Tag: doubt

  • Overcoming Mindset Challenges

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    We all have those days, we drop our heads and get down on ourselves; you might even let out a few expletive words for good measure. Our pickleball play is just not up to our, or the USAPA player rating standard. It’s frustrating. I’ll let you in on a secret I learned long ago from a coach who pushed us to achieve; your state of mind or your mindset, plays an enormous role in your successes and failure.

    Carol Dweck, author of Mindset, identifies 2 types of mind-sets; fixed and growth. The fixed mindset has shaped you from birth, it is what you are and has defined your belief in your potential. An innate conviction fashioned from external influences and internally interpreted. A fixed mindset, sees obstacles when faced with change and challenges and therefore will interpret failure as self-defeating in the lack of abilities. It’s like looking on the other side of the court and thinking that the grass is greener – your opponents seem to have all the right moves and it’s your lack of something that is keeping you from winning.

    On the other hand, the growth mindset is one that is embryonic. Here is where belief in ourselves can help us adapt and grow in the ways we want by developing our talents through hard-work and dedication. Learning to love our development playing pickleball and also developing a resilience to loss is the key.

    Hear Those “Voices”

    Learning to overcome a fixed mindset challenge begins with learning to control your emotions and then you can achieve optimal performance during competition. First, you need to pay attention to those negative voices; you know the one’s – from family members that expressed failure or the one’s from coaches that uttered a lack of talent. There may have even been laughter from classmates or club memberships. A mentor who would snap when you hit a setback. You may have developed a reactive “habit” – automatic response to an emotional stimuli. Pushing those old suppressed buttons will give you a release and an understanding but despite their best intentions, this can also trigger an emotional upheaval, easily sweeping you away. Fortunately there is one way to stop the spiral of uncontrollable emotional reactions – refocusing. Consciously stepping back to draw your focus into your senses and the physical effects they may manifest; elevated heart rate, sweaty palms, nausea, tight or tense muscles, anxiety, and shallow breathing.

    Acknowledge and Accept

    Staying in the present moment, acknowledging that these physical effects are poignant, so you can process the information as if you are a doctor observing a patient. Comprehend your emotional arousal as an imaginary threat, and your intensified state of mental stress or physical excitement is a normal response that can be reduced by controlling your emotions. Slow down. Accept that you can help your brain learn to process new “habits” to effectively stay grounded; stretch and breathe, visualize or focus on energizing cues that epitomize how you want to perform or transfer negative energy to positive energy.

    Choice

    You have a choice; interpret negative challenges or setbacks from a lack of talent fixed mindset or from a positive aptitude growth mindset. When you doubt your talent, change your focus – with time and effort, believe you can learn a particular skill or achieve a goal. If you hit a setback or face criticism, keep learning and persevere.

    When the grass on the “other side” draws my attention, I stop and reframe – finding the courage in myself to think of the “water”, or successes that keeps my grass green. I still find myself under stress, and I still hear the “voice” of my fixed mindset. I have learned to face the criticism; sometimes old responses rear their ugly head and I get angry – hitting the ball without thinking and making unforced errors. Other times I am able to put those voices in their place. I interpret my challenges, and setbacks then regain my emotional control. It’s all very personal.

    Over time, learning to take on the pickleball challenge wholeheartedly, gaining wisdom from setbacks, and acting on the criticisms you face by embracing the growth mindset can make it work for you.

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    Source by Patricia H Kuhnen-Beaver

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  • Affiliate Marketer – The Win-Win Technique

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    Affiliate marketing has turned out to be just about the most efficient way to market on the web. It is usually among the most active for anybody with a web site in order to obtain profits on the internet. Affiliate marketing is an arrangement made by a product owner and a site owner. The site manager, permits the usage of the website for the advertising of the merchant’s goods by back-linking towards the merchant’s web-site. In return, the vendor or product owner compensates the internet marketer according to all product sales produced because of the internet marketer efforts. Whenever an individual follows the URL ((Uniform Resource Locator) on the internet marketer site and proceed to made a purchase, the affiliate marketer receives a percentage. The product owner pays off the affiliate as long as a person clicks the merchandise link and buys something.

