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Introduction
Image Streaming is one o
f the successful method for originating and maintaining the co-ordination of brain. It is discovered by Win Wenger.It not only increases the memory retention ability but instead it
c
reates a neural pathway which is responsible for quick decision making, problem solving tasks.
This method draws on the spectacular intelligence and speed of out subliminal mind, which produces a flow of images on the edge of our consciousness
Procedure
Close your eyes for a while and look at whats flowing by. If you must, ask for pictures. Open your eyes for a moment, take couple of deep breaths then again close your eyes now for 10-20 minutes, des
cribe aloud whats streaming by or whatever images is flowing by your mind just describe it ALOUD. Go with it anywhere the images lead. Be an inspired reporter covering a fast-breaking event to her listeners. With as much texture and sensual details as possible, get that picture across. Feel the images via all your senses. If you are alone, talk to your tape recorder. Practice until you've racked up as least ten sessions.
But the description must be aloud. Without it, profit from this program is null. Reporting the mental movies with feel is an entertaining way to sharpen observation and language skills. But the real magic springs from what Wenger calls "pole- bridging'. Describing aloud prompts wider hooks between our speech centers on the far left side and imagery centers of the right side or pole of our brain. These in turn link to deeper, less concious level of mind.
Once you have become practiced streamer, put this technique to accomplish real work like to grasp a textbook or lecture, a professional article, a piece of literature or reviewing a business discussion. Pause and ask the stream to give you images that will clarify and keynote the topic for you. What comes up may seem to be totally out of field. But keep it in mind as you go and you'll probably find it does turn up the lights and help you own the topic. Use the same technique to gain consolidating insight on many different topics. link all the subjects you are learning in your lectures, all the disparate topics to be presented at a board meeting.
Try streaming your problems away. To problem solve or the make a difficult concept of your own, Wenger suggests you make a tape. State the problem or concept as clearly as possible. After three minutes of silence, insert a signal----clink a glass or tap a pencil. Signal again after 3 more minutes, and once again after 3 minutes to end. Now relax for sometime and play back the tape. After you hear the problem posed, ask the stream for a solution and describe it aloud. When the signal sounds, thank your unconscious and ask for totally different stream for a solution bearing images referring to the same answer. And again, after the next signal. Afterward to clarify your answer, find the common thread running throught the three different sets of imagery.
(to be contd.)...
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HOW TO DEAL WITH WHEN SOMEONE YOU LOVE DIES
(Comforting words to help you in tough time)
--- Life is going smoothly fine. All your wishes are getting fulfilled, then suddenly , one day, the unthinkable and
unexpected happens: Someone very close to you, someone who means more than anyone or anything in the world,
someone you can't imagine living without leave you alone in this world! making your entire world upside down in
grief and sadness.. Firstly, you can't believe this truth." This really isn't happening " you keep telling yourself over
and over. Its a bad dream, right?Your senses stop to work, only the sensation of fear,grief, madness left. Suicidal tendencies can arise as you have
lost your whole world, simply your life is only living but is dead indeed. But, after some duration you come to know
that the reason for yuo feeling like this is true or real but not the dream or a nightmare...And at all once, you are hit with these weird and scary emotions, You feel sad, sick, angry, scared, lost at the very
same time.You just wanna cry or scream. Or just crawl into the bed and sleep for months and months. You will feel like you are
never gonna feel ok again.Even though it may be hard to believe, you will feel better. Little by little, the sadness you are feeling will get smaller
and smaller. And after some period you will smile again. It won't happen right away but it will happen, this might be
the very reason why TIME is said to be the greatest healer of all time....
