Tag: Personal

  • Have Your Grief Healing Efforts Been Half-Way?

    Have Your Grief Healing Efforts Been Half-Way?

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    Have Your Grief Healing Efforts Been Half-way commitments? Because of your awful grief happening have your self-promises to overcome your unwanted sorrow and loss been only half-hearted?

    “Many important things shouldn’t be done half-way. Think of getting married, having children, starting a business, changing your career. There are times to gather your courage and make the leap, the whole leap.”

    ~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie

    Grief healing is certainly an imperative, essential and important consideration! It is vital to you to recognize half-way actions as simply expressed words that fade into the air and are nothing more than uttered wishes. To stop grieving and start healing, after a horrendous grief experience, requires total commitment of the mind and heart.

    “You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.”

    ~ old proverb often attributed to David Lloyd George

    Overcoming your grief chasm is personal and unique requiring essential action steps. Have you clearly defined beneficial steps you will take? Half-measured actions are an unpalatable food-source for healing from your grief and loss.

    Action Steps

    Perhaps because of your awful grief and loss, your what-to-do actions have been like a Beebe rattling around on the floor of a boxcar. It is important that you identify your personal decisive grief healing actions with clarity. Your sorrow and loss need your attention now!

    “Up to a point a man’s life is shaped by environment, heredity, and moments and changes in the world about him. Then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of things he wishes to be. Only the weak blame parents, their race, their times, lack of good fortune, or quirks of fate. Everyone has it within his power to say, ‘This I am today; that I will be tomorrow.’” ~ Louis L’Amour

    Early in your grief experience perhaps you have lacked clarity, even experienced confusion, as to actions you should take. In the aftermath of your extreme sorrow and loss you may have taken the shotgun approach rather than pondering and deciding clearly what you wish and should do. Ready-aim-fire-shoot without an identifiable healing plan target purpose is not ever in your best healing interest. Now is the vital time for you to decide. Because your grief experience is unique to you it is essential you decide now the most beneficial actions you will take.

    Commitment Action

    Over the years my life’s happenstances have underscored a vital clarity. I have learned an essential personal truth: As I have experienced failures and successes – professionally, personally and physically – I have learned that until I commit, I am hesitant; there is a chance I will draw back and be ineffective. Nonetheless, the moment I absolutely commit, expectations also move. All sorts of things occur; a stream of assistance and helpful happenings, which I couldn’t have imagined, have come to me. Possibilities and opportunities appear, often unforeseen until I commit to act. Then I experience new personal and spiritual empowerment to develop new habits that support me in new special desired efforts. I am enabled to choose to be willing to grow and evolve professionally, personally, spiritually and physically. This commitment concept has been proven to me time and time again, and so indelibly stamped into my mind, that I believe it is a true principle for individual support and growth.

    After your personal commitment, your life will begin to give beneficial answers to help stop your grieving and start healing. You will receive insight, inspiration and strength far beyond what you imagined.

    What Is Half Success

    Half-way and half-hearted actions result in half success. What is half success? Fifty percent of a forever life condition that can be restored more whole is not what you should accept. You can’t always control life experiences that often permanently change what you hope and dream your life will be. Nonetheless permanent peace, happiness and a life more whole is attainable even if your wholeness is different. Be willing to take the action and make the commitment to seek more happiness and peace. Seek your joy with all your mind and heart. Believe you can obtain lasting hope, peace and wholeness.

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    Source by Duane Marchant

    Views: 0

  • How Changing Your Mindset Can Change Your Life

    How Changing Your Mindset Can Change Your Life

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    If you have been struggling to lose weight, improve a relationship, find a new job or just have more fun, the answer may be in your mindset. Mindset is a concept developed over a decade ago by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck through her research to understand how people cope with failures. Dweck defines mindset as the view we adopt of ourselves and proved that it can profoundly affect how we live our lives. She found that people generally fall into two categories, those with a fixed mindset and those with a growth mindset. A “fixed” mindset suggests that our intelligence, ability and personality are carved in stone and do not change much over our lifetime. An example of this mindset might be “I am not athletic”” or “I am a math person” which suggest that these traits can’t change. The downside to a “fixed” mindset is these kinds of beliefs limit personal growth. By contrast, a “growth” mindset suggests that individuals have basic abilities but can develop and cultivate these and other abilities or intelligence and talents through effort and strategies. This view allows for potential to grow and opens us to greater possibility and success. Adopting a growth mindset can improve all areas of life from personal to professional. Changing from a fixed mindset to a growth can be accomplished through three steps.

