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  • Breaking Down Sales and Marketing

    Breaking Down Sales and Marketing

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    Revisiting the Sales and Marketing Conversation

    Back in October 2015 we shared an article called "5 Ways Marketing Departments Help Salespeople Catch Butterflies." Recently a tenfold article was shared with us, titled "What is the Meaning of Sales & Marketing and Their Advantages? " And, I have to say, it does a pretty awesome job of breaking down the differences, responsibilities, and links between sales and marketing roles. Why revisit this now? Because it has never been more apparent that the relationship between sales and marketing is still just as misunderstood as ever, especially with advances in marketing technology.

    Setting the Record Straight

    Many in the business world, especially those who rely on sales and marketing for success, don't actually have a concrete grasp on exactly what sales and marketing are. Yes, the two are linked, but they are not one and the same. Sales departments rely on marketing; marketing departments and strategies exist to feed sales (notice I didn't say "make" sales). You wouldn't engage in marketing if you had nothing to sell, and your sales strategy would be much less informed and successful if not for your marketing efforts. Yes, many old-school salespeople (or go-getter small business entrepreneurs) are quite capable of drumming up business on their own, and may even have some tried-and-true marketing tactics up their sleeve – but few have the time, skill , or technological resources to effectively capitalize on the true potential of their market.

    A common mistake made by older, more established businesses is to assume that salespeople are skilled at marketing and that marketing people are skilled at making sales. In some cases this may be true, but certainly not across the board. While trying to conserve capital, many of these companies will attempt to combine their sales and marketing departments, essentially tasking their employees with two job descriptions, and that's usually a bad move. It's no accident that more recently established companies, tech giants, and organizations that employ a large number of millennials are killing it with their marketing efforts.

    Breaking It Down

    As the tenfold article explains, some of the key responsibilities of a sales team include:

    • Follow Up
    • Relationship Building
    • Closing
    • Retention

    The mark of a great salesperson is the ability to cultivate a personal relationship. Many consumers who have stayed loyal to the same brand, dealership, or salon for years will say that they appreciate the personal attention they receive there. It is not a marketing employee's responsibility to follow up with a salesperson's existing customer once the lead has been handed off, nor is it their responsibility to convert a lead to a sale, "close the deal," or make sure the client remains a client for many years. Short of having an outstanding relationship with a skilled salesperson, product quality and excellent overall experience are the main things that will bolster client retention.

    On the marketing side, primary efforts are:

    • Awareness
    • Engagement
    • Conversion (from anonymous to known)
    • Retention

    It is not a salesperson's job to generate awareness or buzz about their brand, product or service. If they are expected to use their energy to make sales by nurturing leads and relationships, then how can they also be expected to have the time to do the leg-work up front that brings those leads to the table in the first place?

    The marketing department creates awareness, builds engagement by creating information that will invite audience members to take action, and targets and tracks engagement by motivating audience members to provide contact information or initiate a free trial or consultation (converting them from a cold prospect to a known lead or potential buyer). It is important to note here that the retention function of a marketing department doesn't really overlap the retention efforts of a sales team.

    On the sales side, client retention refers more to the salesperson's efforts to use the client relationship to continually check in with the client, attempt to engage them in further discussions about additional products or services they may be interested in, and seek referrals to the client's friends and family members. On the marketing side, however, retention refers to maintaining a higher level of consistent engagement (through targeted marketing based on buying preferences, interests and history) so that the customer relationship doesn't end at the initial purchase. Those email newsletters you receive after becoming a customer somewhere are not random – they have a purpose and are often tailored to things you've viewed or expressed interest in. A sales team simply doesn't have the insights, time, or often the resources to execute these types of strategic campaigns.

    The Fine-Tuned Coexistence Of It All

    The ideal sales and marketing relationship is a symbiotic one. Marketers and salespeople work together to determine what consumers need and how to deliver it. Sales and marketing should motivate, inspire and feed one other. They should collaborate and coexist. In the hierarchy of the business food chain, sales and marketing should not be seen as rivals or equals, but counterparts. One truly cannot exist without the other, but their skill sets are not the same – especially today, where advances in technology require the modern marketer to have a very specific, honed, and competitive set of skills that most sales people simply do not need to have.

    For this reason many marketers are introverted, analytical, and deep-thinking individuals. Whether they're crunching numbers and analyzing data, compiling reports on trends and conversion rates, or writing awesome ads and creating beautiful websites and collateral material, they are required to intensely focus on what works, what doesn't, and adjust their creative efforts accordingly. Usually a marketing department will have creatives, analysts, and more tech-oriented people (who dive into the numbers and algorithms behind advanced marketing tools).

