Living Your Passion

We all begin thinking about what we’re going to be
when we grow up at a very early age. As we grow and
learn more about ourselves and life, those career
ideas change and grow.

As we experience new relationships, hobbies and events
in our lives, we develop interests and ultimately we
become passionate about some of them. It’s these
passions that make the stressors of life dissipate.

What may have been a passion in our twenties may very
well change in our forties or fifties or beyond. We
may find that the career we chose in college no longer
satisfies our needs, once our basic needs have been
met.

While once our passion was making enough money to pay
the bills, our passion in our fifties may become a
desire to help others. As we’ve developed personal
skills, we may find that we are gifted in public
speaking; what could be better than talking about your
passion and making money at the same time?

Unfortunately, many people fail to live a life filled
with passion. Fearful of rejection or of success keeps
many people from pursuing their dreams; many people
simply don’t have enough faith in themselves to reach
for the stars.

What makes you happy? Do you have a hobby that you
just can’t get enough of? Take the step of writing
down any way that you could make money at doing your
favorite thing and try it in your spare time. You
might find a new career doing exactly what you are
passionate about!

What Is Personal Mastery?

Personal mastery is about approaching life from a different perspective.  Sometimes people would refer to it as a journey towards continuous improvement.  Personal  mastery is guided with key principles like vision, personal purpose, creative tension, commitment to truth and understanding the subconscious mind. 

One of the most important fundamental aspects of personal mastery is personal vision.  Personal mastery when combined personal vision can create a framework or guiding philosophy on how you can operate and live your life.  Some people would say that personal vision serves as a guide that would keep you on track.

Followers of personal mastery see that there are great opportunities to improve their growth.  Followers recognize that there are many avenues for growth and opportunities like books, tapes, lectures and school courses.  People also benefit from organizations
in their quest for personal mastery.     

Personal mastery is about loving yourself and expressing your gifts to its fullest.  Some would think that personal mastery is controlling and limiting one self, but actually it is about understanding your personality.  To control or overcome some habits, it would be important to identify how ad why those habits arise.  The more you suppress things, the more you would have difficulty in conquering and overcoming it.

Personal mastery is self-discipline.  It is about taking responsibility for the direction that your life is going to take.  You would slowly realize that you can do anything with the aide of your skills and talents.  Discipline would clarify and deepen your perspective in life.  Those who quest for personal mastery would develop patience and see life objectively. 

Personal mastery can actually help you become successful in life.  You can say that you have developed personal mastery if you are starting to fully understand your strengths, talents and your purpose in life.  Personal mastery enables you to be inspired, energized and happy with your life. You start to show a sense of commitment in changing on how people perceive life and the world.  The ultimate thing about personal mastery is that you would always feel that you are guided and supported by God.

It is also important for a person who is in quest for personal mastery to develop integrity, humility, justice and industry.  Actually, these are “rules” on how we could conduct ourselves professional, socially and spiritually.

Peter Senge said that attaining personal mastery has no shortcuts or no “quick fixes.”  Sometimes it would take a lifetime for personal mastery to be attained.  Personal mastery detaches a person from self-interest or selfishness and encourage people towards providing care and service to other people.  Also individuals who follow personal mastery see the connections in their surroundings and perceived everything as a whole. 

Proactive behaviour is also something that personal mastery helps you to develop.  Reactive behaviour like thinking beforehand hand that you cannot do things is dealt with when developing personal mastery.  Actions and service that you provide are based on how you can creatively maximize your skills.

To summarize it, personal mastery guides you to develop being aware with your beliefs, attitudes and behaviour impacts.  It also enables you to accept yourself and be responsible with your own action, attitude, and thought. 

Experts would say that personal mastery could be truly gained by living purposefully and by living with integrity.  Living purposefully would include showing talents, gifts and strengths to achieve goals and be successful.  Living with integrity is by integrating your ideals, standards and behaviour. 