    Affiliate programs are identified as a win-win scenario for both the vendor and also the affiliate because of the pay-for-performance structure. Both parties enjoy big benefits with this technique. There are numerous rewards for the merchant. It provides them with a larger market place to promote services or products. Through their marketing efforts, the affiliate marketer will provide the goods and services the ideal visibility that maybe could not be possible with the use of traditional promotion approaches. The more online websites a vendor has access to, the larger the exposure his products will have, which more than often converts into product sales. Internet affiliate marketing is the same as possessing an army of sales agents who can carry out promotion and may only get paid in the case a client buys.

    At the same time, because an affiliate marketer relationship can be a win-win scenario, the affiliate marketer also looks forward to lots of benefits. Foremost involving these is the simplest way to produce revenues. The affiliate marketer can gain using an advertisement or back-link to the vendor’s site, which potential customers will ideally press and ultimately make a purchase. When the target individual follows the offer within the affiliate’s website, is rerouted towards the vendor’s site and usually proceeds to purchase that specific product or service. The more recommendations are made, the far more possibilities of earnings for that internet marketer.

    Affiliate programs are an exceptional way to generate income while in your own home. You’ll find practically no initial expenses. The merchandise has already been created and verified through the vendor, and the only costs you have are the ones related to finding the customers and direct them in front of the offer. Internet programs are typically exempt of cost to sign up for, so affiliate marketers don’t need to be worried about start-up fees. There are millions of products you can consider. You’ll find affiliate marketing programs available for practically any merchandise offered in the web. Certainly, you can find a service or product out there that is definitely related to your site.

    Furthermore, there is no sales knowledge required. Most programs provide outstanding assistance with regards to supplying advertising material. The simplicity of online marketing enables you to be an internet marketer at the minimum cost as well as enjoy the most convenience. You may also be able to create a profitable affiliate marketing enterprise in the comfort and ease of your home. In internet affiliate marketing, your main duty is actually to seek out potential customers and direct them to your selected offers; there is no need to concern yourself with products on hand, quality or even delivery. These, together with customer support are the responsibilities of the product owner.

    Due to the possibilities on the world-wide-web, it is simple to find a large number of prospective buyers. You are able to accentuate your strategy by applying extra competitive and effective techniques including viral marketing and videos. By bringing in much more prospective buyers, you’ll realize a big increase in your possibility to generate income. Another advantage of an internet marketer is definitely the small monetary risk involved. When the item you happen to be promoting is just not creating wealth you’ll be able to dump it and select a different one. There aren’t any long-term binding agreements braiding you to products and solutions that are certainly not creating sufficient revenues.

    Consider the very best advantage of becoming an internet marketer as the unique chance to improve your revenues and the fact that you may earn profits even when you use internet affiliate marketing only as a part-time business. With your personal affiliate enterprise, you can generate easily some extra income, despite the reality that you need to apply hard work and made use of your thoughts to maximize your possible earnings. Without a doubt, affiliate marketing and advertising is among the most basic and most successful work at home opportunities on the internet today.

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    Source by Ruth Celeste Lee

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  • Online Dating – Needle in a Haystack?

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    No doubt about it, Internet dating has become a unique part of modern love. In fact, in New York, Internet dating has become so popular that it is now simply called ‘partner shopping’ or ‘hyper dating’.

    Online personal ads were one of the first niche markets on the web at the beginning of the net revolution and statistics now predict that 50% of single people will hook up with a partner online. However, with thousands of dating websites to choose from around the world, finding the right one can be difficult.

    If you’ve ever joined a general dating site you’ll know that trawling through a stream of profiles, with reams of personal information about housekeeping habits and suchlike, doesn’t mean that you will actually get along with someone. But the good news is that online dating is evolving, with recent trends showing a move towards specialist dating sites that aim to bring people with similar interests together.

    Sometimes linked to lifestyles, such as dating sites for bikers, interest-based dating sites are leading the way for a new generation of people looking for love on the worldwide web. With literally millions of people using the internet as a new social arena in which to make new friends and find a partner, people are discovering that there is a much better chance of making that all important connection through a specialist site where the members have shared interests.

    A recent survey by music-mate.com revealed that 80% of its members preferred interest-based dating sites, stating that they found it easier to make the first contact.

