Value of your life - story

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"Hands started going up.He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up.He then asked, "Who still wants it?"Still the hands were up in the air."Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air."My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special - Don't ever forget it!

Nutrition and Memory improvement

Hope this must be very interesting information. I came through this in a web site.

You probably know already that a diet based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and “healthy” fats will provide lots of health benefits, but such a diet can also improve memory. Research indicates that certain nutrients nurture and stimulate brain function.

B vitamins, especially B6, B12, and folic acid, protects neurons by breaking down homocysteine, an amino acid that is toxic to nerve cells. They’re also involved in making red blood cells, which carry oxygen. (Best sources: spinach and other dark leafy greens, broccoli, asparagus, strawberries, melons, black beans and other legumes, citrus fruits, soybeans.)

Antioxidants like vitamins C and E, and beta carotene, fight free radicals, which are atoms formed when oxygen interacts with certain molecules. Free radicals are highly reactive and can damage cells, but antioxidants can interact with them safely and neutralize them. Antioxidants also improve the flow of oxygen through the body and brain. (Best sources: blueberries and other berries, sweet potatoes, red tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, green tea, nuts and seeds, citrus fruits, liver.)

Omega-3 fatty acids are concentrated in the brain and are associated with cognitive function. They count as “healthy” fats, as opposed to saturated fats and trans fats, protecting against inflammation and high cholesterol. (Best sources: cold-water fish such as salmon, herring, tuna, halibut, and mackerel; walnuts and walnut oil; flaxseed and flaxseed oil)Because older adults are more prone to B12 and folic acid deficiencies, a supplement may be a good idea for seniors. An omega-3 supplement (at any age) if you don’t like eating fish. But nutrients work best when they’re consumed in foods, so try your best to eat a broad spectrum of colorful plant foods and choose fats that will help clear, not clog, your arteries. Your brain will thank you!

Chase those dreams

When you wake up in the morningYou have two choices-Go back to sleepand dream your dreams,or wake up and chase those dream !!!!

Seven Rules of Motivation - a nice article from website

Seven Rules of Motivation
#1 Set a major goal, but follow a path. The path has mini goals that go in many directions. When you learn to succeed at mini goals, you will be motivated to challenge grand goals.
#2 Finish what you start. A half finished project is of no use to anyone. Quitting is a habit. Develop the habit of finishing self-motivated projects.
#3 Socialize with others of similar interest. Mutual support is motivating. We will develop the attitudes of our five best friends. If they are losers, we will be a loser. If they are winners, we will be a winner. To be a cowboy we must associate with cowboys.
#4 Learn how to learn. Dependency on others for knowledge supports the habit of procrastination. Man has the ability to learn without instructors. In fact, when we learn the art of self-education we will find, if not create, opportunity to find success beyond our wildest dreams.
#5 Harmonize natural talent with interest that motivates. Natural talent creates motivation, motivation creates persistence and persistence gets the job done.
#6 Increase knowledge of subjects that inspires. The more we know about a subject, the more we want to learn about it. A self-propelled upward spiral develops.
#7 Take risk. Failure and bouncing back are elements of motivation. Failure is a learning tool. No one has ever succeeded at anything worthwhile without a string of failures.

You can also follow this

You can overcome with anger...Just read this Zen story about Overcoming Anger. Hope its true and we can also remember this teacher's sayings when our temper goes up.

A Zen student said to his teacher, “ Master, I have an ungovernable temper. Help me get rid of it.”“ You have something very strange,” said the teacher. “Show it to me.”“ Right now I cannot show it to you.”“Why not?"“ It arises suddenly.”“ Then it cannot be your own true nature,” said the teacher, “if it were, you would be able to show it to me at any time. Why are you allowing something that is not yours to trouble your life?”Thereafter whenever the student felt his temper rising he remembered his teacher’s words and checked his anger. In time, he developed a calm and placid temperament.

Have a great day!

