Youâ??ll sleep like a baby when you take 5-HTP on an empty stomach before bedtime (give it about 30 minutes, max).

Bonus Supp #2: L-CarnitineWeâ??re putting out another call to your liver for the production of another muscle assistant! This time, itâ??s for  L-Carnitine. This little gem is produced from the amino acids lysine and methionine and most healthy people produce enough on their own. However, those looking to change the shape of their body (whether bigger or smaller) would want to take an L-Carnitine supplement for more of a good thing!

It actually comes in 3 forms: L-Carnitine (affects muscles), L-acetylcarnitine (affects brain function and memory), and L-propionylcarnitine (affects the heart and brain).  

The importance of this particular supp is its vital role in helping the body turn fat into energy. Rather than some fat burners which are nothing more than glorified caffeine pills, L-Carnitine transports long-chain fatty acids to the mitochondria (the energy-producers). It has even been found to block the action of excess thyroid hormone in cells (good if youâ??ve got hypothyroidism!)

Just know if youâ??re taking more than the recommended dosage (NO MORE than 5mg a day), you may develop a close relationship with your toilet as diarrhea and nausea are common side effects!

Bonus Supp #3: Yohimbe (topical only)Ah, the controversial yohimbe (or yohimbine)! An extract from the bark of the yohimbe tree, this oneâ??s primarily promoted for male impotence.

But donâ??t let the popular cause fool ya! Thereâ??s a LOT more to this supp than meets the eye!

Yohimbe doesnâ??t just dilate the blood vessels. Itâ??s also a selective alpha-2 antagonist and can actually increase peripheral blood flow to specific areas of the body. Put simply, yohimbe works to increase the disposal of the various break down products of fat lipolysis. (Source: The Encyclopedia of Body Building by Robert Kennedy)

But thereâ??s a catch: most folks are content to take this one orally â?? but then your whole body is absorbing it! While you KNOW you canâ??t spot reduce any particular area on your body â?? you CANâ?¦help it along! By using a transdermal cream (similar to the stop-smoking patch), you can apply yohimbe directly to your skin in cream form. This bypasses the absorption by your internal organs and sends this mighty supp straight to the areas youâ??re looking to reduce! (Donâ??t go for those products that sell a yohimbe patch to be applied behind the ear. Those go straight into your blood stream and you donâ??t want that!)

A word of caution, though: If you notice an increase in your heart rate or hand tremors, stop using yohimbe.

In ConclusionLeave the one-size-fits-all to the late night infomercials and start doing more research on what natural supplements are available to help you get the body youâ??re looking for (minus the 5 easy payments of $19.95!)

 

First Trimester

The first trimester starts when you have conceived and start showing pregnancy symptoms like missed periods, tender or swollen breasts, nausea, fatigue, frequent urination, backaches and headaches, dizziness, heartburn, or constipation. In the first three months, your body will undergo various changes, like weight gain and increase in your basal temperature. These changes are due to increase in your hormone levels. By the end of your first trimester or the 12th week of your conceiving, all the vital organs of your baby – brain, spinal cord, heart, eyes, and limbs will have formed. During this stage, the baby also starts moving, although you won’t feel anything. The first trimester is the most crucial time to take extra care and protection as it is during this time that your baby is most vulnerable and chances of miscarriages are high. Have a healthy and nutritional diet and avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs, and other medications. Expect your obstetrician to give you a few blood tests, and pelvic examination. 

Second Trimester

As you enter your 13th month of being pregnant, discomforts from the first trimester like fatigue and nausea are eased out. Many women find the second trimester easier and enjoyable. Both you and your baby continue to grow in weight and size. Your weight will increase and you will start showing due to the baby’s growing size. Also, you will now start feeling your baby’s movements like kicking and turning from side to side. By the 24th week, your baby will be able to hear your voice, give some facial expressions, and go through a cycle of sleep and waking-up. Due to advancements in neonatal technology, now a baby born at the end of 24 weeks can survive.