    Music-mate.com creator Diane Ainslie understands this new trend: ‘I’ve used the internet in the past to find a date and I really liked the idea of being able to meet up with people without all the usual fuss. But I often found I didn’t have a lot in common with the people I met. As a huge music fan, I realised that meeting people who shared a passion for the same music as me was a great basis to develop new relationships. You have something to talk about straight away!’

    And there’s the key. Joining a general dating site can be like visiting a strange city without a map. How do you even begin to find your way around? In choosing an interest-based site you’re starting on familiar ground. It’s easier to get talking and you’re more likely to meet someone you have something in common with. If half of all single people are using the Internet to find a partner, finding that special someone is like finding a needle in a haystack. It might just be time to jump on the latest bandwagon and find a dating site that interests you!

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    Source by Claire Gaskin

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  • How Do I Convince My Husband That I’ve Changed My Ways So He’ll Give Me A Second Chance?

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    It’s an awful feeling to be looking back on your marriage with negative hindsight. Sometimes, we don’t see things clearly enough until we’re faced with actually losing them for good. I recently heard from a wife who was experiencing this first hand. Her husband had left her after finally becoming tired of her constantly bending the truth, not treating him in a respectful way, acting irresponsibly, and taking him for granted.

    She said, in part: “I was furious with my husband when he left me. I was mad that he would give up on our marriage without giving me any warning first. But after I began to think clearly, I realized that he did give me plenty of warnings but I wasn’t always paying attention. I spent the money that he mostly earned like crazy and put us heavily into debt. I would bend the truth about my activities so I could keep on doing exactly what he wanted. He worked hard while I had the fun. If he mentioned not being happy about this to me, I’d call him a stick in the mud or asked him if he was my father. I flirted with other guys and didn’t show him the respect he deserved. He was nothing but loving, loyal, and good to me, but I didn’t fully appreciate him until now. So now I’m at the point where I fully realize my mistakes and am committed to changing my ways. I’ve gotten a better job and have stopped the spending, lying, and partying. But when I tell him this, he looks at me with doubt in his eyes and doesn’t make any further attempts to see me. If he would only give me a second chance, I could and would prove to him that our marriage could be different. Will he give me that second chance? How can I make sure that he does?” I’ll try to answer these questions below.

    Usually, In Order For Your Husband To Give You And Your Marriage A Second Chance, Several Things Need To Happen All At Once: Over time, it became pretty obvious that this wife was sincere. It has been months since her husband had left. And, during that time, she had gotten a job, adjusted her thinking and her behavior, and really embraced a new way of life that the husband had been encouraging and calling for all along.

    The wife was frustrated that she’d made all of these changes and yet, despite her repeatedly detailing her mistakes and how she had changed them, her husband still had not been receptive enough to give her another chance or to come home. In fact, he’d started talking about divorce, which was especially upsetting to her.

    This wife didn’t understand that in order for your husband to give you a second chance or to be open to a reconciliation, several things need to happen, as follows:

    1. Your husband needs to completely believe that, not only have you really and truly changed, but that you understand why you acted the way that you did and are completely remorseful for it. He needs to believe that you now see the attributes in him that you missed before so that you won’t continue to take him for granted.

    2. Your husband needs to believe that the changes that you made are lasting and that you didn’t only “change” for his benefit. Many husbands suspect that as soon as he agrees to give you another chance or comes back home, you’ll eventually get comfortable again and resort back to your old ways so that he’s having to deal with the same behaviors over and over again without any escape.

    3. Once your husband believes that you’ve made lasting realizations and changes, then he has to perceive that continuing in a relationship or marriage with you is going to be better for him (or make him more happy) than to continue to be alone. Sure, he might believe that it’s possible that you’ve changed. But sometimes, he still feels that too much negativity has happened between you to really salvage the marriage. Or, he doubts if things can ever really “be the same” again.

    Identifying And Addressing Any Doubts That Your Husband Might Have About Giving You A Second Chance. Where Is His Reluctance And His Resistance Coming From? Admittedly, I didn’t personally know either the husband or the wife in this scenario. So, I couldn’t pinpoint which of the above 3 factors was keeping the husband from believing his wife or from giving her a second chance. But, if the wife truly observed the husband’s behaviors and listened to the clues he was likely offering her, then she should be able to figure out what truly stood in her way.