    In contrast though, many salespeople are extroverts – they light up a room, they have excellent "people skills," can easily relate to others, and have the ability to pick up on social cues that might actually help them close a sale. Oftentimes salespeople have a broader focus, preferring to spend their days with appointments and meetings – activities that build relationships – rather than sitting behind a desk doing what a marketing department does best. For this reason, many salespeople have administrative assistants to help them with follow-up, paperwork, appointment setting, phone calls, proposals, and calendar management. This type of functional assistant role is less widespread in the marketing realm.

    Share Your Thoughts

    Be sure to read the full article (and let us know how it compares to our post ) for additional insights on the relationship between sales and marketing teams. Join the conversation: in your experience, what have been some key components of a successful sales and marketing partnership?

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    Source by Jessica Champion

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  • Small Business Owners: Accounting Is for Profit Planning, Not Just Tax Preparation

    Small Business Owners: Accounting Is for Profit Planning, Not Just Tax Preparation

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    One might be led to believe that profit is the main objective in a business but in reality it is the cash flowing in and out of a business which keeps the doors open. The concept of profit is somewhat narrow and only looks at expenses and income at a certain point in time. Cash flow, on the other hand, is more dynamic in the sense that it is concerned with the movement of money in and out of a business. It is concerned with the time at which the movement of the money takes place. Profits do not necessarily coincide with their associated cash inflows and outflows. The net result is that cash receipts often lag cash payments and while profits may be reported, the business may experience a short-term cash shortage. For this reason, it is essential to forecast cash flows as well as project likely profits. In these terms, it is important to know how to convert your accrual profit to your cash flow profit. You need to be able to maintain enough cash on hand to run the business, but not so much as to forfeit possible earnings from other uses.

    Why accounting is needed

    Help you to operate better as a business owner

    1. Make timely decisions

      • Know when to hire a team of employees
      • Know how to price your products
      • Know how to label your expense items
      • Helps you to determine whether to expand or not
      • Helps with operations projected costs
    2. Stop Fraud and Theft

      • Control the biggest problem is internal theft
      • Reconcile your books and inventory control of equipment
    3. Raising Capital (help you to explain financials to stakeholders)

      • Loans
      • Investors

    What are the Best Practices in Accounting for Small Businesses to address your common ‘pain points’?

    1. Hire or consult with CPA or accountant

      1. What is the best way and how often to contact
      2. What experience do you have in my industry?
      3. Identify what is my break-even point?
      4. Can the accountant assess the overall value of my business
      5. Can you help me grow my business with profit planning techniques
      6. How can you help me to prepare for tax season
      7. What are some special considerations for my particular industry?

    To succeed, your company must be profitable. All your business objectives boil down to this one simple fact. But turning a profit is easier said than done. In order to boost your bottom line, you need to know what’s going on financially at all times. You also need to be committed to tracking and understanding your KPIs.

    What are the common Profitability Metrics to Track in Business — key performance indicators (KPI)

    Whether you decide to hire an expert or do it yourself, there are some metrics that you should absolutely need to keep tabs on at all times:

    • Outstanding Accounts Payable: Outstanding accounts payable (A/P) shows the balance of cash you currently owe to your suppliers.
    • Average Cash Burn: Average cash burn is the rate at which your business’ cash balance is going down on average each month over a specified time period. A negative burn is a good sign because it indicates your business is generating cash and growing its cash reserves.
    • Cash Runaway: If your business is operating at a loss, cash runway helps you estimate how many months you can continue before your business exhausts its cash reserves. Similar to your cash burn, a negative runway is a good sign that your business is growing its cash reserves.
    • Gross Margin: Gross margin is a percentage that demonstrates the total revenue of your business after subtracting the costs associated with creating and selling your business’ products. It is a helpful metric to identify how your revenue compares to your costs, allowing you to make changes accordingly.
    • Customer Acquisition Cost: By knowing how much you spend on average to acquire a new customer, you can tell exactly how many customers you need to generate a profit.
    • Customer Lifetime Value: You need to know your LTV so that you can predict your future revenues and estimate the total number of customers you need to grow your profits.
    • Break-Even Point:How much do I need to generate in sales for my company to make a profit?Knowing this number will show you what you need to do to turn a profit (e.g., acquire more customers, increase prices, or lower operating expenses).
    • Net Profit: This is the single most important number you need to know for your business to be a financial success. If you aren’t making a profit, your company isn’t going to survive for long.
    • Total revenues comparison with last year/last month. By tracking and comparing your total revenues over time, you’ll be able to make sound business decisions and set better financial goals.
    • Average revenue per employee. It’s important to know this number so that you can set realistic productivity goals and recognize ways to streamline your business operations.

    The following checklist lays out a recommended timeline to take care of the accounting functions that will keep you attuned to the operations of your business and streamline your tax preparation. The accuracy and timeliness of the numbers entered will affect the key performance indicators that drive business decisions that need to be made, on a daily, monthly and annual basis towards profits.