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe,the mindcan achieve.- Napoleon Hill

The Magic Lamp: Goal Setting for People Who Hate Setting Goals by Keith Ellis

Editorial Review
Do you have trouble setting goals? Would you like to have greater focus, stronger follow-through, and achieve dramatically better results? Would you like to learn how to get anything you want from life--more money, a new home, a promotion, better relationships, a greater sense of fulfillment, or anything else you can imagine? If so, then read The Magic Lamp. This remarkable book describes a simple yet unforgettable process for how to obtain whatever you want from both your personal life and your career.What's the Secret?The Magic Lamp is the first goal-setting guide for people who hate setting goals. Goals can take you anywhere you want to go, but they rarely give you the inspiration you need to get there. Wishes are different. They have emotional impact. They give you the freedom to dream and the power to make your dreams come true.The Magic Lamp transforms the process of setting goals from a dull routine into an exciting adventure because it's the first book to combine the methods of goal setting with the magic of making your wishes come true.

A nice Zen Story to share with

A young student of Zen was going to the market to buy vegetables for the monastery where he was studying. On the way he met a student from another monastery.“Where are you going?” asked the first student.“Wherever my legs take me,” replied the other.The first student pondered over the answer as he was sure it had some deep significance. When he returned to the monastery, he reported the conversation to his teacher, who said: “You should have asked him what he would do if he had no legs.”The next day the student was thrilled to see the same boy coming towards him.“Where are you going?” he asked and without waiting for a reply continued, “Wherever your legs take you, I suppose. Well, let me ask you . . .”“You’re mistaken,” interrupted the other boy. “Today I’m going wherever the wind blows.”This answer so confused the first boy that he could not think of anything to say.When he reported the matter to his teacher, the old man said: “You should have asked him what he would do if there were no wind.”Some days later the student saw the boy in the market again and rushed to confront him, confident that this time he would have the last word.“Where are you going?” he asked. “Wherever your legs take you or wherever the wind blows? Well, let me ask you . . . . ”“No, no,” interrupted the boy. “Today I’m going to buy vegetables.”

Extract from a web page - Mnemonic devices to improve memory

Mnemonics (the initial “m” is silent) are clues of any kind that help us remember something, usually by causing us to associate the information we want to remember with a visual image, a sentence, or a word.

Common types of mnemonic devices include:

Visual images - a microphone to remember the name “Mike,” a rose for “Rosie.” Use positive, pleasant images, because the brain often blocks out unpleasant ones, and make them vivid, colorful, and three-dimensional — they’ll be easier to remember.

Sentences in which the first letter of each word is part of or represents the initial of what you want to remember. Millions of musicians, for example, first memorized the lines of the treble staff with the sentence “Every good boy does fine” (or “deserves favor”), representing the notes E, G, B, D, and F. Medical students often learn groups of nerves, bones, and other anatomical features using nonsense sentences.

Acronyms, which are initials that creates pronounceable words. The spaces between the lines on the treble staff, for example, are F, A, C, and E: FACE.

Rhymes and alliteration: remember learning “30 days hath September, April, June, and November”? A hefty guy named Robert can be remembered as “Big Bob” and a smiley co-worker as “Perky Pat” (though it might be best to keep such names to yourself).

Jokes or even off-color associations using facts, figures, and names you need to recall, because funny or peculiar things are easier to remember than mundane images.

“Chunking” information; that is, arranging a long list in smaller units or categories that are easier to remember. If you can reel off your Social Security number without looking at it, that’s probably because it’s arranged in groups of 3, 2, and 4 digits, not a string of 9.

“Method of loci”: This is an ancient and effective way of remembering a lot of material, such as a speech. You associate each part of what you have to remember with a landmark in a route you know well, such as your commute to work.

Nice wordings

"Before you start some work,

always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it,

What the results might be and

Will I be successful.

Only when you think deeplyand find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."

-Chanakya

How to improve memory

I studied this in some website.

There are some basic things you can do to improve your ability to retain and retrieve memories:

Pay attention. You can’t remember something if you never learned it, and you can’t learn something — that is, encode it into your brain — if you don’t pay enough attention to it. It takes about eight seconds of intent focus to process a piece of information through your hippocampus and into the appropriate memory center. So, no multitasking when you need to concentrate! If you distract easily, try to receive information in a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted.

Tailor information acquisition to your learning style. Most people are visual learners; they learn best by reading or otherwise seeing what it is they have to know. But some are auditory learners who learn better by listening. They might benefit by recording information they need and listening to it until they remember it.