Baby Crib Safety - Frequently Asked Questions

The crib is where your baby will spend a lot of their time and you want to be sure they are safe. Below are some of the questions (with the answers) that are asked about crib safety. Topics such as mattress position, how to place your baby in the crib, and general safety standards are discussed, as are other issues. If you need further information you can search the Internet and visit baby furniture stores.

Are there safety standards for baby cribs?

Yes there are some very exact standards for your baby’s crib. In 1974 it was made law that cribs should no longer be painted with lead based paint. It was discovered that the ingestion of lead (from any source) could cause learning disabilities and other difficulties in young children. The slats of the crib must be no more than 2 3/8 inches apart, this is to prevent your baby from getting his body or head stuck between the bars causing injury or strangulation. The side bar should be 26 inches above the mattress when it is in its lowest position. If your child is more than an inch taller than the sidebar it is time to move him into a regular bed.

Are there some hazards in my baby’s crib that I need to be aware of?

Your mattress must fit snugly in the crib; an ill-fitting mattress could cause your baby to slip between the mattress and the side bar causing suffocation.  The mattress height should be able to be adjusted into at least three different levels. When your baby becomes more mobile you will want to put the mattress in the lowest position to prevent your baby from climbing or falling out. The slats should be tight, loose slats could pinch little fingers. Do not put the crib near a window to prevent your baby from possibly falling out or becoming tangled in Venetian blind cords. 

What are some historical facts about the crib?

Here is a short chronological time line of crib facts:

1973 - The standard for crib slats was to be no more than 2 3/8th inches apart to prevent your baby from slipping through or getting their head stuck. Also, double latches for drop-down sidebars were to become the norm.

1976 - The standard for cutouts in the crib end panels are presented. The end panels must not have any decorative cutout designs. Children were getting their limbs or heads caught causing serious injury or death.

1978 -  Cribs must now be painted with non-toxic finish.

1981 - Two models of cribs with cutouts are recalled.

1988 - A voluntary standard addresses mattress support hardware, failure of glued or bolted connections, drop-side latch failure and loosened teething rails.

1990 - No corner posts or projections can be more than 1/16th of an inch above the drop-side.

1998 - California and Washington mandate that hotel cribs must meet the same standards
set for full-size cribs

1998 - Portable cribs must now meet the same standards as full-sized cribs.

How can I tell when my baby is ready for a regular bed?

When your child stands more than a couple of inches taller than the sidebar with the mattress in the lowest position. If your child is climbing out of the crib, for his safety put him in a regular bed.

How should I put my baby to sleep in his crib?

Place your baby on his back or on his side for sleeping. Use one piece sleepers rather than blankets. Your baby could slip under the blanket and possibly suffocate. Remove all pillows and toys as well, in order to prevent suffocation.

Is it safe to cover my baby with a blanket?

A blanket sleeper will keep your baby sufficiently warm while sleeping. If you absolutely need to use a blanket, tuck it in around the bottom of the mattress. Place your baby with his feet toward the end-panel and the blanket should go no higher than his/her chest.

Is a mesh sided crib safe to use for my baby?

Yes, a mesh crib is safe provided the mesh is less than 1/4 inch in size, smaller than a tiny button on baby’s clothes. The should be rips, tears, or loose threads. If staples are used to attach the mesh they must not be exposed and the mesh must be securely attached to the top rail and the floor plate.

Can I safely use bumper pads in my baby’s crib?

While bumper pads are not necessary, they can safely be used. They must be very close the edge of the mattress and properly secured. The bumpers must be flat and not puffy, as your baby could get stuck between the bumper and the mattress and suffocate.

What can I do to keep my baby’s crib safe?

In order to keep your baby’s a safe place, you should make sure to all connections are secure and that there are no broken or missing parts. Regularly, check the teething rail for splits or cracks. Make sure the mattress spring support  and your crib will withstand your baby’s increasing mobility.  The mattress itself should have no splits, tears, or holes.

How can I tell when it’s time to lower the mattress?