    Daily Accounting Tasks

    1. Review your daily Cash flow position so you don’t ‘grow broke’.

    Since cash is the fuel for your business, you never want to be running near empty. Start your day by checking how much cash you have on hand.

    Weekly Accounting Tasks

    2. Record Transactions

    Record each transaction (billing customers, receiving cash from customers, paying vendors, etc.) in the proper account daily or weekly, depending on volume. Although recording transactions manually or in Excel sheets is acceptable, it is probably easier to use accounting software like QuickBooks. The benefits and control far outweigh the cost.

    3. Document and File Receipts

    Keep copies of all invoices sent, all cash receipts (cash, check and credit card deposits) and all cash payments (cash, check, credit card statements, etc.).

    Start a vendors file, sorted alphabetically, (Sears under “S”, CVS under “C,”etc.) for easy access. Create a payroll file sorted by payroll date and a bank statement file sorted by month. A common habit is to toss all paper receipts into a box and try to decipher them at tax time, but unless you have a small volume of transactions, it’s better to have separate files for assorted receipts kept organized as they come in. Many accounting software systems let you scan paper receipts and avoid physical files altogether

    4. Review Unpaid Bills from Vendors

    Every business should have an “unpaid vendors” folder. Keep a record of each of your vendors that includes billing dates, amounts due and payment due date. If vendors offer discounts for early payment, you may want to take advantage of that if you have the cash available.

    5. Pay Vendors, Sign Checks

    Track your accounts payable and have funds earmarked to pay your suppliers on time to avoid any late fees and maintain favorable relationships with them. If you are able to extend payment dates to net 60 or net 90, the better. Whether you make payments online or drop a check in the mail, keep copies of invoices sent and received using accounting software.

    6. Prepare and Send Invoices

    Be sure to include payment terms. Most invoices are due within 30 days, noted as “Net 30” at the bottom of your invoice. Without a due date, you will have more trouble forecasting revenue for the month. To make sure you get paid on time, always use an invoice form that contains the right details such as payment terms, itemized charges, and your payment address.

    7. Review Projected Cash Flow

    Managing your cash flow is critical, especially in the first year of your business. Forecasting how much cash you will need in the coming weeks/months will help you reserve enough money to pay bills, including your employees and suppliers. Plus, you can make more informed business decisions about how to spend it.

    All you need is a simple statement showing your current cash position, expected cash receipts during the next week/month and expected cash payments during the next week/month.

    8. Executive Dashboard (weekly review)

    This dashboard gives you a ‘snapshot’ of your operations on a weekly basis.

    It consist of Cash on Hand, Cash burn rate, Account Receivables, Accounts Payable, Items sold, Inventory on Hand, inventory turns, outstanding issues in the business, and gross profit margin, new sales wins, customer losses, customer service performance, on time delivery rate and product quality performance.

    Monthly Accounting Tasks

    9. Balance Your Business Checkbook

    Just as you reconcile your personal checking account, you need to know that your cash business transaction entries are accurate each month and that you are working with the correct cash position. Reconciling your cash makes it easier to discover and correct any errors or omissions-by you or by the bank-in time to correct them.

    10. Review Past-Due (“Aged”) Receivables

    Be sure to include an “aging” column to separate “open invoices” with the number of days a bill is past due. This gives you a quick view of outstanding customer payments. The beginning of the month is a good time to send out overdue reminder statements to customers, clients and anyone else who owes you money.

    At the end of your fiscal year, you will be looking at this account again to determine what receivables you will need to send to collections or write off for a deduction

    11. Analyze Inventory Status

    If you have inventory, set aside time to reorder products that sell quickly and identify others that are moving slowly and may have to be marked down or, ultimately, written off. By checking regularly (and comparing to prior months’ numbers), it’s easier to make adjustments so you are neither short nor overloaded.

    12. Process or Review Payroll and Approve Tax Payments

    While you have an established schedule to pay your employees (usually semi-monthly), you need to meet payroll tax requirements based on federal, state and local laws at different times, so be sure to withhold, report and deposit the applicable income tax, social security, Medicare and disability taxes to the appropriate agencies on the required dates.

    Review the payroll summary before payments are disbursed to avoid having to make corrections during the next payroll period. A payroll service provider can do all this to save you time and ensure accuracy at a reasonable cost.

    13. Review Actual Profit and Loss vs. Budget and vs. Prior Years

    Each month, take the time to review your budgeted expenses and compare them to what you have actually spent. Are you spending above or below budget? Discuss the variances and take action as needed

    Your profit and loss statement (also known as an income statement), both for the current month and year to date, tells you how much you earned and how much you spent. Measure it against your budget every month (or quarter). Comparing your actual numbers to your planned numbers highlights where you may be spending too much or not enough, so that you can make changes.

    If you have not prepared a budget, compare your current year-to-date P&L with the same prior-period year-to-date P&L to identify variances and make adjustments.