Involve as many senses as possible. Even if you’re a visual learner, read out loud what you want to remember. If you can recite it rhythmically, even better. Try to relate information to colors, textures, smells and tastes. The physical act of rewriting information can help imprint it onto your brain.

Relate information to what you already know. Connect new data to information you already remember, whether it’s new material that builds on previous knowledge, or something as simple as an address of someone who lives on a street where you already know someone.

Organize information. Write things down in address books and datebooks and on calendars; take notes on more complex material and reorganize the notes into categories later. Use both words and pictures in learning information.

Understand and be able to interpret complex material. For more complex material, focus on understanding basic ideas rather than memorizing isolated details. Be able to explain it to someone else in your own words.

Rehearse information frequently and “over-learn”. Review what you’ve learned the same day you learn it, and at intervals thereafter. What researchers call “spaced rehearsal” is more effective than “cramming.” If you’re able to “over-learn” information so that recalling it becomes second nature, so much the better.

Be motivated and keep a positive attitude. Tell yourself that you want to learn what you need to remember, and that you can learn and remember it. Telling yourself you have a bad memory actually hampers the ability of your brain to remember, while positive mental feedback sets up an expectation of success.

Target!

There was a young student-archer who reached such proficiency in his art that he could shoot an arrow into a tree and then cleave that arrow into two with the next shot. He began to boast that he was a greater archer than his guru.

One day his guru, a venerable old man in his 70's, asked the youth to accompany him on a trip across the hills. The journey was uneventful until they came to a deep chasm.A single log spanned the chasm.

The guru walked down to the centre of the log, unshouldered his bow and taking an arrow shot it into a tree on the other side. His next shot cleaved the first arrow into two."Now it's your turn," he said, walking back to where his student was standing.

The youth stepped gingerly on the log and very slowly and carefully made his way to the middle. But his heart was in his mouth. He knew that if he lost his footing, he would plunge to his death. His hands trembled as he strung an arrow into his bow.

Preoccupied with the danger he was in, he found it hard to focus on the target. Consequently when he let go of the arrow, it missed the tree altogether. Whimpering, he turned around. "Help me!" he shouted to his guru. "I'll fall!"

The old man walked up to him, took his hand and stepping backwards led him to safety. Neither of them said a word on the return journey but the boy had much to think about.

He had realised that to be a master of his art it was not enough to know how to control the bow, he had to learn how to control his mind too. So like master we must know how to target our goals with mind all set on it.

Have a fabulous day

Destiny is not a matter of chance,

it is matter of choice;

it is not thing to be waited for,

it is thing to be achieved.

- William Jennings Bryan

Book Review - from website

Think Better: An Innovator's Guide to Productive Thinking by Tim Hurson is a guide to productive thinking (a.k.a. creativity) that includes topics like:
the three major barriers to productive thinking
"kaizen" vs "tenkaizen" (incremental vs. revolutionary change)
the importance of separating your thinking (diverge/converge)
It also includes a comprehensive description of Hurson's six-step Productive Thinking Model. In each of these chapters he explains in, giving examples and including real-life stories about how they can be applied.
Step 1: What's Going On? - truly understanding the issue or challenge, and avoiding the "great answer - wrong question" trap.
Step 2: What's Success? - visioning, using active imagination to create clear, measurable goals and success criteria
Step 3: What's the Question? - framing the challenge in question form
Step 4: Generate Answers - using techniques like brainstorming to generate a range of solution ideas to choose from
Step 5: Forge the Solution - uses a technique called "POWER" to develop a chosen idea into a the robust solution
Step 6: Align Resources - developing the solution into a workable plan, with timelines, milestones, people involved, resources needed

When to Be Practical - nice story enjoy

When to Be Practical by Mohammed Gwath Shattari
As three travelers crossed the mountains of the Himalaya, they discussed the importance of putting into practice everything they had learned on a spiritual plane. They we so engrossed in their conversation that it was only late at night that they realized that all they had with them was a piece of bread.

They decided not to discuss who deserved to eat it; since they were pious men, they left the decision in the hands of the gods. They prayed that, during the night, a superior spirit should indicate who should receive the food.