Third Trimester

The third trimester starts from the 25th week to the time of the birth. During this time as your baby grows, you might start feeling uncomfortable due to the extra weight. Common problems related to this stage are backaches, swelling of feet and ankles, shortness of breath, pelvic aches, hip pains, and heavy vaginal discharge. Towards the 32nd to 40th week, you may also have Braxton Hicks contractions, which are painless contractions and do not lead to labor. These are the body’s way of warming up for the forthcoming labor. As you enter the 40th week, your baby will come down and settle in your pelvis, ready for delivery.

Pregnancy and motherhood are said to be life-altering events in a women’s life. With proper prenatal care, healthy diet, nutrition, love and affection, and exercise, all these pregnancy stages and birth can become the most enjoyable and satisfying event for a woman.

Consider this story:

One evening sitting around the fire, the grandson of an old and wise Cherokee chief asked his grandfather, “Why is life so unhappy Grandad?”

The wise old chief thought for a moment, and then asked, “Can you hear the wolves that are howling in the distance son?”

“Yes I can Grandad,” replied the boy.

“Have you noticed how some of the wolves are angry and aggressive and some are gentle and friendly?”

“Yes I have Grandad,” replied the boy, “I like the baby wolf with the stripes who follows me when I go hunting.”

“Well, we have two wolves inside us also,” replied his grandfather.

“One leads us to misery and unhappiness. It sows the seeds of anger, envy, jealousy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, pride and ego.

The other leads us to happiness. It sows the seeds of joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson was quiet for a while and then asked: “Which wolf wins Grandad?”

The old chief simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Happy people are not happy just because they happened to be born under a lucky star or because they inherited a “happiness gene”. Happy people are happy because of practice. “Practice makes perfect”. How did you learn to ride a bicycle? You practiced. How did you learn to speak a foreign language? You practice. How did you learn to swim? You practiced. Some people need more practice, others need less. However, nobody learns something immediately, everyone needs to practice.

Consider a person who has the habit of running 5 kilometers every morning and a person who never does any physical exercise. Which person would find it easier to run a marathon? Similarly, consider a person who writes about positive things that she accomplished during the day every day before she goes to sleep and a person who has never tried to think positively about herself. Which of these people would find it easier to pass a job interview in which they are asked to talk about why they deserve to get the job?

Thinking positively about oneself is a habit like every other skill in life. The good thing about this is that everyone can learn it. The bad thing about it is that it takes time and energy just like it does to develop any other new habit.

If you want tools for how to build up a habit of high self-esteem, visit http://www.livmiyagawa.com/resources.html

Liv Miyagawa – The Self-Esteem Coach

www.livmiyagawa.com

We often give up on those dreams and passions just because we were not successful or succumb to the negative thoughts and lock those dreams and passions. You may argue, Life’s like that!. But deep down inside you wish if only there was a second chance. Think again. Why did all this happen?. These negative thoughts and dejections are just the result of your negative visions you have formed in your mind. And this happened because you started believing what others thought about you than what you thought about yourself.  And many times you started comparing and allowed others to compare you with peers. You just gave in to others credence. And without your knowledge you became a part of the rat race. No wonder, most of us are doing the kind of job we never aspired for.

Next time you experience such thoughts remember this. No matter how many motivational books you read, no matter how many counseling sessions you attend, it is YOU alone who has to make up your mind to change your life. Unless you firmly believe that you have the capability to change things for yourself nothing will work for you. Remember that you are born with special abilities and you are unique. You are special and one of the kind. It is easier said than done. But yes, you have to go for it. Don’t get disheartened if someone fails to recognize your true worth. Remember, that you do not have to prove yourself to anybody as long as you give your complete self in whatever you do and you enjoy doing it. Results may not be what you had expected. No problem. Focus your mind on what you want to achieve. Start simple. Don’t get distracted or bogged down by hassles. Perseverance is the key. Here are few things that can help you.

