Category — Guest Posts

You know how it is when you are feeling totally listless. You want to get some work done, but you just aren’t feeling motivated at all.

However, if you’re in luck, you’d stumble upon a really inspiring story, more often than not from someone who has proven himself or managed to pick himself up and conquer seemingly impossible feats.

Then you feel inspired. All charged up and ready to take on the world.

But, that doesn’t seem to be enough. You don’t actually get much work done and you are asking yourself, “Why can’t I be as great as them?”

The big problem with inspiration

Inspiration doesn’t last.

It makes people feel totally “hyped up” and motivated at one single point.

We also tend to forget that inspiration is everywhere, and free.

Inspiration doesn’t have to come automatically as if it’s some god-given sign that comes at the “right place and the right time”.

You can, and should always actively seek inspiration.

Don’t wait for it. Go for it.

You aren’t a superhero. You are human, like everyone else who needs to get their batteries charged now and then.

Here’s a little guide to get yourself re-inspired

1) Read up on your heroes repeatedly.

Emphasis on repeatedly. As I mentioned, inspiration doesn’t last.
Put in the effort to read up on the person you are inspired by.

By reading up again and again, you will be able to gain new insights and discover new things you previously missed.

2) Watch YouTube videos of inspiring people

Social media makes it extremely easy today to be inspired. It’s right at your computer, or mobile phone.
Just log on, and type in a few simple keywords. You can easily start with, “Inspiration”, and the results alone would overwhelm you.
It’s that easy. No excuses. Just go.
Then re-watch them whenever you feel like it.

3) Get live inspiration from an event

It’s always easy to read up or watch something really inspiring. However, nothing beats real live inspiration you can both see and feel.

I am break-dancer myself. As much as I love watching YouTube videos of the best dancers in the world, watching local dancers doing their thing in front of me inspires me the most.

Trust me, it’s that different when it comes to learning from books, and learning with your own senses.
And oh guess what? One event isn’t enough though. Keep going for’em!

4) Conduct interviews

It is through interviews where you get gain the most personal insights and knowledge from a single source.
Simply out, doing an interview is like getting free mentoring.

I’ve done a few interviews on my own, and I got to ask the questions I personally want.
How inspiring is that?

5) Talk to elderly folks

It’s a sad fact in life that senior citizens don’t get the respect they deserve. They are ironically cast into a class of their own and supposedly unable to keep up with the times.

But when you do that, you’re actually missing out on the fact that elderly folks are people who lived longer and have seen the times!

They have real-life knowledge for a view on life that can definitely get you thinking.
Be inspired by that, because whatever that’s happening around you now, is thanks to them.

6) Talk to younger people

But…
…Talk to younger people too.

Young people have the energy to be the visionaries that break the rules and achieve things nobody has before.

I’m always surprised to watch young break-dancers improve way faster than the rest of us! That just inspires me to push myself forward!

7) Now, be the inspiration

Emulate your heroes.

Try out something different.

Take the steps on the path others have created.

When you feel it for yourself what actually works for you to achieve greatness in life, the inspiration would be overwhelming, so much so you definitely wouldn’t forget it.

And this is the part, you get to be the inspiration.

So don’t give up, push on and live it.

Real integrity is dong the right thing, knowing that nobody is going to know that whether you did it or not

If you want to be a leader, you need to have respect, and if you want to have respect, you need to have integrity. If people can’t count on you to behave in an honorable manner, they are never going to trust you to lead them. In my life, I’ve seen it happen over and over again. The moment people see you behaving without integrity, they lose all faith in you, and everything becomes a power struggle.

Not terribly long ago, I was spacing out when I was spraying weeds on my lawn. Before I knew what was happening, I had also managed to spray my neighbor’s new garden bed, which adjoined my property. There was no one around, and I could have just quietly gone back indoors, but instead I went and explained the situation to my neighbor. She was surprised and of course irritated, but things got a lot better when I offered to replace the new plants she had just put in. When I planted the new plants later that afternoon, she came out and told me how much she appreciated what I had done, and our relationship is better than ever.

