by Bridgette Boudreaux

The New Year is here and so are your resolutions for the year. As you review your list, observe how many times you’ve transferred the same resolutions into the New Year with a promise that this year you will keep them. Make a real difference this year, don’t commit to keeping your new resolutions; commit to achieving your new resolutions. Implement the following guidelines and you will be on your way to accomplishing your goals once and for all.

Set Realistic Measurable Goals
Setting realistic attainable goals that are measurable is an important key to achieving goals successfully. If you set goals that are unrealistic and are impossible to accomplish within 12 months, you will be setting yourself up for failure which will lead to disappointment and a lack of motivation to conquer any goals. Goals must be measurable so you will know how much you have accomplished or need to accomplish to achieve your goals. For example, losing weight is a popular resolution; so if losing weight is your goal this year and you lose one pound in January, I guess you’ve met your goal; but would you be happy with the results? Probably Not! However setting a measurable goal to lose 20 lbs. and walk 30 minutes daily will allow you to track your progress and allocate tasks to reach your desired outcome.

Write It Down
Take it out of your head and put it on paper. Writing down your goals makes them real as oppose to dreaming about doing them sometime in the future. Written goals are specific and concrete and it allows you to create steps to reaching your goals. Your written goals should be placed where you can see them consistently. Post them on your wall, on the refrigerator, in your wallet or in your journal, do not put them in a drawer or notebook where they will be forgotten. Seeing your written goals will serve as a reminder to your commitment to attain your goals.

Take Action Consistently
You’ve decided what you want to accomplish, your goals are specific, realistic, measurable and written down, What’s Next? You must now take action, consistently. Start today with one task and continue to complete the task consistently even if you do not see immediate results. Your desired results will began to take form with consistent, persistent action. Consistent action becomes habit and it will become a part of your routine effortlessly.

Visualize The Desired Outcome Daily
Take a few minutes daily to visualize the desired outcome of your goal. Create a mental picture of what emotions you will experience once your goal is met. If your goal is earn a six figure income this year, visualize your bank account statement displaying $100,000.00 profit. What does it feel like? Your mental pictures will one day become your reality and you will be prepared for its arrival.

Celebrate Your Efforts
You don’t have to wait until you lose 20lbs to celebrate your success. Celebrate the completion of daily tasks. If you complete a 30 minute walk today and didn’t eat the usual late night snack, celebrate. Any tasks completed, self-discipline exercised or time taken to visualize your desired outcome will bring you closer to your goals than you were the day before so celebrate.

Start Over If You Get Off Track
If you get off track (hey, we all do), do not use this an excuse to stop pursuing your goals. Forgive yourself, determine what caused you to derail, improve the circumstances and start over again. Don’t become paralyzed with past mistakes, or lack of self-discipline, just keep moving. Each day is a new day to work towards your goals and get closer to achieving your dreams, so don’t let one day pass without taking full advantage of the opportunity to become better than the day before.

© 2008 Bridgette Boudreaux
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Business Coach, Bridgette Boudreaux, Teaches Female Small Biz Owners To Get It All Done In 6 Hours or Less Daily!
If you’d like to get the right things done while working less, doubling your income and increasing time for family & fun stuff with Bridgette’s simple but powerful 5 Step System, call today to schedule a Free half-hour phone consultation at 1-800-373-0797. Learn more now at http://www.yourtime2soar.com
Coach Bridgette also offers Free teleclasses Free articles and other resources to help female small biz owners to get it all done. Learn more now at http://www.yourtime2soar.com
Soaring to Achievements, Inc.
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by Patti McMann

Everyone has their own idea of the qualities of a true friend. He or she is loyal, honest, supportive, and cares about our well being. A true friend also respects us as people. Not all friends have these and other good qualities. Some friends are toxic.

Vivian and Ridley met when they were both in college. Both were non-traditional students, each entering college to finish her education and prepare to reenter the workforce. They had many things in common. They had shared some of the same experiences, and had a lot of the same ideas and attitudes. They became close friends, and over the next six years, they did things together, listened to each other’s problems and triumphs, and supported each other.

It sounds like the perfect friendship, but as time moves forward, there are many things that Ridley has found about Vivian that she can’t stand. Vivian makes Ridley feel bad about herself because she doesn’t have as much income as Vivian does; she can’t afford to get professional personal care or travel as often as Vivian can. She can’t do or doesn’t want to do many of the things that Vivian does. Vivian’s actions and words make Ridley feel inferior.

“Vivian is always complaining, and nothing is good enough for her,” says Ridley. “She talks non-stop. She either copies or tries to copy almost everything I have or do. My words, ideas, mannerisms, even my medical conditions. She changes the facts in her life to match my experiences. She is interested in talking only about herself, and if I change the subject, she changes it right back to her. She always has to outdo me in everything, and she openly competes with me. She makes little things and problems so much bigger than they actually are, and she embarrasses me in front of other people. She treats me like a child and tells me what to do. She is always so negative.”