Make Time

Steal the time from your routine activities and set it aside for yourself. This time is only yours. Utilize this time to do all that you wanted to do like - Exercise, Meditation to recharge your soul and wash out all the negative thoughts, learn something new. And how will you do it?Make an action plan. Revisit it once a week and track your progress. Again, this is just for yourself and your are completely accountable for it. You do not have to share it with anyone if you don’t feel like.

Relax

This is very important. If you have set aside some time to do something productive for yourself. Then steal time to relax yourself as well. Be it sleeping, reading your favorite comic, watching your favorite soap on TV, shopping, watching movies. Do what relaxes you.

Pick a sport

Routine life and doing mundane things can sap us out of all the energy. It is good if from time to time we do things that can fuel us with enthusiasm, lot of energy.

Pick a Hobby

We all have one. Think what boosts your creativity. Making time to pursue your hobby is an excellent mechanism to make yourself feel special and unique. This also boosts your confidence and self esteem.

Learn Patience

Life is full of expecting the unexpected. Things keep happening at a fast pace whether you want it or not. Sometimes you may find yourself in disagreeable situations which can make you act less wisely. Things can go out of control. Remember that things won’t change unless you take control of the situations and patience can do wonders. Learn to control that temper.

Stop Worrying About Others

There is nothing much you can do about others thinking. So better change the way you see things. Stop bothering about nagging comments or comments that do you no good. But take things in a positive way and welcome suggestions that you feel can improve yourself. Again it is you who decide what you want and what you need to ignore. Do not give more importance to people and let them influence your life.

Positive Attitude

Attitude is everything. Once you start employing positive attitude no matter how disagreeable a situation is, everything will fall into place.

Don’t Give Up

This is important if you wish to achieve what you want. Perseverance is the key. No matter how many hassles you have to face, no matter who criticize you, no matter how many times you fail. Don’t give up.

It is up to you how you want to make the Law of Attraction work for you. This Universe will become a genie ready to fulfill your desire.  You may never know you may find the light the other side of the tunnel. Then, whether life offers that second chance or not, you will be ready to grab the opportunities and definitely get all that you desire. Because your worth it!

Those two words often strike fear in the hearts of Americans.

Yet the holidays are right around the corner, with travel, parties, Christmas/Hanukah lights and decorations to put up, work to do, clients to serve, friends to spend time with, gifts to buy, blah, blah, blah. The list is seemingly endless.

The common thread here is that all of these take one thing. Time.

What does the phrase time management mean for you?

Ever since I was 21-years-old, fresh out of college, I have built multiple businesses from scratch, moved across country or into a new city and state where I knew no one, starting all over in both professional and personal life and was able to find immediate balance. No grass grew under my feet. I immediately built systems, built dream networks, created physical fitness routines, joined churches, discovered new friends and relationships within mere weeks of each move. I discovered something else years later – that what I was able to create and do and have in my life as a result of these abilities I possessed were seemingly born in me and abilities that not everyone tapped into or seemed to possess or have an awareness of. I discovered these abilities are rarely utilized by people and every time I shared with people what I was able to have completed in my life, they were baffled, amazed and astounded. They would all ask me the same questions.

How did I do this? What made my being a business owner, an Ironman Triathlete, a Success Coach, an author, volunteer, friend, coach – what made all that possible?

Simple answer for me was as easy as two words. Time management.

Some would argue, well, there is no such thing as time, therefore there is no such thing as time management. In a way, they are right. Let’s look at this first before we continue. Let’s get on the same page. What is time, really? What is time management?

In 5th century BC Greece, in a written work by Antiphon the Sophis, he states that “Time is not a reality, but a concept or a measure.” Modern day philosophers have carried that belief on in stating that time is unreal or an illusion of our lives. Interesting thought!