When your baby becomes more active, when s/he begins to pull himself to a standing position or when he sits up alone it will be time to lower the mattress to prevent your little one from either climbing out or falling out.

Can I hang a mobile over my baby’s crib?

Mobiles and crib gyms can be used to entertain your baby but when your child is able to get on to their hands and knees or pull themselves up. This will prevent your baby from becoming entangled in them.

In Conclusion

Making sure your baby’s crib is safe, is an ongoing to task. Proper positioning of the mattress, making sure all connections are secure and that there are no loose slats that could pinch little fingers will help to keep your baby’s crib a safe place for him to be.
Be sure to place him in the crib on his back or side and dress him in a sleeper rather than using a blanket.  Keeping these tips in mind will help keep your baby safe and give you some peace of mind.

A Simple Guide To Ecommerce Shopping Carts

No another guide. Well that may be but having a lot of background knowledge on a subject is pretty essential don’t you think? Especially if your talking about an investment option that you will have to shell out some money and have decent expectations on ROI. So I present to you my simple guide to shopping carts. A short and sweet write-up about what your shopping cart solution should be.
If you’re not into it yet, shopping carts are online applications that are quite a necessity nowadays and have become a crucial component to the success of your business. For small and just starting out businesses, a well though of shopping cart can even bring about a break or make situation for them. This is why decisions should on a shopping a cart should not be rushed. You should spend time thinking on what you want rather than thinking about how to resolve as situation later on.
When you are in the process of selecting a shopping cart application, it would be best to list down your specific needs from a shopping cart. You might not actually need all those additional features in the first place and purchasing them could be just a waste of your money.
However, do not limit yourself to the point that you will not avail of additional features ever. There will come a time that you will need some features to keep your shopping cart updated and at the level of your competitors. With this in mind, it would be best to keep options open and look for a shopping cart that offers future upgrades.
Because of the development of the shopping carts technology, you can choose from the simplest form to the more complex ones that have integrated webpages which can already become your main website instead of just being an element of your online store. Again, it is a matter of knowing what you want. You can narrow down everything once you’ve organized your needs and expectations from the application.
There are some very useful features nowadays that you should seriously consider. There’s the option of the application coming up with suggestions of other products that complements the current selection your client has at the moment. This idea appeals to the impulse buying behavior of individuals. The feature can be quite effective in generating sales and should not be totally ignored.
Another consideration, of course, is your budget. It is a very easy decision to select between a simple application and one that is jam-packed with features if you know your budget. Things will be dictated by your budget, that maybe harsh but that’s a reality that you will have to face.
It is okay to spend some money on a shopping cart but do not forget the other elements that will help make your online store successful. There’s the payment gateway, additional manpower to maintain the shopping cart, hosting issues, and other stuff.
The point is to see this ecommerce shopping cart as a whole and not just in segments. You can invest properly by thinking that way. It will also help you to keep to your budget by factoring early on the costs of each component of your online store.
Although, this guide to shopping carts is about to end, there are still a lot that you need to know about shopping carts. Like what was mentioned before, it would be best to keep learning about this stuff since the application is dynamic and what is true today may not be necessary acceptable in the future.

Deciding to Stop Smoking: Rising Above Withdrawal Urges

When you smoke, your body is exposed to nicotine, a very addictive substance. The longer period that the body is exposed to nicotine, the harder it is for the body to function properly without such substance. This is the reason why people who smoke, especially those who have been smoking for a long time already, may find it difficult to stop smoking. They have become addicted to nicotine, and they will need longer time just to cleanse their system from the nicotine. So, even if they have finally stopped from smoking, they are still faced with the urge to go on a relapse and smoke again. This is commonly known as nicotine withdrawal urges.

Withdrawal symptoms may come in different forms, and has different effects on different people. Some urges may take form in the following:

* Difficulty to sleep
* Always being nervous and worried
* Unable to concentrate
* May feel depressed
* May feel irritable
* May feel the urge to light up another stick of cigarette
* Increased hunger and need to eat

Thus, before you finally stop smoking, you should first have an idea on how to fight these withdrawal symptoms, because if not you may end up starting on the process all over again.