The following morning, the three men rose together at sunrise."This is my dream," said the first traveler. "I was taken to places I had never visited before, and enjoyed the sort of peace and harmony I have sought in vain during my entire life on earth. In the midst of this paradise, a wise man with a long beard said to me: "you are my chosen one, you never sought pleasure, always renounced all things. And, in order to prove my allegiance to you, I should like you to try a piece of bread."

"That’s very strange," said the second traveler. "For in my dream, I saw my past of sanctity and my future as a master. As I gazed at that which is to come, I found a man of great wisdom, saying: "You are in greater need of food than your friends, for you shall have to lead many people, and will require strength and energy."

Then the third traveler said:"In my dream I saw nothing, went nowhere, and found no wise men. However, at a certain hour during the night, I suddenly woke up. And I ate the bread."The other two were furious:"And why didn't you call us before making such a personal decision?"

"How could I? You were both so far away, finding masters and having such holy visions! Yesterday we discussed the importance of putting into practice that which we learn on a spiritual plane. In my case, God acted quickly, and had me awake dying of hunger!"

Few creative ways of thinking

Brainstorming: Pretty much everyone has heard of this creative thinking technique. Brainstorming works best with a fairly large group of people; larger the group, bigger the number of ideas thrown around. Be willing to entertain any idea, even the most absurd. Improvise on the seemingly impossible ideas to see if they can be turned into realistic solutions. Try and get everyone to think outside the box and you will be surprised at what comes out of it!

Playing detective: Asking questions like who, when, where, why, what and how can help you get a clear direction of what you need to do. Coming up with a new product or application could be simplified considerably if one follows this simple rule. Jot your response to each down, so you can draw inferences later. Following this pattern will help you narrow the focus of your creativity.

Dealing with your demons: A mental block, preconceived notions, narrow mindedness; the list of threats to creative thinking is never ending. Solving them, however, requires no more than a willingness to adapt. Let go of inhibitions; don't let 'reality' tie you down. Think freely; work with even near to impossible ideas. Once in the right frame of mind, you will be able to channel your thoughts whichever way you desire. "Boost Your Creativity: Exercises and Advice for Great Creative Thinking", by Robert Allen, available at amazon.com suggests some interesting exercises to overcome your creative thinking challenges.

Thought for the day

Many people fail in life,not forlack of ability or brains or evencourage but simply because they have never organised theirenergies around a goal.- Elbert Hubbardbert

Positive and negative

We live in a world surrounded by both positive and negative people and atmosphere. Just reading the news or having a conversation with most people you can get a lot of negate energy transmitted. Some people always comment on negative way. This isn’t always a bad thing, either, since you can learn how not to use such negative comments if you know about it yourself. Discontentment and negativity can often lead to more action than just pretending you feel wonderful when you don’t. But the actual problem occurs when we get carried away with so much negativity that it will bring down our energy level. Only someone with incredibly high emotional energy reserves can take the onslaught of negativity in our society and still have the positive focus to take action.

Positivity and optimism motivate and inspire. In other words, positivity creates energy which get transmitted to positive activity and success. Spend some time of your day to get yourself excited, enthusiastic and optimistic by reading good books or listening to motivation tapes etc. which can give you a huge boost in your energy. I used to read atleast two pages a from personal development. You can even listen to some good audio tapes the positivity of their speeches can give you some of the emotional energy that the world has drained from you.

Hence from today just start reading or listening....stay boosted and motivated...

Story time

Is Man Free by Osho
A man comes to a master to ask how much man is independent, free. Is he totally free, or is there a limitation? Is there something like fate, kismet, destiny, a God who makes a limitation beyond which you cannot be free?

The mystic answered in his own way - not logically but existentially. He said, "Stand up."The man must have felt this was a stupid kind of answer, "I am asking a simple question and he is asking me to stand up." But he said, "Let us see what happens."

He stood. And the mystic said, "Now, raise one of your legs up."The man, by this time must have been thinking he had come to a mad man; what has this to do with freedom, independence? But now that he has come... and there must have been a crowd of disciples, and the mystic was so respected; not to follow him would be disrespectful, and there was no harm. So he lifted one of his legs from the earth, so one foot was in the air and he was standing on one foot.