In Religion and Biblical times, scripture states that there is a “time for everything under Heaven” Time appears to be an appointed benchmark or turning point of sorts to measure the past, present and future. Another interesting view.

In the science arena, according to the online reference encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Einstein said that “The only reason for time is so that everything does not happen at once”. In this regard, Einstein said that time was basically what a clock reads; the clock can be any action or change, like the movement of the sun. Einstein showed that people traveling at different speeds will measure different times for events and different distances between objects, though these differences are minute unless one is traveling at a speed close to that of light. Again, another point toward measurement.

I discovered that time use research is actually a field of study. Time use research is all about the allocation of time spent on different activities in our daily lives, such as time at home, at work, shopping, etc. Time use is variable dependent on access to technology as well (with Internet, television and radio being in that department) which allows us to appear to do things quicker and be limitless in the effective communication of time, people, places and/or things and yet I believe is still all based upon one thing. That is the aspect of how we use our time, or manage to budget our time, in our 24-hour days – also a measurement that as humans we agreed to use thousands of years ago. Just as it is necessary to budget our spending of money, it is also necessary to budget our time and how we spend it. Unlike money, we are all given equal amounts of time as measured in seconds, minutes, hours in a given day, month and year of our lifetime.

With all this research, my preferred definition of time management that I use today is this.

Time management is a self-disciplined, self-discovered tool by which is a standard of measure that we are all given to quantify our priorities in any given day. It is simply how we manage our time, manage our disciplines and ultimately, manage our selves in our mindsets in a balanced mental, physical and Spiritual manner of delegation of that time. How we utilize that time will determine our fate of happiness, success and personal growth. Period.

I also believe that regardless of our access to technology and awareness of communication systems out there, time management is still based upon ourselves and how we use our time effectively and efficiently, whatever that looks like for you. It is your choice. There is no right or wrong, yet your choice on how to utilize your time does affect the world on a daily basis. Your use of time now, will indeed affect your future.

I work with my coaching clients on this all the time.

If you choose to use your time to lead generate in your business today or choose to stare out the window, which action will cause you to be able to have a business revenue or cash flow in a few months from now? If you chose to use your time to eat that piece of cake today instead of that piece of fruit, will it get you to your ideal goal weight faster? If you choose to use your time to meditate or pray instead of sleep in or go to bed early, will you feel more at peace and connected to your Spiritual self? These are pretty basic examples for myself and what I have helped many clients weigh in on when considering how to spend their time. Yours may look very different and that is great. Whatever works for you is perfect.

Here’s a thought for you to ponder. You just learned that within time itself you possess the power of choice. Time management is how you manage your choices with the time you are given. Does time play favorites? I think not. Time does not hold favorites because you are not given more time than anybody else since we all have 24 hours in any given day. Even if someone dies at a younger age than you – you are still accountable for the time you have been given. No one is cheated in time. Have you ever heard of Father Time? Father Time is the personification of time and along with Mother Nature, has been used as a human picture of our own mortality. The hourglass you are given keeps going, no matter what you choose to do with your time. Once that last hour is gone, it is gone forever.

How do you manage your time? Do you use it as though you will live forever? Or do you manage it as though you are going to die tomorrow? Are you purpose-driven with your time? Or lack purpose and clarity in utilizing your time to its highest and best use in any single moment?

Give it some thought. You are the author of your own time and time management. I have given you my own definition. I am merely one teacher that has appeared to you now. I want you to apply your own definition for your own life.

Happy holidays! Enjoy your time with friends/family/clients this season and year end. I trust you will use your time wisely.

Remember the ol’ boy network that divided towns into the rich and the poor, popular and unpopular? They dictated with whom we should do business, and who not? Sure, they still exist, but what happened to all their power? Gone with the wind. If they don’t like your business idea, big deal. You put it on the Internet. The power structure has turned 360 degrees, and the social structure as well. We may not have all realized it, but that was the *real* paradigm shift of our lifetime. And we did it without a war. Sure, some hurt feelings and egos, but, ciest la vie. Everyone has equal opportunity to information now and it is up to all of us to use it wisely and appropriately.