    Most of the time, this is a gradual process because you have to hang in there in order to keep going long enough to over come what is usually a husband’s considerable resistance and doubt. In truth, this couple had been married for years and yet the wife’s changes had only been around for a few months. The husband likely still had his doubts that the changes were sincere or were truly going to last. And he may have also had his doubts if the two of them could be happy again after he’d walked out on her and given up on the marriage.

    The best way to address these doubts was to just continue on with what she was doing and to give the process time to work. Because with time, the husband could likely see that she truly was sincere and absolutely meant what she said. It helps if you can somehow let your husband know that you are incorporating these changes even when he’s not watching you. If a mutual friend or family member comments about the changes in you without your being present, this can help.

    Here’s one more point that I would like to make. It’s entirely possible that the husband was slowing warming to the idea that his wife could change, but that he still had his doubts that the marriage could truly be a genuinely easy or happy one. The wife admitted to me that sometimes things were tense when they were together because she was frustrated that her plan didn’t seem to be working. This was something that needed to be avoided in the future.

    It’s vitally important that your husband sees you being light hearted, fun loving, and very easy to be around. The relationship and the conversations should be light and should not feel awkward or forced. I know that this sometimes takes some doing, but if every interaction feels or reads negatively, then this will often just reinforce the husband’s belief that the marriage is too far gone to save.

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    Source by Leslie Cane

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  • Warning Regarding Holly Mann’s Honest Riches

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    I like Holly Mann’s E-book on how to make money online and if I had to go back in time and buy it again, I would. Or … okay, I admit it. I absolutely love her book.

    So why am I writing a warning?

    First of all, you might be wondering what I’m talking about. Who is Holly, and what E-book?

    Holly Mann is a single mom and a retired “disabled” army veteran in her mid twenties. (I have no idea what her disability is, she looks pretty healthy and strong to me and you should see her as a contortionist!) She is an American living in Thailand with her toddler son, Josh.

    On her website she tells the story about how she went from $0.00 to $12,000 per month in online income. In other words, she started from virtually nothing but now she makes a killing online, working from home.

    Holly wrote an E-book which teaches anyone how to work at from home to make money on the Internet. This is something that even the complete beginner can understand. When I first read it, I was completely clueless – not only about how to make money online, but on the Internet in general. I didn’t even really know what a website was.

    If you have heard of the “Rich Jerk” you may have heard of Holly. Holly originally read the Rich Jerk’s E-book, but then wrote her own, under the motto to “No thank you Rich Jerk – Honest Riches!” Holly promotes honest and ethical ways to make money online which are successful and also helpful to others. In other words, she teaches you to earn money by providing services and products to people that will help them. She doesn’t teach you to fool people out of their money. People who operate this way always win out in the end.

    The money-back guarantee and the low price of her E-book is one reason why it is very easy to buy her E-Book and try out what she teaches.

    Holly is also human.

    Holly’s E-book teaches the complete beginner how to make money online. It includes methods on how to make money with no start-up cash, how to earn money by promoting other people’s products, how to use advertisement to earn money on your own website or blog (and even how to do it for free), how to write and submit articles which will result in online income, how to create your first website, and a lot more. Her E-book is also full of links to websites and software which will save you hundreds of hours in getting off the launching pad. And she throws in plenty of free bonuses.

    So what’s the warning?

    Well, when I first wrote this article (years ago) there were two points in her E-Book where she suggested methods of making money online that had been workable when she wrote them. But times had changed slightly so there were a couple of points I thought people should know.

    However, by now Holly’s E-Book has been revised and even those points are clarified extremely well.

    So there is no warning. In fact, I have recently reviewed the 2008 edition of Holly’s E-Book. It is not released yet but Holly sent it to me in an email.

    It is a virtual treasure. (By the way, the price will go up when she released the new version, probably in mid-August 2008. But if you buy the current version at the current lower price, you will get a copy of the 2008 version for free when it arrives.)

    Holly’s 2008 Honest Riches III contains 277 pages of very easy to read information. Everything you need to know about Internet Marketing is covered. And what makes Holly stand out from the crowd is that she uses such simple terms and explains things so clearly, that anyone can understand it. I found simple explanations of concepts that I had been searching for for ages.

    She also explains everything that is vital in making money online so that you will be clear-headed in taking every step you need to take, without wasting your time in confusion and blunders. Holly gives you the step-by-step instructions and procedures to take so that you can start making money online and reaching your goals.