    14. Review Month-End Balance Sheet vs. Prior Period

    By comparing your balance sheet at one date-June 30, 2015, for example-to a balance sheet from an earlier date (December 31, 2014), you get a picture of how you are managing assets and liabilities. The key is to look for what is significantly up and/or down and understand why. For example, if your accounts receivable are up, is it due to increased recent sales or because of slower payments from customers?

    Quarterly Accounting Tasks

    15. Prepare/Review Revised Annual P&L Estimate

    It’s time to evaluate how much money you are actually making, whether your net assets are going up or down, the difference between revenues and expenses, what caused those changes, how you are spending profits, as well as identifying trouble spots, and making adjustments to improve sales and margins.

    16. Review Quarterly Payroll Reports and Make Payments

    You have been reviewing your semi-monthly payroll reports. However, the IRS and most states require quarterly payroll reports and any remaining quarterly payments. Again, it’s best if your payroll service provider completes these reports and files them. Your job is to review to make sure they appear reasonable.

    17. Review Sales Tax and Make Quarterly Payments

    If your company operates in a state that requires sales tax, make sure you comply to avoid serious penalties. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) can help you determine your state tax obligations.

    18. Compute Estimated Income Tax and Make Payment

    The IRS and states that have income taxes require you to pay estimated income taxes. Review your year-to-date P&L to see if you owe any estimated taxes for that quarter. Your tax accountant can assist if necessary.

    Annual Accounting Tasks

    19. Review Past-Due Receivables

    Now it’s time to check significant past due receivables and decide whether you think customers will eventually pay, whether to send past due bills to a collection agency or whether to write them off for a deduction.

    20. Review Your Inventory

    Review your current inventory to determine the value of items not sold. Any write-down of inventory translates to a deduction on your year-end taxes. If you do not write down unsellable inventory, you are overstating your inventory balance and paying additional taxes that you don’t owe.

    21. Fill out IRS Forms W-2 and 1099-MISC

    The IRS has a January 31 deadline that requires you to report the annual earnings of your full-time employees (W-2s) and most independent contractors (1099s). This deadline includes mailing copies of the tax forms to the people who worked for you. Note: A 1099 form is not required for any contractors who earned less than $600. Consider saving time and avoiding errors with an e-filing service.

    22. Review full-year financial reports for tax reporting

    • Get organized

      • Collect and store important documents (use apps and calendars for help)

        • Create email folders to store bank statement and receipts
        • Store contracts and agreements
        • Track miles and vehicle expenses
        • Store all required documents for your business type.


      • Tax Preparation

        • Tax preparation is a historical view and not a profit planning event
        • Capture all relevant events
        • Identify all deduction categories
        • Capture all meals

          • Meetings —-whatever was discussed/calendar

            • Try not to go over industry average industry cost for meals.

    At tax time, carefully review your company’s full-year financial reports before giving them to your accountant. Before you sign your return, be sure to review it for accuracy based on your full-year financial reports. Remember if IRS audits due to underpayment, they will deal with you not your accountant for any additional taxes, penalty and interest.

    If you don’t have the bandwidth to do all this yourself, a great strategy is to partner with a monthly accounting service. Outsourcing your accounting to an expert will simplify your life and give you more time to focus on running your business operations.

    A monthly accountant will provide you with a profit and loss sheet, balance statement, and accurate account reconciliation every month, ensuring that you have the financial information you need to make the best choices for your company.

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    Source by Vinson Primas

    Views: 0

  • Ways Schools Can Fight A Drug Menace

    Ways Schools Can Fight A Drug Menace

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    A combination of factors, including the ease with which drugs can be procured, alienation and peer pressure, is driving American teens toward their abuse. As a result, adolescents in high school and college do drugs on the sly. In dorm and frat parties, it has become customary to pool all drugs – stolen from elder's medicine cabinets, or procured from vendors or pill mills – before going on the adventure ride of a collective high. However, this fun and adventure comes at a cost. As most teens doing drugs are aware of the implications of the misdemeanor once caught, they do not report to the authorities in case a peer overdoses, resulting in tragic loss of young lives.

    The problem of drug abuse has spread its deadly tentacles across schools, posing a significant threat to the future of children in terms of impact on their health, academics, career and personal life. In the wake of such a serious implication on the future of the society, many schools, despite the paucity of funds, have put together programs for spreading awareness and keeping drug abuse under check. While some approaches rely on prohibition and punishment, others stress on education and rehabilitation. The objective is to keep drugs off the campus and establish a solid foundation to empower individuals to resist such temptations.

    As youngsters prefer engagement to long boring lectures, some of the means adopted by the schools are as follows:

    Disseminating knowledge through antidrug assemblies : Antidrug assemblies are engaging means to showcase the grim consequences of drug-seeking habit. With addiction treatment doctors and recovering patients turning up as guest lecturers, students can have a realistic picture of how drugs take them away from their loved ones and cause impairment of cognitive skills, such as difficulty following instructions. Students get the opportunity to clarify their doubts during such sessions.