As a cartoonist, who uses the Internet for most of my business (I also manufacture licensed gifts and collectibles bearing my cartoon images), I have had the opportunity to have some “unique doors” opened to me that would have, otherwise stayed tightly locked.

One of those doors was from The Father Of The Internet, Dr. Vinton Cerf who, happens to be a fan of my cartoons. We got to know each other via the Internet about eight years ago and he is a very fascinating man. He invented a protocol called TCP-IP in 1969 while at Stanford University. This hardware later became the driving force behind Arapnet. But only those in high positions at federal governmental organizations and The White House had access to this speed of light communication.

Later (and this is where Al Gore comes in…yes he really did have much to do with the Internet), Cerf, now a PhD, approached him. He was still a young congressman (not yet even a senator) from Tn and asked him if he felt it could be brought public. There was much controversy and much of Congress felt it was just “too much information for the general public to be privy to. Gore worked hard on it and it finally passed. The Internet was born. Gore, in fact, also (according to Dr. Cerf) came up with the idea of domain parking, named the net “The Information Superhighway” So the “Al Gore Internet joke, is really no joke at all”. Like him or hate him, he actually did just what he said, “I created the incentive to invent the Internet”. (In political terms, that means “got a bill passed to make it happen”).

Dr. Cerf is a very nice man. He was, at the time, a senior executive at MCI in Northern Virginia, but is now head of the creative department at Google. Though we’ve lost touch, I’ll never forget some of the incredible thoughts he shared.

He was young when he invented it; I believe a sophomore, and quite altruistic. He imagined information, especially important business information that was for so long held close to the chest by the large captains of business and industry, to be available to all, in other words, a more democratic society. Little did he know, that, even though we certainly do not live in a utopia, it is much more so and his dream very much came true.

It was further developed when an MIT professor named Tim Berners-Lee in 1984, invented a software called the World Wide Web which made the Internet much more advanced and flexible.

I grew up in a small southern town, and was considered a “slow learner”, a middle child of two very good students, and, as often happens in small towns, I fell through the cracks, and stayed there for many years. I took odd jobs, saved, and left that hamlet as soon as I could. I took odd jobs in New York, Miami, Washington, and Los Angeles. During that tenure of stumbling around, I did manage to learn a few “street smarts” and landed some nice paying jobs with impressive-sounding positions. But I was not happy with them. I sought information, and, ultimately education. It was not until I was 43 years old that I returned to college to learn Internet technology and online business.

Since that time, my cartoon site has grown into the largest and most visited offbeat humor site on the Internet. I have over 8500 cartoons that lure over 3 million annual visitors. I say this not for bragging rights, but to show what someone can do on a shoestring, hell, I had half a shoestring, but with a dial up phone line, a beat up computer, and a little space to work (I started in an abandoned rural warehouse).

My intelligence level is fairly average. My emotional intelligence, is way above average, but that can be learned, regular IQ has more to do with genes, etc.

When I started the Internet was Google-less, Social Network-less, Blog-less, Bookmark-less, and looking back, it was a bit more than archaic. It was just a bit better than telephones only because Yahoo!, Hotbot, Alta Vista, and a few forums existed. Oh and the rather useless banner-exchanges and webrings. But that was it. The phone was still my major tool for marketing for the first few years.

I was able to get a very good education from an accredited school on the Internet. The ol’ boy network of my small hometown had already given up on me by the time I was twenty, and there was no encouragement, and, when I was there, I had no idea why.

Today, I own eight Internet stores with over 100,000 products from wall clocks to aprons to tees to mouse pads to key chains to water bottles to yes, the world’s first offbeat cartoon gourmet coffee gift basket and the world’s first offbeat real U.S. Postage stamps.