Start by knowing the possible urges that you may experience once you have finally stopped smoking. By doing so, you would have ideas on how to manage them properly when they eventually manifest. There several products which can assist you as you begin to cut down your exposure to nicotine. There are nicotine gums and patches which are available in the market to satisfy your need for nicotine without the need of smoking a cigarette. However, if you choose to buy these products, you should realize that you would still have to stop using them eventually because you would want your system to be cleansed from nicotine.

There are also medicines and prescription drugs which can help you overcome depression after you have stopped smoking. Sometimes, these medications may also help with other withdrawal symptoms aside from depression. However, before you take any of these drugs, you should consult your doctor first so that you would be guided accordingly.

These withdrawal urges may come and go throughout the day. You just have to wait it out until the urge passes. You have to fight hard not to smoke despite such strong urges. After several times of being able to fight off the urge to smoke, you will feel that such urges will become less powerful, and you will find it easier to defeat such tendencies. You just have to stay strong because it is not easy to flush out the nicotine from your body, and will surely take time before you are absolutely cleansed from it. So, as you wait, you have to stay strong, firm, and focused. Try hard not to relapse; otherwise you might end up on the starting line again, and you’d waste your efforts. Do your best to divert your attention to healthier activities so that you will not think of smoking as often as necessary. Remember your reasons for quitting, and hold on to them. The process you need to go through to stop smoking may not be easy, but it shall be worth it.

What You Need To Know About Virtual Call Centers

By definition, virtual call centers are call centers
wherein the organization’s representatives are
dispersed geographically, rather than being located at
work stations in a building operated by the
organization.

Employees of virtual call centers can be situated in
groups in a number of smaller centers though most
often they work from their own homes. Virtual call
centers are effective arrangements for several
employees.

From the organization’s standpoint, it can also be
beneficial in terms of cutting the costs of housing
and equipment, thus normally leading to lower employee
turnover rates.

Benefits of the Virtual Call Centers

For starters, the virtual call center can provide the
benefit of extended service hours. There are companies
who are searching for 24-hour communications with the
customer. With a virtual call center, it is easy to
manage workers based on their time zones and work time
preferences. Additionally, for some employees, this
can include the offset hours of the day.

The benefit of recognizing productivity improvements
is also existent. For several individuals, working
from home is more comfortable and more productive than
being in a sometimes noisy office environment. The
virtual call center can provide a place of employment
that both the employee and the employer can benefit
from.

Nowadays, the latest trend in employment seems to be
working from home. It is appealing for a number of
workers and through virtual call centers, it is even
possible. Virtual call centers remove the barrier of
staying home to work allowing several employees from
all over the globe to be utilized. Additionally,
through the use of IP-based services, virtual call
centers can be based anywhere in the world providing
no geographical limitations.

Advantages of Virtual Call Centers

The final question would be, why should a company even
consider setting up a virtual call center? There are
several advantages to this kind of setup that uses the
concept of telecommuting and combines it with
top-notch networking technology.

Company would be glad to know that operating a virtual
call center is less expensive and more cost-effective
compared to running a center that is
centrally-located. This can be for that reason that
once the system is in place, the administration and
coordination associated with running a large office is
eliminated. Employees can obtain the right to work,
meetings can get started in no time, and the overall
energy can be devoted to the task at hand, thus
providing excellent customer service.

Empowering call center agents through a virtual call
center to work remotely from a location near their
home lessens the time and energy agents use each day
not working. This only means that agents can be more
efficient and provide the company, they work for, more
value. Additionally, virtual call centers allow
companies efficiently stagger agents in diverse time
zones to react to variations of call volume without
having to synchronize several centers around the
country.

To improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, it is
important to know what the customers need. Normally,
customers want to talk to call center agents who are
helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. They also desire
to have their questions addressed in a timely way, if
possible through first call resolution. By helping
ensure that the best agent to answer a given question
is available, the company can guarantee that customer
satisfaction will improve. Setting up a virtual call
center provide companies a new level of flexibility to
hire the best agents; those who have specialized
knowledge or possible live in advantageous time zones.

A Great Way To Generate All The Motivation You Need To Get Fit

If you're having trouble getting motivated to keep to your fitness program ... or if you haven't even got off the starting block yet, this article could change your life! Not completely ... that would be too ambitious! But, there's a tiny, inexpensive device that can provide you with all the motivation you need to get out and start moving your body around a bit more.

The pedometer, as it's known, can also make you WANT to do it and can even get you to ENJOY doing it!

What ... ? ENJOY exercising??? Surely some mistake?

Well, no actually. Please read on.


1. So, what is a pedometer?

It's a small, compact device used for measuring the number of steps taken.

And, as well as measuring the number of steps taken when exercising in your local neighborhood, it can also measure your steps whilst you're climbing the stairs, mowing the lawn, or doing the shopping.

2. How Does It Work?

It's small enough to clip to your belt and is fitted with a pendulum which measures one step each time your foot makes contact with the ground.

3. How Much Does It Cost?

Many pedometers have been given away FREE as part of campaigns by local health authorities to get people moving their bodies more.

If you can't find such a campaign in your area, you can buy a pedometer with a reasonable number of features for as little as $20.

4. What Exactly Does It Do?

You should buy a model which, at the very least, measures the number of steps taken, calories burned, distance walked, speed you've been walking and how long your routine has taken.

More expensive models may include any or all of the following additional features:

- a soothing voice to tell you how many steps you've taken
- a pulse monitor
- a stopwatch
- a radio and headphones so you can listen to your favorite radio station whilst out walking
- a step filter to achieve greater accuracy
- a back light so you can see your pedometer in the dark.

5. How Do I Set Up My Pedometer?

First you need to enter your height, weight and average stride length.

To arrive at your stride length, most instruction guides prompt you to measure out a distance of, say 10 meters, and to count the number of steps you take to cover it. Divide this number by the overall distance and this gives your average stride length.

Once it's set up, just follow the instructions to activate the settings you want to use, clip your pedometer to your belt and you're ready to go.

6. How Do I Take Readings?

At any point after you've started your routine, you can stop, flip open the pedometer and take a reading. Of course, you shouldn't do this too often as this will interrupt the rhythm of your walk.

But you can get an idea of the progress you're making by checking the number of steps taken, the distance you've traveled, the calories you've burned and so on. You'll be able to go from one measurement to the next at the press of a button.

7. How Does This Provide Me More Motivation?

The great thing about wearing a pedometer is that you begin to think about the number of steps you've taken towards your daily target.

This gets you into a 'walking mindset' and you suddenly start to identify lots of new walking opportunities.

If you had to be dragged kicking and screaming to take up a fitness routine, the pedometer is the single most important device you can use to start enjoying your workouts.

It's so easy to use and it can transform the way you feel about getting fit. It can take you from resisting the whole idea of doing a daily workout, to your really looking forward to it and wanting to do it more.

Why?

Because, after using it for a while, you begin to realize that your daily targets are not only achievable but, with a bit more effort, can be easily surpassed.

Something you thought was going to be such a grind becomes easy, because you know you can do it!

Did you ever think that was possible?

Well it is. Just get hold of your pedometer and keep wearing it. It can have a really positive effect on your fitness and health.

Basic Exercise And Training Variables

Effective exercise and training programs follow certain principles that allow it to help people keep fit. It may be known in various terms and is achieved through different means, but the basic principles behind exercise and fitness is always there. Knowing them and applying them in your own fitness regimen can help make it more effective in showing you the results that you need.