Ridley found herself starting to make sarcastic comments back to Vivian, and that made her feel worse. It was at that point that she realized that she must take control of her part in the friendship, and that she needs to stop being so passive. Ridley now sees that being friends with Vivian is harmful to her health, and to her emotional and spiritual well-being. “Talking to Vivian about how she treats me and how it makes me feel hasn’t helped,” says Ridley. “I plan to move back to Virginia where my family is to get away from her.”

Friendships like Vivian and Ridley’s are considered toxic friendships. The toxic friend in the friendship is the person that is eroding the self-esteem and undermining the confidence of the other person by being a bully, a copycat, a one-upper, self-absorbed, negative, or by exercising any of the other toxic friend behaviors.

In his article “Toxic Friends” Tim Shipman identifies several types of toxic friends:

Passive-Aggressive Underminer – uses personal knowledge to subtly undermine the other person
The Naysayer - dismisses the other persons hopes and dreams as unrealistic
The Peer Pressurer – imposes her need for fun over the other person’s best interest
The Plan Breaker – unreliable and ditches plans at the last minute
The SOB Sister – whines all the time zapping the energy of the other person
The Constant Talker – hogs the conversation and demands to be the center of attention
The Drama Queen – elevates every minor setback into a major crisis

In the Vivian-Ridley friendship, Vivian fits several of the toxic-friend types.

In another example of a toxic friendship, Loretta and Pam met when they both worked as registered nurses at the same hospital. At first the friendship was good. Four years into the friendship, Pam started asking Loretta for advice more often than usual. Loretta willingly gave it, but regretted it after she found out that Pam was following her advice but only after soliciting the same advice from other people and then giving the other people the credit for providing it. “It really hurt me that she didn’t think enough of me to follow the advice when I gave it to her, but when someone else gave her the same advice, she followed it and proudly announced that she followed the advice that Jane Doe gave her,” says Loretta. “She never mentioned that I had given her the same advice or that I gave it to her first.” Pam has since moved to another state, and Loretta rarely speaks to her.

A toxic friend isn’t always a bad person. Unless she is told otherwise, she might not even know that her actions are affecting other people negatively. She might think that her actions are acceptable. It is difficult to talk to a toxic friend about the issues that are causing the friendship to sour, but it needs to be done if there is any chance that the friendship can be saved. Most toxic friendships do break up, and the termination of the friendship is better than staying in a friendship that isn’t healthy. If a friendship makes a person feel bad, he or she should put distance in the friendship or get out of it completely. Friendship should be mutual trust, loyalty, caring, support and concern for the other person. If those components are missing, it isn’t a healthy or true friendship.

© Copyright 2007 Patti McMann. All rights reserved.Patti McMann is a freelance writer. She writes on a variety of topics for print and electronic publications. She has a diverse background in many subjects, and majored in business, marketing, and information technology. She is the author of the popular eBook “Diabetes: A Beginner’s Guide to the Basics.” Visit her website at http://www.pattimcmann.com

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by Margue Rite

Has this happened to you? You’re at a social gathering surrounded by a group of chatty people who seem to have the technique for knowing how to be an interesting conversationalist. They appropriately nod their heads and chuckle while you quietly hang back, knowing you should join in and say something. So, what are you waiting for? Get over your inferiority complex and say something. Go for it now!

You clear your throat, open your mouth prepared to blurt out some quickly-rehearsed, witty words of wisdom, only to be abruptly cut off by a big mouth who has already had more than enough to say.

Well, if you previously didn’t have an inferiority complex, you do by now. You can actually feel your heart pounding in your chest, and there is no way you’re going to be able to compete with a gifted chatterer that was lucky enough to be born with social interaction skills and instinctively knows how to be an interesting conversationalist. So unlike you!

Estranged from everyone else in the room, you feel detached, almost like you’re not even there. Such an inferior feeling of self-worth can be very distressing.

For many people it is hard to relate or make friends simply because you don’t have a grip on who you are. You feel ignored and unwelcome and sure that that nobody really wants to listen to anything you have to say. As much as you would like their attention, you don’t feel worthy of getting it. So now, you not only have no friends, but an inferiority complex as well.

Get Over Inferiority Complex Issues
For the record, some of those people who are prattling on, laughing and seemingly having a good time may look on the outside like they know how to be a good conversationalist, but just like the blabber mouth that cut you off, unfortunately, some people only babble. A truly good communicator knows how to listen more than they know how to talk.

How to Become a Good Conversationalist
The trick to knowing how to be an interesting conversationalist and to get people to pay attention, is simply to listen first. You need to listen carefully to what others are saying and then respond to them with awareness and intent. When you recognize someone in this way, it goes without saying, they will listen to what you have to say. Tell me more!