    Three Steps to Grow Your Mindset

    According to Dweck, a growth mindset is based on the belief that we can change throughout our lifetime. While changing our beliefs can be challenging, the growth mindset can be developed in small steps.

    1. Awareness of how we think. The first step is to become aware of our behavior. When we tune into our thoughts and start to notice our reaction to challenges, criticism and setbacks, we can notice patterns where we are stuck. Challenges, criticism and setbacks are roadblocks with a fixed mindset. For example, a fixed mindset reaction to a difficult challenge is to question whether we can succeed. If we don’t think we can, why would we try only to fail. For instance, the thought “I am not going to volunteer to help my boss with that project because I am not sure I have all the skills. If I fail, I will look like a fool in front of my co-workers” is limiting the possibility for growth. In addition, constructive criticism is taken as an affront and a typical “fixed” mindset response is to become defensive and feel like a failure. “I can’t believe she told me my paper needed work. I am a horrible writer.” Setbacks can be a reason to give up because they reinforce our belief that we did not have the ability in the first place. “I auditioned and didn’t get a part. I knew I wasn’t a good singer.”
    2. Choice, The second step is to take this awareness and begin to see each of these is a choice. While it is comfortable to stay with our habitual responses, growth occurs when we make choices to change our limiting beliefs. A limiting belief keeps us in a safe zone but also keeps us from growth. For example, if my limiting belief is “I can never lose weight because my parents were overweight”, why try at all? This choice is to default to limiting thoughts. Or in the setback example of not being selected because of lack of natural ability, the response is a choice to give up because I “failed” and my ability is fixed. The growth choice requires more effort to stretch our abilities or maybe change the strategy.
    3. Challenge the belief. The final step is to challenge the belief as it comes up. To challenge these beliefs, it is important to see challenges, criticism or setbacks as opportunity for growth. For instance, in the above example of the audition “although I did not get this part, I learned about the audition process and I will continue to take voice lessons because it is important to me and I enjoy it. I might not get a part the next time I will keep trying new strategies. I can ask for feedback and see how I might improve.” The shift from focusing solely on the result to enjoying the process to critical with a growth mindset. In addition, being open to feedback helps us develop much more than seeing it as a failure. Dweck suggests incorporating the phrase “I am not there yet” instead of “I failed” to stay encouraged to keep trying. As Henry Ford said “whether you think you can or think you can’t – you are right!”

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    Source by Liz Brown

    Views: 0

  • Family Medicine And Family Physicians

    Family Medicine And Family Physicians

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    To become a family physician, men and women go through a four-year degree program, they study in an accredited family medical medicine residency program, and an additional three years of training before becoming board certified. A family physician is your one-stop healthcare expert. They treat everyone in the family and they exam, research, and diagnose medical conditions from head to toe. This type of care is called integrated care where a family doctor devises individualized health plans to treat mom, dad, and children of all ages. Family doctors treat a wide range of health conditions and they can be your primary care physicians at any point in your life. Unlike other specialties, family medicine involves coordinating all types of healthcare issues, from a common cold, pregnancies, to treating an acute or chronic illness.

    Family physicians must practice at the highest level of medical care throughout the world. They are required to become re-certified around every six years, through American institutions like The American Board of Family Medicine, The American Academy of Family Physicians or the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, all of which have reciprocity agreements throughout the globe for family medicine training. A few of the advantages in being seen by a primary care physician, includes the following:

    • family doctors have all of your personal and family medical history because they have been treating you for years.

    • physicians that have seen generations of family members can help in researching various genetic diseases, like cancer, if it appears more than once in a generation.

    • doctors involved in family medicine environments can perform minor surgical procedures without the added cost of seeing a specialist.

    • they improve the lives of the underserved in America and abroad.

    Research and clinical studies have proven that US and worldwide primary care physicians have been responsible for lowering the world mortality rates in diseases, such as in cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, low birth weight issues, obesity, and many other illnesses and health conditions. The statistical results associated with the care provided by family physicians, have proven that they help to increase life spans and control diseases from spreading. Their participation in healthcare has reduced healthcare expenditures, they help to lower hospital admissions, emergency room admissions, and they help to reduce surgical costs.

    A family doctor focuses on preventive care, community oriented care, global health, plus they diagnose and manage a wide range of health problems to improve the quality of care in local, rural, urban, and large city health. Even if people are generally healthy, patients benefit by keeping a relationship with their primary care physicians. The physicians support individuals to stay healthy through dietary programs, they encourage their patient's to exercise to stay physically and mentally healthy.