Can you imagine what would have happened if I didn’t mention the issue and she found out about it?

More recently, I was at work and realized that my team had made an error on a certain report that was due. The error could have been made by any one of us, but I took responsibility and committed myself to fixing it. To my surprise, several of my teammates, following my example, took on the unpaid overtime to help me fix the report. Leadership allows you to inspire others, especially when they know that you are not going to just pass the buck!

There are several examples in my own life of how integrity has helped me lead others. Leadership is a quality that all people should strive towards, and you will find that in many ways, it is easier than you think it is. Most of us know what is right; it’s just that doing the right thing is inconvenient. In many ways, it is not even hard. If you are willing to go that extra step, people are going to find you worth following.

Last week, at work, I realized that a co-worker had made an error on his work. Without his awareness, the issue was big enough that it could have gotten him fired. Now, this co-worker isn’t someone I knew very well, and he isn’t even in my department, but I knew that he was not exactly at fault. There were a number of problems in our system for what this error had occurred. I stepped in, explained how things had happened and worked towards ensuring it would never happen again. Today, I found out that this co-worker had requested a transfer to my team.

Whether you’re dealing with neighbors of Hampton’s homes or co-workers, if you follow a few simple principles associated with integrity, you’ll be on your path to a more successful life. If you want to be a leader, step in and act with integrity. It is not pleasant, and in many ways, it isn’t convenient at all, but it is always worth it!

About the author: Sam Marquit is a Professional Writer, Publisher & Editor. He writes at fmarquitv.tumblr.com

You can follow him on Twitter here

I just took an awesome shot. Focusing was the key

We all know that computers are powerful tools for multi-tasking.

But that same flexibility makes it all too easy to get distracted from your core tasks.If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably gotten carried away with checking on Twitter and e-mail or looking at funny videos about cats at a time when you intended to write a paper or crunch some numbers on a spreadsheet.

That’s because our computer screens by default are just begging for our attention, what with status icons, pop-up messages, and the ability to check into a site like Reddit.com just by typing “r” into a web browser bar.

I’m going to present some handy cheap and free apps that can eliminate distractions from your workflow.

Isolator and Dropcloth

If you own a Mac laptop or desktop, Isolator will provide a badly needed element of quietude. Isolator works by darkening everything on your screen except the window you have active. You can choose just how dark you want your screen to go, and you’ll find yourself more focused and less inclined to absentmindedly stray from the task you’re working on. Dropcloth provides similar functionality for Windows.

WriteRoom and Darkroom

WriteRoom (Mac) and DarkRoom (Windows) are among a handful of minimalist text apps that have emerged in recent years as a response to the visual clutter and formatting nightmares of Microsoft Word.

Once you start a new document, all you will see is a black screen with a green blinking cursor, like with computers of old days. No mulch-colored buttons. No menus. No auto-formatting. Just you and the words.

Writers love penning first drafts in these programs, which offer focus and clarity that’s just not possible with more sophisticated word processors.

Mindful Browsing, LeechBlock, and StayFocused

I don’t know about you, but I find myself often checking into distracting websites almost without thinking about it.

I use Apple’s Safari browser, which shows a pretty panel of my most visited website homepages. It’s easy to click on those. Or to start typing the name of a favorite website, and have the browser auto-fill it. So to stop my almost instinctive visits to distracting websites,

I’ve installed the excellent Safari plugin “Mindful Browsing.” You can set it to completely block distracting websites, or to only allow access to them after you’ve clicked through a gateway screen. (This way you can still check Facebook if you need a genuine break or are using it for work.) Also check out LeechBlock for Firefox and StayFocused for Google Chrome.

Wunderlist

An excellent task manager not only helps you remember important things you need to do, it can also keep you more focused.