    If there is only one thing you ever purchase to help you learn to earn your living (and more) online, I can honestly say, without a doubt that it is this E-Book. As a rule, I do not promote products in the field of Internet Marketing that I have not used and loved. There is just too much low-quality (or worse) garbage out there.

    I have heard some people ask if Holly is a real person. Holly is a friend of mine. I have taught her to write poetry.

    One of the things that makes her stand out from the crowd is her willingness to help people. Time and again, you see her going out of her way to give extra assistance and advice to people who want to succeed in making money online.

    All said, Holly’s E-book is still the best I know of, for teaching the complete beginner how to make money online.

    If there were only one purchase I could make in that field, it would be Holly’s E-book. And without it, I would still be swimming in confusion, or would have given up long ago.

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    Source by Anna Vera Williams

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  • Coin Book Reviews – A Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars By Q David Powers

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    The 2nd edition of “A Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars, A complete History and Price Guide” was released in paperback form on March 31, 2005.

    The first chapter discussed the appeal and challenges of collecting Morgan Dollars and a few tidbits about the history of the Morgan Dollar. While only 5 and 1/2 pages long, the first chapter is filled with interesting facts. As you enter chapter two, the book goes back a ways and discussed the history of dollar coins in general going back to the Spanish Milled Dollars, then the Mint Act of 1792 and how US coinage began. There are several paragraphs discussing the early dollar coins, there popularity, or lack thereof, and how the dollar was eliminated and replaced with the Trade Dollar.

    The book does a very decent job of describing the events that were happening during this time period such as the troubling times for silver companies and the political involvement to help them out that eventually led to the Morgan Dollar. Chapters 3 and 4 are packed with excellent information on the design process for the Morgan Dollar and them the minting process. For a new collector, this is very good information.

    Chapter 5 discusses the five, yes five different mints that produced Morgan Dollars, although the Denver mint only produced Morgan Dollars for one year, the year 1921. Chapter five also gives a little bit of history about each of the mints.

    Chapter 6 discusses the various hoards of silver dollars discovered long after the demise of the dollar. Some once thought scare dates were now plentiful as the US Treasury began releasing and selling Silver Dollars held in vaults for years.

    Chapter 7 delves into the variety of ways you can collect Morgan Dollars. If you are at all familiar with Morgan Dollars, then you know that there is a multitude of ways to collect this coveted coin. Chapter 7 will give you many ideas to help you narrow down the way you may want to collect this series

    Chapter 8 discusses grading and the ANA grading scale. If you are familiar with the scales, then there is not much new here. Also, this is also where I think the book could stand some improvement. There are pictures providing examples for each grade, but like most, if not all books about grading, there are only descriptions for MS60 and above. I would have liked to see large pictures for each MS grade. This would give collectors a clear indication of the impact of bag marks in regards to grading.

    Chapter 9 discusses the many varieties within the Morgan series while Chapter 10 is where the real meat of the book is. Chapter 10 contains a page for each and every year and mint of the entire Morgan Dollar series. Each page contains information on keys to collecting, circulation strikes, prooflike coins, price guide, availability guide, mintage and distribution and varieties. Each page is jam-packed with information very specific to each date and mint. In addition, there is a summary for each year that discussed things going on at the time and other general information about Morgan Dollars for that year. This type of information no doubt took years to gather and is invaluable to the serious Morgan Dollar collector.

    Chapter 10 is buy far the longest and provides incredible detail for each and every year and mint of the Morgan series. There is one page for each date/mint that provides information such as optimal collecting grade, PCGS population (although outdated as more coins become certified), estimated field population, total mintages, varieties, etc. In addition, there is a page for each year that discusses collecting and how life was during that particular year. In all, chapter 10 is for the series Morgan Dollar collector.

    In summary, if you are a series Morgan Dollar collector, or just a beginner, this is a must have book. The information provided in this book is incredible and provides the collector with incredible information into collecting one of the most popular coins collected today.

    This book gets 4 1/2 stars.

    If this book had blown up pictures of Mint State type coins, it would have rated a 5. Since the Morgan Dollar is most desired in Mint State, it puzzles me as to why graded pictures are not provided.