    One of the main reasons that family medicine works, is the relationship that patients have with their doctors. This specialized and confidential relationship is great for individuals who feel comfortable in talking about their medical health with their physicians. Physicians around the world, are available to answer their patient's questions in a way that forms a trusting bond. This bond creates a trusting relationship, whereby patients will listen and follow their healthcare provider's advice and directions, thus decreasing chances of spreading contagions .

    Family medicine is all about treating the whole person, not just their symptoms. A family physician has a profound effect on the physical, mental, environmental, emotional, and spiritual health of each of their patient's. Physicians with an intimate knowledge of their patients can help introduce the healing power of hope, love, faith, and trust, as life presents challenges that can evoke depression, fear, grief, and anger. Also, if a physician's patient requires the need to see a specialist, a family doctor will help coordinate your care. Patients can often feel frustrated and confused when they have to manage the healthcare system on their own. With a family healthcare provider on your side, the whole medical care journey is made easier and less frightening of the unknown.

    Refugees have always fled to foreign countries, including the US for a chance of better opportunities for themselves and their family. The present global news events are following refugees today, who are fleeing from their native countries for various reasons. Before being accepted for resettlement, all refugees must pass medical screening examinations, which is often performed by primary care physicians. The physicians perform a thorough examination of a variety of health problems that involve the mental and social health of the refugees. The family doctor's check for infectious diseases, chronic illnesses, the refugee's overall musculoskeletal system, and parasites, thus providing immunizations. The information that they gather is shared with that country main health agency, which in the US Is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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    Source by Ryan A Buffington

    Views: 0

  • Why Healing Requires Integrating Our Unconscious Experiences Into The Wholeness Of Our Being

    Why Healing Requires Integrating Our Unconscious Experiences Into The Wholeness Of Our Being

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    Nurture The Deepest Part Of Your Core Nature

    Healing involves integrating our fragmented parts into the entirety of our being. However, the paradox is: we are not broken but merely disassociated from our wholeness. The term healing denotes restoring what is not functioning as it is intended. When we are caught up in the distorted beliefs about ourselves, it leads to separation or what we consider being broken. In fact, it is merely being separated from the completeness of our true nature. Think in terms of a hologram where the whole is contained in every part. This was an idea espoused by the late theoretical physicist David Bohm who believed the universe is a solid and brilliant hologram. He recognized how each part of our physical reality contained information about the whole. Therefore, our thoughts, emotions, soul and physical body are composed of our soul nature.

    How does this idea appeal to you? Are you comfortable knowing whilst you were born whole and pure, through your beliefs, thoughts and experiences it leads to separation? I'm not suggesting it is entirely your fault because we are all bound to experience this. It is said, while our painful experiences are not our fault, healing the pain is our responsibility. Although there's an element of truth to it, we ought to remember there is nothing to heal other than to attend to our unconscious memories in order to return to wholeness. By attending to these aspects, we integrate our known sense of separateness. Release and Renew is a mantra I often repeat in my writing when I discuss healing and emotions. In doing so, we release that which is not conducive to the present moment. Similarly, we renew our commitment to nurture ourselves by connecting with our core emotions. The integration I speak of is an association with our soul nature, which at its essence is pure, whole and knows nothing of separateness or brokenness. It is the egoic mind which disconnects us from our spiritual self to create two identities ie the darkness and the light.

    How To Heal Your Fragmented Parts

    I am drawn to a passage by the South African author Michael Brown, who writes in The Presence Process : "I dropped my use of the word" heal "because of its connotation that something was wrong and had to be fixed. using the word "integrate," which to me meant there was a part of my experience that was unconscious- a part of my experience that I resisted, controlled, and sedated-which was asking to be incorporated into the whole.Whereas healing felt like I was excluding something from my experience, integration felt like I was embracing everything I experienced . " I believe Brown makes two important points here: we mustn't resist nor control the past, but perceive them as the whole of our life's experience. Second, integration means to embrace or at the very least acknowledge everything that happened to us. Perhaps not right away, but when we are ready to make peace with the past.