And then the master said, "That's perfectly good. Just one thing more. Now take the other foot up also.""That is impossible!" the man said, "You are asking something impossible. I have taken my right foot up. Now I cannot take my left foot up."

The master said, "But you were free. In the beginning you could have taken the left foot up. There was no binding order. You were completely free to choose whether to take the left foot up or the right foot up. I had not said anything about it; you just decided. You took the right foot up.In your very decision, you made it impossible for the left foot to be lifted up. Don't bother about fate, kismet, God. Just think of simple things."

A good thought

No one can arrive from beingtalented alone.

God gives talent;work transforms talent intogenius.-Anna Pavlova

Book Review

Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques (2nd Edition)
by Michael Michalko

Editorial Review
THINKERTOYS will teach you how to generate new ideas for businesses, markets, sales techniques, and products and product extensions. Packed with fun and practical tools and exercises, it outlines 30 practical linear and intuitive techniques that can be used by individuals or groups to tackle and solve business problems in fresh, creative ways.
An updated edition of the best-selling business creativity book, with more than 30 brainstorming techniques and hundreds of creative-thinking tips and tricks. Revision includes new techniques, examples, and sections on group brainstorming and endgames.

Secret Coin

During a crucial battle, Shivaji, the great Indian King decided to attack even though his army was bit uncertain. He was confident they would win, but his men were filled with doubt. On the way to the battle, they stopped at the temple.

After praying with the men, king Shivaji took out a coin and said, I shall now toss this coin. If it is heads, we shall win. If it is tails we shall lose. Destiny will now reveal itself. He threw the coin into the air and all watched intently as it landed. It was heads. The soldiers were so overjoyed and filled with confidence that they vigorously attacked the enemy and were victorious.

After the battle a soldier remarked to the Shivaji, "No one can change destiny""Absolutely", Shivaji replied and showed him the coin, which had heads on both sides. King said, "Its true, we can't change the destiny or fortune, but we can change the coin.

Coin is the way we think and act. To take hard decisions you must be courageous, to be courageous you must be confident, to be confident you must think and act in right way Confidence is not ego or self importance.Confidence in yourself is a vital necessity if you want to make an impact in this lifetime.

Learn New Things Every Day

I read this somewhere, wish to share with you all

The mental aspect of our energy will determine how effectively we can use the physical capacity of energy. A commitment to learning new things every day is one of the best ways to keep your mental energies sharp. Although there is inherent value in the added knowledge gained from learning, the activity of learning itself can be an excellent way to improve your mental energies.

If you don’t already read at least one non-fiction book a month, make that your goal. I personally read anywhere from 1-2 books a week, almost always non-fiction. Although fiction can be a great way to stimulate the imagination, there are many ways you can do that, but unfortunately the mental learning gained from non-fiction books doesn’t have as many alternatives.

Learning doesn’t even have to be directed towards a specific purpose. Even if you don’t have to learn anything new to maintain the point you are in your life right now, pick up something you find interesting and learn about it anyways. Many people never pick up another book after they leave high-school. Learning must be a lifelong habit, not just a chore to get a degree.

Perfection

Practice does not make perfect.

Only perfect practice makes perfect.--Vince Lombardi

Water and its benefit

I have mentioned this earlier in a post about drinking plenty of water and its benefits. Now would like to share this quote here, which is little different :
Since water does not have any calories, it acts as an ideal *filler* material in your stomach and gives you a sense of “I am full” - which in turn decreases your appetite. This works best for people who are already over-weight and are controlling their appetite in order to lose weight.

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing?

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, 'How was thetrip?' 'It was great, Dad.' 'Did you see how poor people live?' the father asked. 'Oh yeah,' said the son. 'So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?' asked the father

The son answered: 'I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.' The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, 'Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.'

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have. Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!

You can do it

"Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality.

If you can dream it, you can make it so." - Belva Davis

Sand and Stone

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand:

TODAY MY BEST FRIENDSLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.

They kept on walking until they found an oasis,where they decided to take a bath. The one whohad been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning,he wrote on a stone:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE .

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?" The other friend replied "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.

"LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person,an hour toappreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.