    Educating children as early as possible : Considering the fact that most youths start doing drugs, smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol in school days, or when they are on the cusp of adolescence, it is the best time to drive home the dangers of doing drugs and other addictive substances.

    Conducting self-reliance programs : Children who are confident about themselves are less likely to take drugs. Therefore, some programs stress on building the child's self-reliance in all sorts of social situations. This helps them even under adverse peer pressure to not succumb to the temptation of doing drugs and say no to such activities firmly. Such programs are effective even in the long run as they teach children some essential life skills necessary for abstaining from drugs, alcohol, etc.

    Stocking antidotes : As it makes no sense to shy away from the truth that youngsters, especially those in college, will be doing drugs irrespective of the controls, authorities are advised to stock up their supply of opioid overdose antidote naloxone.

    Engaging children from families grappling with addiction : Instead of isolating a child with a problematic family, including members addicted to drugs, it is essential to engage him or her in all school or college activities. Irrespective of whether the child reports late to school or has problems with homework, a concerned and supportive school environment will mitigate the chances of the child falling into the same addiction cycle. Children of drug addicted families could also participate as guest lecturers in antidrug assemblies.

    Focusing on building teen assertiveness : With the help of a trained child counselor and other professional services, schools could focus on providing training to teens to develop their assertiveness and emotional control level. This is not only handy in career building, but could also help the teen realize his or her worth. Teens who feel sad and befuddled have greater risks of taking drugs to feel successful or empowered.

    Get help for drug addiction

    Children run the increased risk of falling into the trap of drug addiction due to their emotional vulnerability and undeveloped brain still in the process of developing the key cognitive skills. It becomes essential for parents and teachers to listen and talk to their fears and emotional upheavals, rather than ignoring them as their tantrums.

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    Source by Barbara Odozi

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  • The World Needs More Love!

    The World Needs More Love!

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    When I was out the other day I saw a paper bag that said something like, ‘the world needs more love.’ This is something that is hard to deny, considering how much suffering and destruction there is.

    One only needs to watch the news or to pick up a paper to hear about something negative that is taking place. What plays a part in this, of course, is that is that these sources have the tendency to focus on the bad things that are taking place and to overlook the good things.

    More to It

    Nonetheless, although it would be easy to say that this is only something that these sources do, it is something that is part of human nature. It is normal for the mind to focus on what is going wrong and to ignore what is going right.

    In a way, it is as if the mind is designed to look for problems. Yet, even if it is designed this way, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be trained to be less one sided and thereby, more balanced.

    Back to the Main Point

    So if the world needs more love, it can seem as though the best approach would be for someone to do what they can to give more love to the world. A big part of this is going to be for them to what they can do make sure they don’t do anything that is motivated by hate.

    When it comes to giving more love to the world, there can be the small things and the big things that they can do. If one believed that it is was purely about big gestures, they could wonder if they had anything to offer.

    One Step at a Time

    The key will be for them to focus on the small things that they can do to add more love to the world. This could involve holding doors open for people, saying hello and smiling, and saying thank you after someone has assisted them.

    And if another person talks to them about something, they could take the time to listen to them and to be present. What each of these things can do is to allow another person to feel seen and even heard.

    Pushing the Boat out

    Another option would be for them to train to become a nurse or a charity worker, for instance, with this being a way for them to serve their fellow human beings. Giving money to a charity or investing in a business that wants to serve humanity can be another option, that’s if they have the means to do so.

    There is also going to be the things that they can do for their friends and family. Being present when they are around them and being supportive is going to benefit them, and this can give these people the need to spread the good vibes to others.

    Multiplied Love

    Therefore, not only will one be having a positive effect on the people who they cross paths with, their behaviour will have an effect on how these people treat others. Ultimately, it is not possible for one to know what kind of impact their behaviour will have on another person’s life.

    Still, if they do what they can be kind to another, it is far more likely to have a positive effect on this person’s life than if they were to be unkind to them. This way, one will be able to walk away from an interaction knowing that they did the right thing, even if they are unsure as to what kind of impact they had on their life.

    The Missing Ingredient

    Having said this, while it is hard to deny that the world needs more love, this doesn’t mean that someone needs to solely focus on giving more love. The reason for this is that unless one loves themselves, it is going to be a challenge to behave in a loving manner.

    Now, this is not to say that they won’t be able to play the role of being a loving person; what it means is that this will be nothing more than an act. Behaving in this way will be something that takes a lot of effort as opposed to something that happens naturally.

    The Other Way

    If, on the other hand, one did what they needed to do to connect to their own heart and to feel comfortable in their own skin, there would be no reason for them to behave in a hateful manner or to cause harm to others. They would be connected to the love that is within them and this would allow them to behave in a loving manner.