    What are your thoughts about this? I realize you may have questions related to your personal experiences. Whilst I am not present to answer them, I assure you trying to make sense of them consciously is a healing process rather than an integration process. It is what author Dr. Mario Martinez means when he writes in The MindBody Code: How to Change the Beliefs that Limit Your Health, Longevity, and Success : "The true agents of change are elevated cognitions and exalted emotions. These agents of change provide sustain transformation; in fact, they have triumphed over the greatest infamies and darkest periods in our human journey. " It does little good to dwell on why the past took place as it did. Instead, we ought to turn the tables and consider the following questions as a basis for self-enquiry. Instead of trying to make sense of the past which keeps us trapped replaying painful memories, we identify how the experiences served us.

    1. How can I use the past to facilitate my greater growth?
    2. In what ways can I use my emotional wounds to bring peace and love to the part of me that is pure and whole?
    3. How can I integrate my sense of separateness into the wholeness of my being?
    4. Whom do I need to become and let go of to achieve this inner state?

    Once we can perceive the pain of the past through the lens of: compassion, forgiveness, peace and love we heal our fragmented parts. It may involve deep exploration into ourselves with or without the guidance of a trained therapist. Considering this, I'd like you to spend the following week journaling your answers to the four questions above. Call it a remote coaching session if you like. Write what comes to mind even if it involves images or symbols. Similarly, pay attention to your dreams via the symbols that appear. Note how you feel within the dream and upon waking. Look for messages in your waking life in the form of people, places and situations that cause you unrest. This is your soul guiding you towards integration. Ultimately, to heal ourselves we must be willing to integrate the pain of the past, so healing happens naturally as nature intended it to.

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    Source by Tony Fahkry

    Views: 0

  • Words Can Help Heal – Sending a Pet Loss Card

    Words Can Help Heal – Sending a Pet Loss Card

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    Anyone that has ever owned a pet knows that no matter how small an animal is, they each have their very own personality. Pets appreciate you. They look forward to seeing you daily. They make you feel wanted and needed. They can get you out of a funk. It is no wonder that we get attached to our pets.

    Losing a pet is one of the hardest things that a pet owner will ever have to face. When someone loses a husband, a parent, or a child, we automatically think to send a card. We sometimes underestimate the importance of sending a pet loss card to a loved one. It is equally important to show you care by sending a heartfelt message. Simple words can mean so much to someone. It is comforting to a person who has lost a pet to know that their loved ones recognize their loss and respect their feelings of grief. The support of close friends and family during any loss can make the process a little easier to go through.

    There are many way to express sympathy in a pet loss card. Here are some tips when writing words of comfort in a pet loss card:

    1. Make sure to use your loved one’s pet name. Instead of saying “sorry about your dog”, say “sorry to hear about Max”.

    2. If you have a specific story that your loved one ever talked about, mention it. It shows that you cared about the life of the animal and that not only were you listening, you were thoughtful enough to remember it.

    3. Depending on your friend’s beliefs, mentioning the pet being in heaven can be comforting.

    4. A lot of the time, pet owners feel some sort of guilt for having to euthanize a pet. It is important to let them know what good pet owners they were. Remind your loved one how awesome they were to their pet, and all the special little things they did to make their pet feel loved and special.

    5. Offer your time. Mention that you are available any time to get a bite to eat, go out for coffee, or just listen. It helps not to be alone when you’re grieving. Although a lot of things probably aren’t exactly fun right away, doing things to keep your loved one’s mind off of the loss of her pet can help with the healing process.

    No matter what you choose to say, make it personal. Remember that this pet played a huge role in your loved one’s life, and that your words mean more than you might know.

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    Source by Lisa Falsetti

    Views: 0

  • People Are Not Very Supportive Of My Marital Separation. They Aren’t Happy For Me If Things Improve

    People Are Not Very Supportive Of My Marital Separation. They Aren’t Happy For Me If Things Improve

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    I sometimes hear from people who are getting some hurtful feedback from those who are supposed to be “supporting” them during their marital separation. Sometimes, this so-called support comes from friends or family members. It can even come from the “support group” that you specifically joined in order to feel lifted up during your separation, which can be incredibly disappointing. Someone might say, “I did not really want to burden my family, friends, or coworkers with details about my separation. They know that I am separated, but I just don’t want to hear people’s personal opinions about my husband or my marriage. I am hoping to reconcile and so I don’t want to influence their opinions about my husband or about our relationship. However, I wanted a place to talk things through and to feel supported so I joined a support group for people going through a separation / divorce. The first week felt pretty good, but maybe that is because everyone was on their best behavior. I have to admit that the last few weeks, it really hasn’t gone well. I want to reconcile with my husband. I was looking for people who could identify with what I was going through to keep my spirits up while I was waiting to see what happened with my marriage. However, many of these people are getting ready to divorce and are quite bitter and angry. If I try to relay good news that happened between my husband and myself during the week, I sometimes get sarcastic comments. Someone might say ‘well, just wait. He’s just trying to be nice to you so that you’ll accept the divorce later.’ These type of comments are obviously not what I want to hear. I don’t mind expressing my fears, but I want people to try to talk me down or to help me look on the bright side. I don’t want people to tell me that the worst case scenario is going to happen or that all separations end in divorce. This is why I didn’t tell some friends and family, but now I am getting this with the support group. And yet, I know that I need support, so I am not sure what to do.”