When you’ve broken down your day into a series of concrete actions you must take, you’ll find yourself being more productive. It’s simply easier to start a game of Angry Birds when you don’t know what you need to accomplish. It’s much harder when you see “Finish report for Mr. Davis” staring you in the face.

I recommend Wunderlist due to its availability on smartphones and through its website.

About author: Ashlee McCullen is a staff writer for ApronAddicts.com, a site about fashionable aprons and kitchen style.

There has been a tremendous increase in the number of obese people around the world and the credit goes to the fast foods and drinks we drink these days. So after having a good meal with high calorie and fat content, we end up accumulating the extra fat in our body especially in the thigh and abdominal regions.

People then strive to get a slim trim and a low fat body and start weight loss trainings that more often prove fruitless.

However there are exercises that can help you to lose the fat around the belly region without taking any drugs or medicines.

Not only do these help to reduce the belly fat but these exercises also strengthen the muscles. However most of the people cannot afford more than an hour for an exercise because of the busy work schedule, but these exercises can make your body better toned in less than 45 minutes of exercise and that too only 3 times a week.

First of all warm up with some mild exercises so that the body gets ready for the following exercises that will help to banish your belly with these amazing exercises.

Kneeling cable ab crunches

The best thing about this exercise is that you don’t have to spend hours on cardio machines which even after rigorous efforts does not give you the desired result.

This exercise can be done by attaching a rope handle to the top of a cable that is connected to a pulley system.

Then position your body in front of the pulley with the rope behind the back. Now curl your torso into a forward position with the arms remaining above the head while doing the crunch. Then return gradually to your original stance.

All this exercise takes is 15-20 minutes which includes 30-90 seconds of powerful exercise followed by low intensity recovery. At the end, a five minute cool-down gives you an effective and quick fat burning exercise.

Two exercises twice per week with three intervals per week will give the best results of this exercise.

Stability ball roll-outs

Place a mat on the floor and position your body in a kneeling stance. Place your clutched hands on the top of a medium sized ball. Support your abs and slowly lean forward rolling your hands over the ball. The ball moves away from your body while you lean over it, so keep your body in a straight line stretching your body as far as you can keep it in a perfect form. Now contracting the abdominal muscles pull your body back to the original position by reversing the forward movement.

Get into the upright posture and repeat this exercise for about 15-20 minutes to get a flatter belly with a reduction in the size.

Cable chops

Stand with your right shoulder close to a cable stack. Grasp the handle attached to highest pulley position over your right shoulder as your arms remain extended but slightly bent at the elbow. The knees should be slightly bent with hips pushed back slightly. Now start the exercise by contacting your abdomen starting from top and moving towards the bottom without changing the position of the elbows. Now bring your arms down reaching your body by using the abs to start the movement bringing your hands across your hip pocket on the left side. Slowly bring your hands back to the position where you started.

After performing for one side, switch to the other side of your body to complete the exercise.

I hope you enjoyed learning about simple belly reducing exercises.

About The Author: Kate Wilson is a blogger by profession. She is fond of reading, writing and traveling. Recently she read an article on  symptoms of asthma on the net. These days she is busy doing a research on eco friendly homes  for her next piece.

This guest post is contributed by Lauren Bailey, who regularly writes for accredited online colleges. To guest post on this blog, please check guest post page

If you have a steady job in this shaky economy well good for you—you’re doing a whole lot better than the 12.8 million other Americans who are currently unemployed. But don’t let these figures terrorize you into thinking that you have to stay at a facility that makes you frown more than it makes you smile. Not sure if you actually hate your job or just in a professional slump? Check for the signs listed below and see if there’s anything you can do to modify the situation before abandoning ship.