    Behaving in this way won’t take much effort, either, as it will be no different to how they treat themselves. Also, if they didn’t feel comfortable in their own skin, they could treat themselves like dirt even though they treat other people well.

    An Essential Part

    It is relatively easy for one to create a false-self that allows them to come across as a loving person; whereas doing the inner work to that will enable one to experience self-love and thus, to behave in this way naturally, can take a fair amount of time and effort. And if someone doesn’t love themselves and doesn’t play a role, it can be normal for them to behave in a hateful manner.

    Due to how much pain they are in, they will need to harm others in order to feel better about themselves. The toxicity that is within them is then going to be spread wherever they go, and this will cause them to do a lot of damage.

    Final Thoughts

    If someone wants to contribute more love to the world, becoming more loving to themselves will be a great way to do it. As the love within them builds, they will have more of it to give to the people that they come into contact with.

    For this to take place, one may need to reach out for the support of a therapist or a healer. Someone like this will allow them to work through the layers of pain that are preventing them from being able to feel comfortable in their own skin.

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    Source by Oliver JR Cooper

    Views: 0

  • Why Sleep Is So Powerful For Mental Health

    Why Sleep Is So Powerful For Mental Health

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    In this fast-paced western society we are constantly connected and available 247, we have information flowing into us on a daily basis and there’s an increasing expectation for us to respond instantly. Given all of this, there a growing need for us to be operating or functioning in terms of our mental health not just at ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable’ levels, but ‘optimal’ levels.

    Optimal means we are functioning at the highest levels mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually, such that we’re able to cope well with the demands of life. If we are operating at sub-optimal level, it’s much harder for us to perform even the basic of life’s functions.

    So how do we ensure our health and wellbeing levels are what they should be?

    One key contributory factor for long-term mental health and wellness is to ensure we have 7-9 hours of good quality sleep per night.

    Repair

    Sleep repairs the body. This has a positive knock-on effect to how you function cognitively the next and following days. When we sleep, we sleep in cycles of 60-90 minutes. During that time we oscillate between deep (so-called delta) sleep where the body repairs itself and the lighter REM sleep.

    Recall

    REM (rapid-eye-movement) sleep, or lighter sleep, moves information from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. This helps you to better recall information you absorb on a daily basis. It is during this REM phase of sleep that your eyes move rapidly from side to side (hence the name) and that you dream.

    Rhythm

    Getting to bed at the right time (ideally 10pm) and getting the right amount of sleep every night keeps your circadian rhythm in check. Your circadian rhythm is your natural body clock that gives you signals when it’s time for you to sleep and when it’s time for you to wake up. Working shift patterns (especially night shifts) can knock this out of balance which can have major consequences not only for your mental and physical health but also for your gut health.

    Lack of good quality sleep means that instead of being fully awake and energised during the day, you may find yourself sleepy, sluggish and unable to focus for any significant length of time. In addition, when you’re in bed at night you may feel ‘tired and wired’ (meaning your body is physically tired, but your mind is wide awake and you’re therefore unable to sleep).

    Melatonin, the hormone that prepares your body for sleep, and serotonin (your awake hormone) need to be in balance for you to function at your best in the day. This means melatonin kicks in naturally from around 9pm (to help you sleep) until about 7am when serotonin is released to take you through the day. When this melatonin, serotonin cycle is in balance you are fully awake during the day and sleepy at night (when you should be). This in turn means you get a better night’s sleep.

    Immune Booster

    So never underestimate the power of sleep if you value your health and wellbeing. Good quality sleep not only helps us function more effectively, it also boosts our immune system, helping us to stave off viruses and other infections that we would more easily catch with an inferior level and quality of sleep.

    Sleep is therefore one of the fundamental pillars of amazing health and wellbeing. Without it we may over time find ourselves not only operating under par but opening ourselves up to chronic exhaustive conditions such as ME, chronic fatigue syndrome, or fibromyalgia. These conditions can be debilitating and could, if not kept in check, leave us either bed bound or wheelchair bound.

    So a key way to look after your mental health over the long term is to ensure that you not only get your 7-9 hours but that you ensure that you go to bed at the right time to increase your chances of getting a much better night’s sleep.

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    Source by Carmen Gilfillan

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  • How to Avail the Best Health Insurance Plans in India

    How to Avail the Best Health Insurance Plans in India

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    Many people think why to buy medical insurance but the key fact is that in the present scenario having a well-designated insurance policy is beneficial for you and your family. Many insurance companies are well coming up with various types of plans and policies that fit your requirements effectively.

    There are several reasons are behind choosing health-or-medical insurance coverage policies. It is a typical type of insurance coverage plan that basically pays for medical expenses with certain terms and conditions. It is a good idea to pick the best-guaranteed insurance services from the established company.