    I can really identify with what you are saying. I told some people about my own separation and I really came to regret it. Some of my friends became really angry with my husband and never really got over it – even after we reconciled. By then, I’d long forgiven my husband, and I just wanted to move on. But some people wouldn’t let it go. The thing is, with some people, if you tell them your most personal issues, then you’d better be ready to talk about those same issues every single time that you talk with them because they want to keep bringing it up and picking the scab. That is why you have to be really careful about who you confide in. Some people will project their own experiences and fears onto your experience and obviously, this doesn’t help you. Just because there are people in the support group who may be headed for divorce, this does not mean that you will be. At some point, I just had to tell people who weren’t supportive that I valued their friendship, but that I needed to talk about something else. Then I sought support elsewhere.

    If you have not tried counseling, that is probably the very best option for support. They are trained professionals whose only job is to help you. They don’t know you outside of this and therefore are not going to let other things bleed into the reason for your being there. That is really the ideal scenario, but if you are resistant to counseling, then you have to pick your “trusted support person” carefully. If you truly feel that the support group isn’t going to improve, then you want to make sure that if you decide to end this support system, then you have already replaced it with a new and better one. Honestly, my ideal support person was not who I thought that it would be. It was someone from work who I did not know very well and perhaps that helped. She didn’t have all of the history with me that some of my other friends did. And she had separated and reconciled previously so she understood my thought process. Our interactions always left me feeling better, and not worse.

    I often journaled my feelings on weekends because I knew that I needed to get them out and didn’t have access to my best support person. I came to decide that I’d rather journal to release my feelings than to have unsupportive people make me feel worse.

    It’s important to remember that you can control who you allow to influence you. It’s possible to politely retreat when people aren’t understanding or supportive. It can be really important to surround yourself with positivity because it’s easy to get discouraged. And it’s very important to remember that people’s unsupportive reactions usually have more to do with their situation than with yours. They are projecting their own life and their own problems onto you, which just isn’t fair. If the support group isn’t providing the support that you need and is just making you feel worse, there’s nothing wrong with politely seeking support elsewhere. Because support is very important, but it can be tricky and difficult to find the right, objective person or group of people. At the same time, you don’t want to alienate family and friends, which is why it’s fine to just change the subject and ask to discuss something else.

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    Source by Leslie Cane

    Views: 0

  • Dealing With Customer Complaints – B.L.A.S.T

    Dealing With Customer Complaints – B.L.A.S.T

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    In a restaurant, not so far away, in the not so distant future, a telephone rings, a customer complains… and the battle begins!

    Handling customer complaints doesn’t have to always be a battle, with the right tools and responses you can use complaints to your advantage; to help you build your business. B.L.A.S.T is a great tool that is used by companies such as Yum! (Parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, A&W, and Long John Silvers). Training their employees in the basics of handling customer complaints. The acronym stands for:

    Believe

    Listen

    Apologize

    Satisfy

    Thank

    How does your company deal with customer complaints? The easiest way to find out is to pick up the phone and play the role of the complaining customer. What happened? If you were an irritated customer, would you return? Using the B.L.A.S.T guidelines, allows you to create a standardized method for dealing with your complainers and turning them into loyal customers.

    Believe

    This is the cornerstone of handling a customer complaint. Yes, the customer may be lying and be incorrect about their situation. It is important to understand that your customer believes that your establishment has wronged them.

    Listen

    Stop and listen to your customer’s complaint. I’m not certain whether it’s natural instinct or just plain stubbornness. As soon as a customer starts to complain, we start to think of how we will respond to the accusation before we are done listening, and too often the case, already have the response ready to fight back. Take a second, relax, and listen. On occasion a complaining customer will be rude, angry, and use vulgar language, stay the course and remain calm and level headed.

    When the customer is done venting; in a calm, non-judgmental tone, repeat their problem. An example I used in my KFC for a mispacked order:

    “What I hear you saying is that, you came in ordered and paid for 10 Pieces of chicken and when you got home, you only received 8, is that correct?”