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    Source by Keith Scott

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  • The Renegade Network Marketer is Attraction Marketing

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    In case you have not read the eBook by Ann Sieg called The Renegade Network Marketer, be sure to get your copy here. By reading this book you will learn new concepts on how to build your Network Marketing business or any business the smart way in this digital age.

    Inside Sieg’s book she targets a distinct group of people that are discouraged that their Network Marketing business is not going as planned. Every single day this group searches the internet for solutions and the Renegade Network Marketer provides the answers. Ann has exposed the upline sponsors for the ever tiring methods and myths that they are teaching to new recruits. If you have grown weary of hitting on or have just plain run out of friends and family this system is perfect.

    The Renegade Network Marketing eBook is full of valuable and practical information on how to prospect, market, and sell, specifically in the Network Marketing industry by using the internet. Even if you don’t belong to a Network Marketing Business, you can still purchase The Renegade Marketing System eBook and still make money as an affiliate.

    A new doorway has been opened by The Renegade Network Marketer which is leading the way to working smarter in attracting targeted prospects into your network marketing funnel. You will learn how to how to qualify prospects, position yourself as an expert and how to make your internet marketing efforts count. In order to keep you ahead of the trend in professional network marketing, there is ongoing continuous training. Whether you are just starting out or you just want the know how to grow your business this marketing concept is flawless.

    Cash flow is vital to any business and Sieg has also incorporated in her system the opportunity to make multiple streams of income. When you purchase the e-book you also gain access to a Back Office with a huge amount of information and tools to market and track your new business. Once you’ve read the book, you’re ready to get started setting up your own attraction based marketing system.

    The difference with being directly linked to Ann is that she has an incredible team and system in place. This is backed up with free membership in the Renegade System where you can put what you have read into practice right away. You’ll find many other helpful resources at The Renegade System website such as website development, copy writing and traffic generation.

    Ann has taken attraction marketing to a whole other level by teaching the principles of marketing. The ideas I got from the book suddenly opened my eyes to see network marketing business in a totally new light. The path in front of me has never look so bright. In our lifetime as network marketers we have no doubt made several attempts at making money did not go exactly as planned. Would you agree that those attempts in question had to do with the number of people that didn’t find your network marketing business as attractive as you did?

    In a nutshell, The Renegade Network Marketer eBook renders a complete Internet attraction marketing system for network marketers at a very low cost. The book comes risk free with a money back guarantee. This kind of training which is always being added could very easily cost thousands and I am sure somewhere it does. If learning the highly coveted secrets on how to attract and qualify prospects instead of chasing them down appeals to you then this eBook is for you.

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    Source by John Kellerman

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  • Baby Health – The Doctor Should Be Pediatric

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    Baby health is without any doubt the most important concern of any parent. Therefore, they keep doing everything possible to ensure that their kid have a sound and good health. They will give the kid regular foods maintaining the nutrition requirement. They will make him involve in physical activities. They will allow him to take rest. The concern with baby health is their incapability to communicate their problems and complains.

    Therefore, parents have to keep keen eyes on their every single activities and facial expression. One good way for parents to see how their baby health is performing is having frequent observation of the baby urine and stool. Any abnormalities that go inside baby body is relayed and reflected in the stools and urine. For urine, you can check the color, the amount of it. For stool, you can check the interval of defecation, the solidity and the color. Anything that appears irregular with your baby should be your sign to count on some abnormalities with the baby health. Then immediately consult with pediatric doctors. If needed build a bond with the doctor. Consult him frequently. Even if your baby is well, playing sound; still visit the doctor regularly to assess whether the growth is in right track. It is solely on the hand of parents.

    People are not aware that much about it. Therefore, some tragic situation takes them. Some people prefer to observe the situational development for forty-eight hours. However, it is risky because whatever substances the baby is releasing comes from his entire digestion system. Therefore, everybody should consult doctors immediately.

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    Source by Imran Al

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  • Negotiation Tactics and The Poison of Emotion

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    “Don’t take it personally… it’s just business.”

    No doubt you have heard these words spoken by an opposing party to a business deal. Many people have heard these words, and they usually followed a bone-crushing blow from the other side. As if to make any wound acceptable, they remind you they wouldn’t do it on a personal level, but only in a business context.

    As if the two are separable.