    Another fact is that multi features based insurance policies are easily accessible in the market that allows the customers to pick their choice of plans and policies efficiently. No one wanted to get sick or hurt buy mishap can occur any time at anywhere so it is better to insured with best health insurance plans in India by availing their advanced services and instant care.

    Why people need health-insurance facility:

    Most of the people cannot able to afford the high medical private expenses and that gives the introduction of the medical insurance policy. With the help of some amount of premium, the customer can easily able to hire best-required health-insurance policies. There are plenty of insurance plans are available as per your budget and need to cover you and your family.

    The best plans for emergency or health problems cover several diseases and protect you from future concerned problems also. In the present time, many people are seeking for availing the best family health-insurance cover to stay safe.

    What is the main function of any health insurance policy?

    The typical any medical insurance is ready to serve the customer with all primary care services. The primary function of the medicals includes daily routine care, chronic condition, emergency medical assistance and pharmaceutical.

    Especially when it comes to choosing private medical facilities for treating health problems is really not affordable for all people. The middles class families are not able to afford it due to high charges. So in those cases, the accessibility of health insurance is the best way to claim for the treatments charges and get benefited.

    The Benefits of modern insurance plans

    Another fact is that the entire insurance market is booming and emerging with numerous riders and benefits for the insurance holders. One of the major facts for choosing health insurance plans in India is also due to high medical expenses. In the present time, many hospital and specific clinics are charging huge treatments charges for several treatments which are not affordable for all.

    Many people as getting aware of the benefits of medical health insurance policies are becoming more conscious to hire them. Choosing the best good health insurance policy is leading to serve the holder better financial support towards the medical treatments charges.

    As time goes all the medical treatments and charges for the medical tools or medicines are increasing day by day. The customers are willing to reduce the burden of their medical expenses by ensuring the best health insurance benefits effectively.

    So in short and simple way it is good for the family security. All the family members get a medical coverage and can be safer under the umbrella of medical health insurance plans. Choose the active plans that suits to your needs and family requirements and make your future safer.

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    Source by Suraj Anjaana

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  • Reimage Your Health Education Class

    Reimage Your Health Education Class

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    Traditional classroom instructor, Mr. Dean Sahbroo, has a great job. He gets to school every morning at 8:00 am, reboots his computer, turns on the projector, and unzips the day's lesson plans from the mini drive he carries around on his key chain. The computer screen initiates and little icons start appearing, then after a few moments in the middle of the screen a tiny hoop shows a clockwise circulating pulse. Around and around it goes and after about a minute of this Mr. Sahbroo realizes the LED on his mini drive is not flashing. He tries unplugging it and plugging it back in again.

    Nothing.

    Dean concludes his computer system must be "hung up." He grabs the mini drive out of his computer and walks over to the administration office to ask the cheerful school assistant, Ms. Dunelle Carple, if she could try loading it on her computer. She obliges. Sure enough the LED starts flashing and a folder image appears on her screen. She clicks on it and then launches a document called "Third Grade Lesson 1 & 2:"

    MAJOR AREA : The Human Body
    GRADE : Third Grade (Lesson 1 & 2)

    TOPIC : Circulatory System
    EMPHASIS : Anatomy & Physiology – Heart and blood vessels

    MATERIALS: PPT. DVD. Worksheet.
    CONTENT :

    Power Point Lecture

    1. Description of Heart
    2. Hollow muscle
    3. Weight 11 oz.
    4. Size of

    brrympht . The document closes unexpectedly and after a few moments in the middle of the screen a tiny hoop shows a clockwise circulating pulse. * pop *. A dialogue message box appears "Warning: Removable Drive Unreadable." Dunelle picks up the phone and calls the help desk. She describes slowly step-by-step what happened on their computers and what she and Mr. Sahbroo have done. Suddenly the normally cheerful expression on Ms. Suddenly Carple's face turns ashen.

    "Reimage?"

    Reimage is a term used in association with computers. Essentially it means your operating system has slowed down or crashes too often because some software became damaged, corrupted or plagued with 'bugs.' During the re-imaging process everything on your computer system is removed and then reinstalled or better yet replaced with an upgraded version. Most people are deathly afraid of re-imaging and opt to simply reboot their system by turning it off and on again.

    A quality health education class requires more than a simple rebooting process. The above hypothetical scenario of loading a prepackaged health lesson to be taught by someone not professionally prepared to teach health illustrates just one obvious pitfall of over-reliance on one form of technology (for a few more pitfalls see "Death by PowerPoint" from Don McMillan ). Technology can certainly help with instruction, but up to this point it has been a great unrealized hope in educational reform.

    Other repetitive routines including outdated lectures, recycled worksheets, and over copied quizzes need to be replaced with authentic or lifelike activities and assessments that engage the students. Students do learn what they live. Health topics relate most intimately with a student unlike other traditional class subjects. Leave it those other classes to describe the heart as a 'hollow muscle.' Students in health class can feel their own pulse and talk about what it means to "have a heart."