    By repeating the problem at hand, you’ve demonstrated your ability to the customer that you heard and understood their problem.

    Listen and clarify. Never defend or justify. The customer doesn’t care if you were shorthanded or if you’re having a bad day, they only care that they get taken care of. No excuses, just solutions.

    Apologize

    Always apologize even if you did nothing wrong. From your customers’ perspective, they have a legitimate complaint, and they expect an apology. It could be as simple as “I’m sorry we’ve inconvenienced you.” or “I’m sorry I know how frustrating it is to buy dinner for my family, only not to have everything there when I get home” A sincere apology will usually diffuse a lot of frustration that the customer has. There is an exception to this rule though, if a customer calls with a critical complaint, such as food poisoning, don’t apologize, it may be construed as an acceptance of guilt, instead refer to your company’s procedures for such events.

    Satisfy

    Make it right. Ask the customer “What can I do to make this right for you”? Be the judge of what is fair of course, but allow them the opportunity to feel empowered over the situation. Many times they may ask for the problem be taken care of on their next visit or maybe that you talk to the person who made the mistake and correct them. We used a great system of sending out a personalized postcard apologizing for the mistake, it was a couple of handwritten sentences (yes, many times with spelling mistakes from my team members), but it was personal and always well received. We always gave them the unexpected as well, maybe a free dessert or an extra side dish just to show that we cared about them.

    Thank

    At the beginning, at the end, in the middle; it doesn’t matter, thank the customer for calling and complaining.

    Why? With the simple act of complaining, your customer is telling you “I care about your business and your success”. They are giving you the opportunity to fix the problem and invite them back so they can give you more of their money. Puts a different spin on it doesn’t it? Thank them for giving you that second chance, for letting you know that something in your restaurant didn’t work like it normally does, for giving you the chance to make it right, and for the opportunity not to damage your reputation!

    Reputation? I had to throw that one in. You work hard, day in day out, trying the best to make your business the best, and yet one unhappy customer can take it away from you. A happy customer will tell two or three friends about a good experience, but an unhappy customer will tell at least ten friends about their experience and it always multiplies through word of mouth. Case in point, when I moved cross country to my new hometown, I was at a Chamber of Commerce event and being the new person in the group, I introduced myself and what we did. No sooner than five minutes passed did I get a list of 10 restaurants in my area that in their opinion were in “need of my services”. Only one person gave me a good restaurant. I didn’t ask, I was told. To this day I still haven’t been to those restaurants as a customer, why do I want to give them my hard earned money, when they made my new friends unhappy? It may not be a rational thought, but it is human nature.

    Will some people take advantage of your kindness? Of course, a rule of thumb I used in my restaurant was:

    First time shame on me,

    Second time shame on me, but I’m watching you,

    Third time… Shame on you and I will make the decision on how I will deal with you as a customer.

    Keep track of who calls to complain, names, phone numbers for follow up, addresses for your postcards. Using a binder and tracking your complaints, you will be able to detect and deter those that would take advantage of your new complaint procedures.

    Adding B.L.A.S.T to your expanding toolbox of customer service tools will help you in dealing with customer complaints and turn them around so they can tell their friends what great service you have!

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    Source by Albert Barneto

    Views: 0

  • Advanced Affiliate Marketing Techniques

    Advanced Affiliate Marketing Techniques

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    When choosing affiliate products to promote with your Internet marketing business, you want to pick products that cost more so that you make a higher commission per sale.

    But you also want to have a whole range of products at different price points so you can keep people buying no matter how much or how little money they have.

    For example, let's say you pick self-help as your niche. You should have a bunch of products that cost less than $ 10 – such as eBooks or video courses – because a lot of people seeking to improve themselves don't have a lot of money but still want to buy something that will make them better people.

    The 'Profit Ladder'

    Then you should have more expensive products in the $ 10 to $ 100 range so that you can offer them to people with more money to spend and also push your customers up the profit ladder. That means getting people to buy increasingly expensive products.

    Then you should have some products that are really expensive, such as those that cost $ 1,000 or more. This is to appeal to people who have a lot of money to spend but also to have a big money offer that people can aspire to. A lot of times these types of products are things like personal coaching, or seminars people can attend to become masters at whatever it is they want.

    Big money products not only satisfy people's desire to get the best there is, but also provide you with the biggest commissions so you can make the most money even if you only make a few sales.