You Struggle Getting Up in the Morning.  Some mornings are naturally rougher than others—maybe you had one too many at the company week-night happy hour. But if you’re consistently struggling getting up in the morning—maybe you drag your feet, moan about having to go into work, and are tempted to call in sick or request work-from-home days every other week—you could possibly hate your job.  If you’re contemplating quitting, you should definitely consider going on a vacation first. Your unhappiness may actually be the result of mental and or physical exhaustion. Use a good chunk of your vacation days during a time where there are a scarce number of federal holidays (basically January through October) and go somewhere exciting. Give yourself an opportunity to recharge.  When you come back, you should be refreshed and ready to do some work. If you’re still unhappy when you return, you should probably start scouring the classified section.

You Live for The Weekend. If it’s Monday morning and you’re already fantasizing about the joys of the weekend—perhaps you just stare at the clock on your computer— you may possibly hate your job. If you’re feeling unmotivated and unambitious, you could possibly just be bored with your typical, mundane routine. Try to stir things up and break up your routine. Go eat somewhere new. Take a walk outside. Talk with a co-worker you’ve never really spoken to. Anything to make the day seem “new” can help.

You’re the Office Casanova. This may seem strange, but a UK study suggests that people who flirt with co-workers are unsatisfied with work. Most of the surveyed men admitted to flirting out of boredom. Instead of risking getting into hot water with the HR department, ask your manager or boss to give you more challenging (or perhaps) different assignments.  You can even ask about maybe receiving some kind of extra education or attending a conference or seminar to learn more about your field—this can be super beneficial in getting you out of your rut.

That said, if you think you’ve exhausted all other options to try and rekindle your love and exciting for your job, then perhaps you really do hate your job and should definitely try to find a new one.

This is a guest post from Jeremy Jones who blogs at A Passion For Happiness. To guest post on planetnaveen, please check out guest posting guidelines.

Love is in the air

When a woman wants you to help her carry in the groceries, she’ll say, “Wow, these bags are surprisingly heavy.” And if our response is anything other than, “Here, let me carry those in for you” then we’ve misunderstood.

But it’s common for us men to misunderstand because we don’t communicate like that. If we want someone to help us carry a grocery bag, we’ll say, “Hey, can you help me carry these in?” like any normal person would do. But when it comes to normal, from a male perspective, women can be baffling.

Why would a woman ever make an indirect request instead of just asking for help? There are a couple reasons for this.

Firstly, women don’t want to be a burden or appear needy (which is good because no one wants to have a partner who is needy or burdensome). So, she’ll do just fine carrying the groceries into the house by herself, she’d just prefer it if you were to help her.

Secondly, she doesn’t want you to do something that you don’t want to do. She doesn’t want to have to convince you to help her carry in the groceries. She wants you to want to help her. If she asks you directly, there’s no way for her to know if you’re just being obedient or if you’re happy to help the love of your life carry in the groceries that you’ll eat.

Get it? I think it makes a lot of sense. And in kind of a confusing way, but there’s a beauty to it.

Basically, don’t say, “Really? I wonder what’s in the bags that makes them so heavy? What did you get?”

Anyway, you get the point. Here area few of my favorite indirect requests:
•    From the couch: “Do we have any snacks?”
•    “Baby, the living room is getting messy.”
•    “The trash is full.”

Embrace the women in your life for who they are and don’t let their indirect requests prevent you from helping them out.

The phrase “lifelong learner” has been around for a long time. There are many individuals who have embarked on the journey of lifelong learning in one way or another.

Whether you are in a book club that discusses new book each month or you are taking continuing education courses online, you have dedicated yourself to a lifelong learning lifestyle. Lifelong learning is an extremely rewarding and enriching experience.

It is through constant learning and constant growth that we find ourselves making new and important moves in our lives both personal and professional.

Many people can become disheveled and cynical throughout their formal education years. However, learning remains an essential aspect of personal growth and personal development.

Try these three tips to become successful and passionate lifelong learners.

Utilize the Tools You Have Available

While at one time learning was seemingly limited to the classroom and library, today there are numerous outlets and opportunities for learning experiences throughout our daily lives.