Plus, this takes the focus off of you and makes it easier to practice getting over your inferior complex issues. All of a sudden, by feeding someone’s ego, you know how to be an interesting conversationalist and you’ve become a very significant person.

Need some help with self esteem? Here are some self-esteem self-help tips http://www.mentalselfhelpsuccess.com/self-esteem-self-help.html to use as a starter guide for building self confidence.
www.mentalselfhelpsuccess.com
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by Jan Verhoeff

You’ve probably been to a party or two this winter with no success in the networking field. Most of us have. It’s not always easy to get into the popular circles and negate the crowds at parties for attention and recognition, but there are a few solid tips that you might want to have in your repertoire before you enter the realm of networking. Establishing connections is important for your business.

Face to Face Interaction Required
No matter how dynamic your digital influence may be, you’re definitely leaving money on the table if you have no personal identity. How many people do you see in the average week? Winter season offers magnanimous opportunities to be seen and get recognition for your accomplishments, but you’ll have to get out there and squeeze the field.

Know the Territory Intimately
Regardless of where you’re going for the party, you should know the territory. Find out who will be there ahead of time and be prepared with a few details of recognition before you arrive. Knowing something about the primary players at a party will give you the edge. When you ask about Mayor Heath’s husband who slipped on the ice three weeks ago, she’ll remember your name and that you inquired.

Identify Common Factors
What do you have in common with other guests? As you enter, if you’ve not noticed before, you might notice the vehicles in the parking lot. Are there a lot of pickup trucks and you drive an F-350 Duelly? You might recognize some kindred spirits inside. Smile and wave at those you know, and speak to them with recognition. Use names if you know them. (Be sure not to call someone by the wrong name.)

Read the Local Society Sheets
Keep up with local action, know the popular folks about town, and remember just who’s been on vacation lately. Those details will carry you through a night of too many white wines and sarsaparillas. But more than getting you through, they will bring you recognition and identity. Your friends will remember that you remembered them.

Introduce Yourself to Strangers
Any loners standing off to the side, take a moment and befriend them. Introduce yourself and take a moment to get to know them. Nobody wants to be alone and by taking a moment to introduce yourself, you’ll be remembered by that one person. You never know when that one person may mean success to your business.

Small Talk and a Smile
When you smile, the light opens up and you accept friends. No matter what you’re talking about, smile. Don’t introduce big issues, just get to know your new friends and let them know you’ll remember them. Say their name frequently and remember details by repeating them back to the person you’re talking to. This is a great time to exchange cards.

Above ALL Have Fun!
You may wonder about your next party if your last party was a bomb. Forget about that one, go on to the next one and expect to have fun. Arrive a few moments after the party has started and leave a few minutes before it’s over. You’ll make an entrance and leave a memory.

Do you need a statement that identifies who you are at your next business event?

http://brandyourmarket.com for a dynamic and memorable BRAND that identifies who you are in the business world. Claim your FREE Subscription to The Branding Iron. Jan Verhoeff has been identifying business Brands and Making Recognition her line for many years. Read more about this Entrepreneur at http://janverhoeff.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jan_Verhoeff

One can bank on the fact that most coins derive from Latin words, and are named after people, places, or things.

Even the word coin, translates from the Latin “cuneus,” meaning wedge, and was thusly named because early coins ressembled the wedges the dies used to coin coins. Our cent, from the Latin “centum,” meaning one hundred, our dime, from the Latin “decimus,” meaning tenth, and the French franc, from the Latin “Franconium Rex,” meaning King of the Franks, are all examples of the naming of money, the root of all evil, which translates from the Latin word “mona,” meaning to warn!

On to a more weighty manner in which people named coins, that being physical weight. The English pound, translates from the Latin “pondo,” meaning pound, or, to get more heavily into detail, from the Latin “libra pondo,” meaning a pound of weight. This method of naming coins weighed heavily in naming of the Spanish peso and of the Italian lira.

A sense of fairness dictates that some coins bear the names of the metals of which they are composed. Thus, our nickel is made of nickel. Location, not Latin, sometimes figures prominently into the naming of sum (oops!), some coins. Our very own dollar, not always in paper form, originally hailed from the silver mines of Bohemia, where Bohemians extracted silver for the coins, and minted them in the town of Joachimsthal. Realizing that the coin they termed the Joachimsthaler, short of lacking in creativity, was rather lengthy, our Bohemian friends lost the head of the name, and kept the tail, with the end result being the thaler. The thaler eventually lost its lisp, and became our dollar.

Many countries used their word for crown, for example, crown, sovereign, krone, krun, krone, corona (not the beer), to demonstrate that some crown authority initially granted permission to mint them. Other countries named coins in honor of their heros, such as the Panamanian balboa, after the explorer Balboa, the Venezuelan bolivar, after one of it’s national heros, and the Peruvian sol, also not a beer, but the Spanish word for sun, after this ancient Incan object of worship.

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