    Niche Statistics

    Popularity of Niches

    Before you start promoting affiliate products, you want to make sure the products or the niches you choose to work in are popular. You don't want to waste your time working in niches that there aren't a lot of customers. Instead, maximize your potential revenues by only working in the best niches that have scads of customers.

    So how do you find out what niches are popular? Like anything else these days, you simply use the internet. There are plenty of places you can go to measure the popularity of a particular niche. The first place I always recommend is Google Hot Trends which lists the top 100 searches on Google during the previous 25 minutes.

    Researching Niche Statistics Online

    Google is the largest search engine and is used by more people than any other, so it is a reliable source to tell you what is hot at the present moment. Another site is Yahoo Buzz, which shows also shows the top searches but on Yahoo, which uses the Bing search engine. But Yahoo Buzz also gives a little more information than Google.

    Two other similar sites are Trend Hunter and Trend Watching. These are more geared toward consumer goods, such as electronics, appliances and other hard goods rather than digital products, which are what you probably will be promoting.

    Sources for Niche Data

    ClickBank has a lot of information about the products it offers. A similar site that also has lot of data you can use to measure popularity is Commission Junction.

    With the affiliate products you promote on ClickBank and Commission Junction, you make a commission every time somebody clicks through and buys that product.

    'Cost Per Action'

    But another affiliate model is called "Cost Per Action". This is slightly different because you can get paid every time somebody clicks through to a page whether they buy anything or not. Obviously, the CPA amount you are paid is usually less than that of a sales commission, but a lot of CPA click-throughs can quickly add up and make you some real money.

    CPA networks for you go check out include Peerfly.com, ShareASale.com, GoOffers.net and CPALed.com.

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    Source by Sohan Miah

    Views: 0

  • How, Many, LIMIT, Their Health Possibilities?

    How, Many, LIMIT, Their Health Possibilities?

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    If you hope to, and desire / want, the best, possible health, and well – being, doesn't it make sense, to, consistently, proceed, with an open – mind, and take advantage of the many, various, possibilities ? Those, who refuse to do so, for whatever reason, especially, when it's based on refusing to proceed, without bias and prejudgment, or to expand the self – imposed limitations of their personal comfort zone, almost, always, LIMIT their possibilities, and potential. With that in mind, this article will attempt to, briefly, consider, examine, review, and discuss, using the mnemonic approach, why, it is wise, to do, everything possible, to use, possible remedies, and treatments, to become a healthier, happier individual.

    1. Listen; learn: Smart ways to proceed, begin with opening, one's mind, and effectively listening, to the options, available, fully considering risks and benefits, as well as learning the differences, indications, and challenges, of each. How can you make a wise decision, unless you fully investigate the options and possibilities, but, before proceeding, always discuss these, with your trusted health professional?

    2. Imagination; ideas; interest; investigate: Have the imagination, to proceed, with a positive, can – do, attitude, and investigate, as thoroughly as possible, to determine, which ideas, may be, most appropriate, and interesting to you! The more you learn, and expose yourself to, the best questions, you will become capable, of asking!

    3. Mental; medical: When one proceeds, with a balance between, using a mental focus, with a medical one, he becomes, far more capable of, making a quality difference, for the better, in his overall health, and well – being. This is often referred to, as using a head / heart balance, or balancing one's emotional and logical components, to the finest personal benefit!

    4. Insights: Instead of limiting your options, and / or consideration, it is wise, to think, thoroughly, and, consistently, proceed, with the finest insights, so you might thoroughly, address your best options! The wiser, you proceed, the better your personal possibilities!

    5. Trends; teachings; timely: Concepts, possibilities, procedures, and options, are constantly evolving. One should become familiar with the current trends, etc. For example, the current trend, which many believe, may be most beneficial, is CBD , which some, feel, may be useful, for a variety of symptoms, ailments, and conditions. However, there may be a somewhat, fine – line, between benefits, and hype , so, beware of these differences, with an open – mind. Use the teachings, and proceed, in a well – considered, timely manner!

    Be smart, enough, to expand, rather than LIMIT , your health possibilities! Will you do, all you can, to be happier, and healthier, by proceeding, with an open – mind?

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    Source by Richard Brody

    Views: 0

  • Successful Entrepreneurship – Cracking the Code

    Successful Entrepreneurship – Cracking the Code

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    We've heard stories of penniless immigrants who came to Canada with nothing but a dream, but within a single generation accumulate a lot of wealth. How do they do it?