Now, through social networking, I have ventured into some completely new businesses, with a phenomenal Florida associate and we did it through the leverage of the Internet, article marketing, blogging, PPC advertising, focus, and finally branding. Yet another venture that could not have been done by either of us without the fascinating equal-opportunity of the Internet. These are several ventures that I can already see are going to be profitable, and they cost us virtually nothing but time and knowledge.

Could I have done that without the Internet and willingness to learn? I would still be selling ads at a small radio station in my hometown, most likely.

A little secret. Be guru-free. There are a lot of people out there who have good information, and bill themselves as gurus, and sell you their e-books or build-your-own turnkey websites, etc. They make it look enticing. My suggestion: Look at it as the flock of locusts that it is. The information may be good, but it is ALL available free, and even more is free, with a bit of research and persistence. I started this business, now worth way into the millions with less than $300 and was virtually homeless.

I studied. I asked questions of those who had done similar things successfully before me, I made calls, I got rejected, I tried again, more rejection, and finally some breaks. Persistence is the key. Sure talent and some intelligence is great, but persistence and a positive frame of mind wins at the end of the day. Keep your mind, body, and soul healthy. Sleep, eat healthily, exercise, and work. And work harder. And then harder. You will make mistakes. You will discover talents you never knew you had.

Somewhere in the back of your mind is a business dream that you have shoved aside for many years. Maybe a well-intentioned parent or friend or professor talked you out of it, saying it was impossible. Maybe the ol’ boy network in your hamlet dropped you too, or never accepted you. None of that matters anymore. That information is history.

Think about it. What was smart years ago, might not be so smart today. If Einstein reincarnated today and moved to your town, do you think he would be successful? First he’d have to have a 6th grader show him what the Internet was, then a fifth grader to show him what a computer was, then how it worked etc. So just what you know of reading this, is more than Einstein knew of computers.

Time to be your own guru. Your own Einstein. There are no more excuses. The Internet has leveled the playing field.

Peace and unity

We are a dozen people cramped on a 12-foot boat. Its two rowers take turns shoving the long bamboo pole to the bottom of the muddy river to thrust the vessel forward. The boat develops some fissures at the bottom. Water seeps in.  A few of us try to find the fissures. Three others are using containers to scoop up and throw out river water seeping through the cracks and filling the boat to our ankles.

 We could be on National Geographic, but we are not. We are the advocates of peace and unity in the world. The boat is symbolic of our efforts for peace and unity, the two rowers are our knights of peace and unity, and the muddy river symbolises the world full of horrors of war and terrorism. The three others and their efforts are symbolic of the efforts to establish peace in the society.

Peace is a state of the mind. There should be peace to foster love and respect among the people of a nation, there should be peace in the world to establish rule of law and order in the world. The concept of world peace should translate as peace of mind in all the denizens of the world. The greatest peace is felt where one feels safe and happy. It is the feeling of intimacy in a place that gives one a sense of safety and security to the mind. In this way, the requirement of world peace translates as the need to make people feel at home wherever they are. Peace could be established if a feeling of intimacy, safety and security were inoculated in the minds of all the citizens of the world.

The world today requires peace at all levels. Peace is a prerequisite for proper law and order in the society in general and the world at large. Rule of law always entails from unity and peace. On the other hand, unity and peace in the society ensures the proper functioning of the society. So, at the end of the day, the concepts of peace, unity, and law and order emerge as being related to each other. The governments of the nations of the world are cursed if they are unable to provide peace to their citizens.  The essentiality of peace can be compared to the requirement of electricity in a factory. Just as a factory needs electric power to run, peace is required to run the world. Our lives would be disrupted in the absence of peace, it would be quite different from what it is if there were no peace or even if there were peace. Peace works out to be the greatest need of the hour.