The internet has become a major component of lifelong learning and education as a whole. For those who desire to become lifelong learners and thinkers, utilizing all of the tools that are available throughout the web is a great way to find new material and inspiration. In recent years, open course ware has become an extremely popular and useful educational tool.

Many major universities throughout academia are offering free online courses, including course material, videos, reading lists, syllabi, and more. Moreover, with the surge of online learning and online educational tools, there are numerous other tools and applications available online that can help you attain new information each and every day.

Keep a “To Learn” List

Part of being a lifelong learner involves always having something on your “to do” list. Organization can be key to staying motivated and passionate about your personal educational goals. Create a “to learn” list that is never ending. As a lifetime learner, you train yourself to always have something new or different you want to examine.

Create an ongoing list of topics, languages, skills, books, etc. that you would like to explore as part of your lifelong learning regimen. One of the biggest challenges in the beginning stages of a lifelong learning quest is staying motivated and active in it at all times. By creating a “must learn” list, you will never find a period where you have to find something to interest you.

The list will help direct you when you find yourself at a lull point.

Try Teaching with Others and To Others

Rather than embarking on your lifelong learning experience on your own, try to find a support system of people with like goals. Maybe you and a friend would like to engage in different materials and learning programs together. Having a partner with you throughout your personal learning journey can be extremely useful.

Not only will you have someone there with you to motivate and inspire you, the two of you can discuss materials, counter points off of one another, explain things to each other, etc..

If you’d rather keep your learning journey slightly more individual, but you would still like some group support, you could try finding a book club or a joining a workshop. This can give you the opportunity to explore things in a group, but move in your own individual direction as a learner.

About the Author: Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.

This is a guest post by Jemima Lopez from Zen College life. To guest post on this blog, check guest post page.

For most people, the worst part of being unemployed isn’t the absence of income.  Rather, the most unbearable thing about not having a job is the feeling of worthlessness and purposelessness that quickly builds as the job search draws out.

It’s easy to take the unresponsiveness of an employer as an insult or let your success at obtaining a job define your success or failure as a person.  Still, it is important to remain positive, no matter how trying the situation might be.

In addition to changing your perspective of your job search, and keeping you from the dark thoughts that actually work against you, interviewers have reported that how positive a person is has a direct impact on their performance in the interview.

Keeping your head up when everything else seems down is certainly easier said than done, but here are a few ways you can stay positive while you look for work:

1. Volunteer

You won’t get a paycheck at the end of the day, but volunteering pays you back in more fulfilling ways than a full time job ever could.  There is little in the world more satisfying than helping others, and you might find a new passion in a field you never knew you loved.  Or, if you volunteer in your field, you will have opportunities to sharpen your skill set, learn new skills and even make useful contacts that could help you get a job.  Furthermore, volunteering is a great way to fill the employment gap, and will definitely be a powerful conversation piece during an interview.

2. Explore your hobbies

Often we get sidetracked by our jobs and lose sight of the things we really enjoy doing (unless you are one of the few and far between people who holds a job doing what you really love).  While you are between jobs, why not get back into sailing, painting, writing, cooking, carpentry, crafts, or whatever else you might be passionate about?  Besides being personally satisfying, you might even find that there is a business opportunity waiting to be discovered in your hobby.  Love to play piano? Teach others to play.  Make furniture and sell it.  Use the time between jobs to rediscover what you love — you might be surprised where it could take you.

3. Start an exercise program

As we get comfortable in our jobs and our lives, fitness is frequently the first thing to go out the window.  Make it a point to exercise when you are job-hunting — you’ll find that you’ll feel better about yourself (which is due in part to the endorphins exercise releases) and also start looking better to, which is always a nice confidence and spirit booster.

The “in-between” time is never easy to cope with, but if you apply yourself and keep moving, you might discover a deeper happiness than any job could provide.

About the author : Jemima Lopez is a freelance blogger and writer who writes for Zen College Life, the directory of higher education, distance learning, and best online colleges

Photo credit : Flickr