    This is a mystery to the typical person who graduates with a post-secondary education and goes on to work in the labor force as an employee (ie, most people!). This is because our educational system specifically trains its students to become employees rather than entrepreneurs.

    So when we hear about these rags to riches stories, we ask ourselves – "how did they do it?" As someone who grew up in an entrepreneurial household, here is my take on Cracking the Code to Successful Entrepreneurship:

    1. In most cases, one will never become truly financially independent working as an employee. Whether you are an entry-level bookkeeper or the CEO of a large organization, you can be unexpectedly fired at a whim by whoever you report to. You are therefore susceptible to financial catastrophe.

    2. Therefore, the only way to achieve financial independence is to build and maintain a successful business.

    3. There is a "magic formula" that will allow to evaluate a businesses' odds of success:

    [( Sale price of product – Variable cost of product) x Units sold] – Fixed Overhead Costs = Profit

    This formula will be very familiar to accountants – it's called the Contribution Margin Ratio.

    Let's demonstrate this formula using a Bubble Tea business. Wonder why there are so many Bubble Tea shops in Toronto? Because they make a heck of a lot of money with little risk:

    Price per bubble tea drink – $ 4.00

    Cost to make per drink (water, powder, sugar) – $ 0.50

    Drink sales per month assuming 100 sold per day – 3,000

    Monthly rent for shop – $ 3,000

    · Assume no labor costs – in the early years, the owners will work the shop themselves

    · [($ 4.00 – $ 0.50) x 3,000] = $ 10,500 in sales

    · Profit after paying rent: $ 10,500 – $ 3,000 = $ 7,500

    Once you apply this formula to the multinational soft drink companies to analyze their beverage businesses, you can begin to understand why soft-drinks companies have grown from humble beginnings to global companies they are today.

    You can also use this formula to evaluate almost any small business you might be thinking of getting into: restaurant, nail salon, hair salon. You should quickly realize that it's best to choose businesses with a high profit margin (ie, high selling price for produce / service and low cost of supplying the product / service) and high customer traffic (ie, units sold, people serviced).

    Seeing the Future – Cash Flow Projection

    You want to know if you'll be making a profit before going any further. If you skip this step, your chances of failing increase significantly.

    Investigate your costs to start up and run your business. The most common are:

    · Rent – how much will it cost to rent at the location where you want to set up?

    · Wages and payroll tax – will you need employees or can your run the business yourself? How much do you need to pay yourself to meet your personal living costs?

    · Advertising costs – what types of advertising will you use – TV, radio, internet – and what is their cost versus their potential return on investment?

    · Cost of inventory or raw materials – will these be imported? If yes, you'll need to factor in the impact of exchange rates on your profitability.

    · Purchase of equipment – general office equipment like a phone system, computers and IT network, and furniture, as well as specialized equipment for your specific line of business like restaurant equipment (if you're opening up a restaurant).

    · Business liability insurance – to protect yourself from liability if someone is inadvertently harmed by your product or service, or if someone is injured on your premises.

    · Pricing – how much will you be able to sell your product or service so that's it's competitive with others in your line of business

    Once you've figured out your monthly costs (ie, your overhead) and pricing, you're now in the position to determine how many unit sales you need to make to breakeven – remember the Contribution Margin Ratio that we looked at. Use a spreadsheet to build a cash-flow projection model.

    Protecting Yourself – Creditor Proofing

    If things don't work out for your business you could be financially ruined. Therefore, consider the following techniques to protect your personal assets from your business creditors.

    1. Incorporate the business. This will provide you with a level of creditor protection – most of a corporation's obligations are limited to its assets so this structure can provide protection for personal assets. This structure also has income tax benefits, which will not be discussed here.

    2. Always pay statutory debt on time, specifically:

    · Payroll source deductions;

    · Federal and provincial sales tax collected; and

    · Employee wages and vacation payable.

    Corporate directors can be personally responsible for these debts, notwithstanding that the business is incorporated. In many incorporated small businesses, the shareholder (ie, the business owner) and director are the same person.

    3. If you can, avoid giving personal guarantees of your corporation's business obligations (eg, landlord, suppliers) unless it is absolutely necessary.

    You will need a financial expert on your team to deal with the issues raised in this article. Therefore, I would strongly advise that you contact a CPA who can help you further.

    For all you aspiring entrepreneurs out there, I hope that I've helped take out some of the "mystery" behind successful entrepreneurship. Use this tool wisely and never stop dreaming!

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    Source by Victor Fong

    Views: 0