 Peace can be achieved by beginning at the basic level, we must begin by inculcating the concept of peace in the minds of people, and we must begin the Herculean task by injecting the concept of unity in the minds of the children. Unity always gives way to peace, unity is a prerequisite for peace to prosper. The dream of world peace could be achieved only if unity is established in the world. Wars and other disturbances in the world are symbolic of the growing dissonance among the world’s countries with respect to the concept of world unity.

Unity could be achieved by bringing the conflicting factions in the world to common terms on a common issue. The common issue has to be something that is common to all the nations of the world. The common element should be such that it should foster a concern for itself. A beginning could be made by fostering a concern for the children of the world. Children form the concern of all the nations of the world. They are the common denominators of the world. They are the ones who require the maximum attention in the world. The innocence of children is what could unite the world.

 The entire world could be brought together through the concern for children. Making efforts for the improvement of the plight of children of the world could bring all conflicts to an end. Children could be the umbrella that the world would require to protect itself from regular and continuous showers of evils like terrorism, wars and violence. Children form the hyperbola between the present and the future generations. Children are the future of the world, they are the ones who would hold the reins of the world in the days to come. The world’s situation could be ameliorated in case the children of the world get the required attention.

Children all over the world need adequate attention and proper upbringing. This is of the utmost importance as these very children would grow up to be citizens of the world tomorrow. It is very essential that they be groomed to be responsible and healthy world citizens who would form the masses of the world tomorrow. The world would be free of all conflicts and even weapons that threaten to create disturbances in the world. The contemporary world seems to thrive on a passion of accumulating arms and weapons. Huge resources are being squandered on research, development and manufacture of advanced arms and ammunitions of mass destruction. These resources could be utilised for the betterment of the children of the world.  On the other hand, a large portion of humanity is living in miserable conditions of hunger, poverty and disease. The worst part of the story is that a large portion of this populace is innocent children. Hundreds and thousands of children live in utter poverty without access to proper clothing, food and shelter. Many of them are physically abused and forced to work as labourers. All this needs to be changed.

The desired change could be brought about by the change in the mindset of the masses regarding the children of the world. The masses must be educated to be aware of the fateful world awaiting us unless efforts towards unity and peace are made with immediate effect. The future would be quite different from the one that is forecast by the incumbent situations if a concern for children is developed in the masses. The masses could be and should be united to make efforts for the amelioration of the plight of more than two billion children of the world and the generations-yet-to-be-born.

The children of the world could be the agents of social transformation. The contemporary society is divided by several factions and divisions. Modern society has managed to shirk all efforts to unite the world despite these divisions. Children could orchestrate the change in the society that would be the catalyst for uniting the world. The transformation in the society could be brought about by providing good and wholesome education to children of the world. Education could work miracles in the society, education could serve as a powerful instrument of profound social transformation.

Social transformation could be brought about with the help of schools. Schools all over the world need to redesign their syllabi to suit the exigencies of the modern world. Schools should not provide education that enables children to develop as successful bread-winners of tomorrow, but each student should evolve as a healthy world citizen. For this, education should be the same in all schools. Schools must act as the lighthouse of the society from where the rays of unity and peace emanate. They should provide meaningful education, spiritual direction and inculcate leadership qualities in students, and also develop leadership qualities in the members of the society. All this and more could be achieved by improving the quality of education in schools.

Schools should be ready to deliver such education that is tailored to the needs of the era. Gradual but continuous changes in the society brought about by the flow of time should be incorporated in the educational curriculum.  In addition to this, education must concern itself with the affairs of the present contemporary age. Education in modern schools should include modern science and philosophy.  Children must be provided with a good quality of education. A good quality of education can prove to be the greatest of all services that can be rendered by man to Almighty God. Children deserve to be provided with a good quality of education that builds on their character and inculcates in their tender hearts the love of God. True education releases capacities, develops analytical abilities, confidence in oneself, will-power and goal setting competencies. It should instill the vision that enables one to become a self-motivated agent of social change serving the best interests of the community. The final result would be that children be provided with a high quality of education.