Exercise Variables How effective are the exercise routine that you follow would depend on certain factors. How you work over certain variables in exercise and fitness will help determine how fast you can lose weight, improve stamina or increase athletic performance. Here are the four exercise variables that you need to consider when trying to develop your own fitness program or regimen.

Exercise Frequency- this refers to how often you exercise. The frequency will allow you to develop an exercise regimen that you can go into for a certain period on, let us say, a weekly basis. If you plan to work out for two days in a week, you can speed up getting results by adding another day of exercise for the week.

Exercise Intensity- this refers to the level of physical activity of your exercise program. How hard you push yourself on each exercise session is also a factor in the effectiveness of an exercise and training program. For example, determining between bouts of jogging running and walking on one session would have different results. Doing more running rather than short bouts of walking or jogging would certainly have a different result from walking through each session most of the time.

Type of Exercise- this refers to the type of exercise included in your regimen. There are different types of exercises to choose from with each type being able to build up a certain part of the body better than the other. Knowledge of these types of exercises can help you develop a certain regimen that can be focused on improving target portions of the body.

Duration of Exercise- this refers to the time that is spent in doing the exercises. How long you stay in doing each exercise session will ultimately determine how fast or how slow that you get results. It may also be required to determine the duration of the exercise program along with the other exercise variables in order to either avoid injury or improve results.

These exercise and training variables can be used in developing a certain exercise program that would allow better performance as well as results. You may be able to start with using the different exercise variables in a way that you feel comfortable with. Along the way, you can then change any or all of these variables to either increase the efficiency as well as to reach the target results. The variables can also be used ideally just to make the exercise program even more interesting once they start to become too routine.

Cooking and eating light

With the humongous servings that restaurants serve
these days, Americans have grown used to eating large
amounts of food every day. This is good if the food
that they eat is nutritious and lesser in calories.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. That is why, it
is important that when you do eat at home, you eat
healthy and light as much as you can to counteract the
calorie intake that you have gotten. This starts with
the cooking light.

Cooking light does not only depend on the ingredients
but also the oil that you use. In fact, the oil can
change the caloric and fat content of the dish. You
see, even if all your ingredients are healthy, for
instance, vegetables; but if you use oil that is based
on animal fat, you will still have a not so healthy
dish.

Here are some ways to ensure that you cook light and
healthy for your home.

1. Use vegetable-based oil

This is the most important rule. Use oil that is
vegetable based to ensure that what you are cooking
your food with do not have much fats and calories in
them. The most popular of these are the corn oil and
the palm oil. These oils are made up of what is called
the good cholesterol. This kind actually help in the
functioning of the heart and balances out the bad
cholesterol that we get from meats and animal fats.

2. No added chemicals As much as you can, do not put
any other chemicals or flavoring into your food that
are not natural. It adds to the unhealthiness of the
dish that you are serving. Powder flavoring may help
enhance the taste in the dish that you are cooking but
it can also cause liver and kidney problems because of
its high salt content. Another thing to avoid is to
use deep fried mixes and batter to your food as this
only add to the caloric content of the food but none
to the nutritional content.

3. Lessen the meat Make it a habit to cook vegetables
and seafood at home. Make meat a once or twice a day
fare in your home. This way, you and your kids will be
getting the protein needs that your bodies have but
lesser of the fats and cholesterol that meats give. If
you do have to eat meat, choose those that are lesser
in cholesterol. White meat such as chicken and turkey
are considered healthier than red meats like pork and
beef. And between these two, pork is better as you can
easily remove the fats and not eat it unlike with
beef, where fats are distributed on the meat.

4. Cooking for less One way to eat light is to psych
yourself to also cook light, not only in caloric and
fat content but also in the number of servings. This
is especially true if you are cooking for dinner. Cook
less rice and more of the dishes. Do this gradually
though. Drastic change in food intake can cause health
problems. This is also not recommended if there are
young children. With young children, it is important
that you provide them with all the food that they need
for growing up. This does not mean though that they
should overeat but neither should you put them on a
diet unless said so by a doctor.