    Once the static lifeless instruction is removed, then the lessons can be resuscitated with the students themselves breathing life into the learning activities. How this sense of authenticity extends beyond words can be found in the lyrics "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield, "No one else can feel it for you, Only you can let it in." Through in class activities students record their own comprehensive health textbook with an inner voice.

    Topics such as eating disorders, alcohol related problems, harmful ways of relating, and childhood obesity to name a few can be discussed in small groups then shared with the whole class. So a student is not alone reading a textbook but supported by peers in a skit creation, a game, a Socratic seminar, or a project. Sometimes the work created can also serve as the assessment. This style also lends itself well to treatment of emerging current wellness topics such as new allergies or diseases.

    In review it should be noted that over reliance on power point slides should be avoided, health should be taught by those who were professionally trained to do so, and lessons must include authentic activities in which each student can relate to their own personal health and wellbeing . Unlike traditional lectures the life-like activities can be fun! Once you reimage health education is in this manner students will retain more of the information because the way in which it was learned made it more memorable and enjoyable enough to last a lifetime.

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    Source by Schuyler Antane

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  • Key to Good Health Tips

    Key to Good Health Tips

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    So many a times in life, people misuse their bodies trying to fulfill a dream. They eat whatever they find around, they are too busy to schedule period of time to drink enough water or engage in enough physical activities. They hardly find time for relaxation and they are continuously stressed. They outspend their bodies to fulfill their dreams. They may succeed, feeling fulfilled for a while and applauded by the whole world but their bodies may collapse earlier than they can imagine and hence not able or available to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

    Health is a state of social, physical, and mental well being, not just the absence of disease and this is what God is interested in. you should not just be basking in the euphoria of not lying down in the hospital bed or hoping that anytime sickness knocks at your door you should be able to withstand.

    Some people think they don’t need to do anything about their health because they felt their physical, mental and social state of health is okay. Whatever your state of health is you need to play your part to continue enjoying good health.

    There are laws and natural laws of health you need to obey. Some of these laws include:

    Law of knowledge: Don’t despise knowledge even if you think you don’t need it now. You can store it as a wise man. A lot of people despise knowledge in different aspects of their lives and get into trouble. Whatever is judge to be right by nature should not be despised. For instance, several researches have shown that certain foods, stressful lifestyle and physical inactivity are associated with non communicable diseases. It will be suicidal for a person to be consuming excessive amount of such foods, not exercising at all and living a stressful life continuously in the name of having faith for good health. Such attitude is not faith but rather foolishness.

    Law of nourishment: The cells that make up every organ in your body are formed from the food you eat; therefore you should eat proper food (health diet) if you want these cells and hence your body to be healthy.

    You should eat from all the basic food groups including fruits and vegetables every day. You need five servings of fruits and vegetables. Avoid excess sugar, salt, fat (including meat) and calories.

    Law of Hydration: Drink at least 8 glasses of water daily and don’t wait till you are thirsty. Spread it round the hours of the day; don’t drink too much at a time

    Physical Activity: You should engage in exercise (including walking) for at least 30 minutes per day for 5 days a week. Moreover, learn to move around generally rather than sit in one place. It improves all the systems in your body and prevents various chronic diseases. If your weight is above normal you need more exercise to burn the fat.

    Adequate Rest and Relaxation: An average person needs about 8 hours sleep and rest daily. Strive to move near it even if you can’t get eight hours daily. Make sure you rest one day a week and at least four weeks annually away from your usual activities.

    Avoid Overwork: Plan your life in such a way that you can be doing less and earning more. Learn to relax, take time to laugh and do other things you enjoy for some time daily. Form and retain healthy relationships, avoid the ones that stress you.

    Other measures of ensuring good health include personal and environmental hygiene, exposure to sunshine, detoxification, avoidance of tobacco and alcohol, avoid indiscriminate sex, go for regular check up and prompt treatment.

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    Source by Aikoye Victor

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  • Can nudge theory really stop covid-19 by changing our behaviour?

    Can nudge theory really stop covid-19 by changing our behaviour?

    Human behaviour is key to the spread of coronavirus, so government scientists are trying to control our decisions. Does it work, and what happens when they get it wrong?
    Can nudge theory really stop covid-19 by changing our behaviour?
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    https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24632811-400-can-nudge-theory-really-stop-covid-19-by-changing-our-behaviour/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home

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  • Why countries should start weekly covid-19 testing for key workers

    Why countries should start weekly covid-19 testing for key workers

    Many countries are focusing coronavirus testing on people who have covid-19 symptoms. But regularly testing all essential workers would have more of an impact
    Why countries should start weekly covid-19 testing for key workers
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    https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24632812-700-why-countries-should-start-weekly-covid-19-testing-for-key-workers/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home

    Views: 0