Quality of education is linked to godliness and order. Quality of education emphasises the three realities of man: material, human and divine. Education would be required to build a spiritual base of the lighthouse which is the basic foundation of the education imparted in CMS. The institution believes in making a beginning before the end.

The end is brought nearer as one realises the immense quantity of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction that humanity has accumulated over the decades. These weapons only add to the horrors that would face humanity before the end of the world.  The contemporary world is ruled by the order of terror and violence partially ignited by the failure of the judiciary to deliver proper justice to the miscreants and the affected alike. The judiciary of the world should be brought together, they ought to join the chorus of voices in favour of uniting the world, they ought to make all efforts to deliver proper justice to all. This could be made possible by letting the entire world be governed by a single legal system and a united judiciary. There ought to be one and unified legal system applicable to all the countries of the world. This would ensure the deliverance of justice to all. Everyone would be happy, content and peaceful once everyone is satisfied.

Satisfaction with oneself could be the greatest factor in establishing a happy and peaceful society. The world judiciary, if united under a common banner, could thus unite the world. they would be responsible for upholding the rule of law in the world. The voice and pronouncements of the judiciary is respected and accepted he world over. It would be important in giving a new direction to the executive and legislative wings of the government. A new direction needs to be given to the legislature and executive to contain the deluge of violence and destruction that is the order of the day in the world today.

 The destruction and mayhem in the world point to a catastrophe that could bring the entire world to an abrupt halt. The end could be worse than the means, we would only end up with losses with nothing to gain. These must be done away with if we want a peaceful world to live in. All of us want a peaceful world, we want a peaceful society, conflicts and disagreements form a part of the list of the undesired.

The undesired should be avoided at all costs. Wars and conflicts have only caused deaths and destruction. Humanity has suffered all sorts of perils like famine, hunger and poverty at the cost of wars. All efforts should be made to put an end to wars and conflicts.  All efforts should be made to establish peace in the world. All efforts must be made to avoid wars and other kinds of conflicts. War is the antithesis of peace. Wars begin where peace ends. Wars begin when humanity rubs peace the wrong way. Wars are am external manifestation of the dissonance nations of the world have for peace and unity. Wars are punctuations along the continuum of world unity and world peace. Peace in the world is continuously threatened by the staccato of bullets emanating from the harbingers of doom and destruction. The bullets threaten to destroy the fabric of peace and unity in the world at large, and among individuals. The attack has assumed a highly personal form now. Peace of mind of individuals is shattered by repeated attacks on their surroundings. The issue of peace occupies the centre stage in almost all matters in our day to day lives. It is time that we forgot our mutual differences and came to common terms to establish peace and harmony in the world.

Our boat could finally make it to the shore because there was unity among us. All of us pitched in our efforts to pail the water out of the boat, and we were saved from a catastrophe. The world today faces a similar crisis. It is only by virtue of our unity that we can row the boat with all of us to the safety.

Safety and security is what all of us need. They form the bottom of the pyramid of needs of a man. For safety and security in the world, there must be peace and unity in the world. The concepts of peace and unity are not mere principles that are dusted off every peace march when fervour of unity is on a high and usually brought up by nonstop unity songs on loudspeakers. The concepts are more about translating the concept into our lives every day and every minute. This is where the concept of world unity education steps in.

World unity education is only a part of the battle fought by CMS. There are still plenty of battles to fight, there are still a lot of milestones to cover, the concept of unity is constantly, gradually, and slowly evolving. The perfect world is still a distant dream. There are plenty who still go to bed hungry, there are hundreds who don’t have enough clothes to wear, gender, racial, and social inequality is still the way of life for most of us.

There are miles to go before we relax, miles to go before we sleep, but there are plenty of reasons to be hopeful. These are some of the voices that are loud, clear, passionate and strong. They refuse to give up on unity. The fireballs of change only need to be ignited.