    The reality is, personal and business are really not separable, and this is why: when you negotiate a deal, you do not negotiate with a retail shop, or a construction crew, or a brand of product – you negotiate with a person. And that makes it personal, every time.

    Because negotiations are personal, there usually are emotions involved. Humans are emotional creatures; in fact, we are the only emotional creatures. We are unique from the rest of the created world in that we have wills, intellects and emotions. These three trademarks of the human psyche are integral to any negotiation, and the more value involved, the more these three human traits play a role.

    When emotions take the stage in a negotiation, things can get skewed very quickly, and what began as a logical journey to a reasonable conclusion becomes an intense entanglement of anger, pride, and despondency.

    When people get angry, they let reason go to the wind. “Okay, fine,” they say, “if he is going to treat me like I’m stupid, I’ll make sure he knows I’m not.” Then an unwise, unproductive decision is made.

    When a negotiation becomes a showdown of who can prove they are getting the better deal, there’s a battle of pride, and the two sides just continue to try to top the other and the negotiation goes nowhere.

    When someone feels like the breath was just knocked out of them, like when the opposing party downplays or even criticizes what the other party thought was the most valuable element of the deal, a hurt, dejected emotion surfaces and there is an underlying resentment from there on through the rest of the process.

    Emotions are poison to negotiations.

    A skilled negotiator who understands how to apply effective negotiation tactics will do all she can to leave emotions at the door… and lock the door behind her until an agreement is reached.

    In many negotiations, emotions are expected to arise, and some situations almost guarantee them. When two people who have lived in their house for thirty years, reared their children there, made lifelong friendships with the neighbors, and remodeled the home with their own blood and sweat and tears, realize they are at a point where they must sell, they are not going to sell easily. You can bet these folks are going to have some serious emotions when accepting an offer to buy their home. They are selling a part of themselves and may need some serious motivation, which could be an irresistible, bullet proof, over-asking price offer from a buyer.

    And this can mean a tough negotiation ahead.

    High octane deals can create problems, but there are negotiation tactics to deal with them. Here are a few to consider:

    • Understand the other party may be putting on a front

    Some of the nicest, most pleasant people become monsters at the negotiating table. Why? Many reasons. For one, certain people believe you are supposed to be rude and hard-nosed in a negotiation. Yes, they are wrong, but telling them about it is useless. The important thing to remember is you must absorb the abrasiveness and harsh language with grace. Let them be as assinne as they want, but don’t let it affect you. Even if you are burning inside because the buyer just told you the mural your friend painted on the building side will be painted over as soon as the recording ink dries, DON’T LET THEM KNOW IT. Emotion is fine; expressing emotion in a business dealing is weakness.

    You must be strong whether you feel it or not, because it is not so much how you feel that counts, it is how the other side perceives how you feel.

    • View everything from the standpoint of fair market value

    The fact that you hand planned those deck boards and involved your kids through the whole project really doesn’t matter. It may make the deck more valuable to you, but it doesn’t to your buyer. A deck is worth what the fair market value for decks is. Nothing more. In a similar way, the fact that it took you a full year of pursuit to secure that particular client doesn’t affect the value to the buyer of your business. The client is worth the fair market value of their revenue generation for the business. Nothing more.

    Leaving personal emotions out of the deal will help a negotiator to view the value and transferability of his assets properly, and encourage a healthy and balanced negotiation.

    • Have a third party do the negotiating

    Usually big corporations involved in mergers and acquisitions and buy-outs employ the services of an attorney or attorneys to handle the negotiations. This is partly because of the technical know-how required in complicated deals, but it is more than that. Corporate execs know that to have an outside, neutral person to handle the dealing removes any personal element (or at least most of it) from the negotiations. The attorney’s job is not on the line, nor is his standing in the company. But the executive’s is, and there is power in removing those personal elements which can make a party weaker.

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    Source by Rhett Kniep

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  • Internal Customer Service: Guidelines for Suppliers and Contractors

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    Change management and organization development experts talk about ‘creating alignment’ – aligning organizational strategy with daily business needs. And a big part of this is creating alignment between customer needs and employee actions as customer service providers. But we also have to take note of internal customers – those people within the organization that service us – as internal customers and who we service as internal customers. “There is a remarkably close and consistent link between how internal customers are treated and how external customers perceive the quality of your organization’s services. It is almost impossible to provide good external service if your organization is not providing good internal service.” R. Zemke and K. Anderson, Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service, 1981.

    And it’s not just about internal customers within the walls of your organization, it’s also about those arms-length internal customers and customer service providers – suppliers and contractors – those people who either supply your organization directly or come into contact with your external customers, directly, as your representative. These suppliers and contractors should be considered an integral part of your organization and the service they provide should be measured as accurately and frequently as you measure the service level you provide.

    To my mind, servicing others, whether internal or external (customer, supplier, colleague, peer, supervisor, contractor), should reflect the values of your organization and the process to retain the best customers – again, whether internal or external – can be applied across any of these groups. Suppliers and contractors should be selected and retained based on their commitment to servicing your customers – and your employees – as you require them to be serviced. Although you do not ‘own’ these suppliers and contractors, you have the right to demand the equivalent level of service you provide to your customers. When selecting your suppliers and contractors, or measuring the ones you currently are associated with, the following guidelines may help ensure that internal service meets the standard.

    Recruit suppliers and contractors as you would your employees.

    You should be seeking out the best person for the job, the high performer who will be able to deliver on your business expectations and drive up results for your company. Why not utilize some of the recruiting tools you use when conducting a search for an employee? Think about it. You will be paying this supplier or contractor to perform services for you or your customers so you should expect them to be of the calibre you expect from a new employee. Consider requesting a resume of their qualifications and experience, customers they have serviced, certifications that may be required, and if available, customer testimonials. Interview them in a similar fashion to the way in which you interview for employees. Check their references and make sure you put in place a contractual arrangement that clearly documents what you expect from them and what they can expect from you (this is just another version of position profiles and expectations for the role).

    In these cases, you are seeking high performers capable of servicing both your customers and your employees. And you have a responsibility to provide them with the information, resources and possibly, tools, they will need to service both these groups accurately and professionally.

    Provide clear expectations of performance.

    Even if your suppliers and contractors have worked with your organization for a long period of time, it is critical to periodically review your expectations of their role and how you expect them to service your customers. Customers are retained because they have developed a good relationship with their supplier and any contractor or supplier who is dealing with your customer directly, is seen by the customer to be an employee of your company, and hence; representing your company.

    When I was a general manager for an energy distribution company, one of our contractor service technicians accidentally cut the customer’s phone line. The first issue for the customer was, of course, the cut phone line and the inconvenience associated. The second issue was that the contractor apologized but told the customer he would have to call our company to secure satisfaction regarding the cost and inconvenience of having the line repaired. The third issue was the response the customer received from the Branch Manager when he called our company office to complain. He was told we were not responsible since it was a contractor that had cut the line! Yes, I too, was shocked when the customer got through to me to complain and told me what the Branch Manager had said. Even more distressing was the fact that the Branch Manager defended his position when I called him about the complaint!

    No doubt we did not clearly identify to our contractor our customer service expectations. To me, they were simple. Apologize to the customer, call our office immediately to request a solution and then work with the customer to get the solution implemented. Simple to me but certainly not to our contractor or, I quickly discovered, to my Branch Manager.

    So my next step was to build a contractor customer service agreement and develop a customer service training program to implement with both our employees and our contractors. We then implemented it across my region. We still had customer service issues with both our contractors and our employees, periodically,but this was a great first step.

    Conduct frequent performance reviews.

    Providing your suppliers and contractors with regular, specific feedback will not only give you confidence that they are meeting your needs but will also provide opportunities for them to discuss any customer service challenges, issues, or problems with you before they result in lost customers. These regular reviews should be part of the contract between you and the contractor and they should be implemented on schedule. During these reviews you should include their primary employee contacts to ensure all partners are clear about the issues and able to participate in developing the solutions. This secures commitment to the solutions.

    Reward and recognize customer service excellence.

    At a minimum, providing them with a reference signifies that you are pleased with their customer service performance. But, without a doubt, the best reward for suppliers and contractors is securing more work from you.

    Following these guidelines will go a long way to ensuring alignment between your company, your employees and your suppliers and contractors – to the business goals and strategy. All sectors can then be focused on delivering the expected level of customer service to the customer base you want to retain.

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    Source by Donna Stevenson

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