Here are some of the tips mentioned to make it very clear..
unexpected happens: Someone very close to you, someone who means more than anyone or anything in the world,
someone you can't imagine living without leave you alone in this world! making your entire world upside down in
grief and sadness.. Firstly, you can't believe this truth." This really isn't happening " you keep telling yourself overand over. Its a bad dream, right?Your senses stop to work, only the sensation of fear,grief, madness left. Suicidal tendencies can arise as you have
lost your whole world, simply your life is only living but is dead indeed. But, after some duration you come to know
that the reason for yuo feeling like this is true or real but not the dream or a nightmare...And at all once, you are hit with these weird and scary emotions, You feel sad, sick, angry, scared, lost at the very
same time.You just wanna cry or scream. Or just crawl into the bed and sleep for months and months. You will feel like you are
never gonna feel ok again.Even though it may be hard to believe, you will feel better. Little by little, the sadness you are feeling will get smaller
and smaller. And after some period you will smile again. It won't happen right away but it will happen, this might be
the very reason why TIME is said to be the greatest healer of all time....
Here are some of the tips mentioned to make it very clear..
.Act slowly or take things slowly
- Every individual reacts differently to different reactions or emotions and for this condition some people cry. Some
just get quite as if they were deaf or unable to speak from their birth. Others act all giddy and weird, even though
they're hurting inside. And each of this reactions is completely normal. You just have to go with your feelings. " My
grandfather and my best fren died in an accident says David, 29, from Texas." I couldn't show any emotions. For a
long time, I beat myself up thinking i wasn't a caring person. But eventually , i realised that i just had a different way
of showing my feelings. You dont have to show it all outside."Dont rush things. Think and feel your grief as a deep cut. Its not gonna heal overnight or just by a magical wand
right? so it takes time-- not just days, weeks, but months and sometimes years ( depends on the concentration of
relational bond you have with him/her). But as each day passes, you will hurt less. But remember--- it may not
disappear forever. Grieving comes and goes. You may be feeling perfectly okay for months, then one day, you will
be joking around with frens, and in the middle of funny story, you'll break out into sobs.Or, you will hear a song in
the radio that reminds you of a trip you took with the person who died, or get a whiff of a perfume she used to
wear....Simply, you can never forget your whole life cz the things related to you and him/her is always wandering
near you
- Every individual reacts differently to different reactions or emotions and for this condition some people cry. Some
just get quite as if they were deaf or unable to speak from their birth. Others act all giddy and weird, even though
they're hurting inside. And each of this reactions is completely normal. You just have to go with your feelings. " My
grandfather and my best fren died in an accident says David, 29, from Texas." I couldn't show any emotions. For a
long time, I beat myself up thinking i wasn't a caring person. But eventually , i realised that i just had a different way
of showing my feelings. You dont have to show it all outside."Dont rush things. Think and feel your grief as a deep cut. Its not gonna heal overnight or just by a magical wand
right? so it takes time-- not just days, weeks, but months and sometimes years ( depends on the concentration of
relational bond you have with him/her). But as each day passes, you will hurt less. But remember--- it may not
disappear forever. Grieving comes and goes. You may be feeling perfectly okay for months, then one day, you will
be joking around with frens, and in the middle of funny story, you'll break out into sobs.Or, you will hear a song in
the radio that reminds you of a trip you took with the person who died, or get a whiff of a perfume she used to
wear....Simply, you can never forget your whole life cz the things related to you and him/her is always wandering
near you
Take it out
At first, you might be tempted to keep your feelings inside or hide it from others. Don't. Not talking or pretending to
feel well is just fake and it wont make the pain disappear instead it can make you more vulnerable to mental
maladies like depression, bipolar disorder etc. ( Trust: the more you try to force your pain inside, the more it will try
to get out). But confiding in someone can make all that stuff you are carrying around seem less heavy.Your frens, companions, collegues or relatives wanna help you, but since they are not in your situation, they might
be not sure of what to do and say. Do not mis-interprete or misjudge this as them being cold. Just let them know what
exactly you are in need. You might wanna talk about the person who died or simply just wanna get hug!
feel well is just fake and it wont make the pain disappear instead it can make you more vulnerable to mental
maladies like depression, bipolar disorder etc. ( Trust: the more you try to force your pain inside, the more it will try
to get out). But confiding in someone can make all that stuff you are carrying around seem less heavy.Your frens, companions, collegues or relatives wanna help you, but since they are not in your situation, they might
be not sure of what to do and say. Do not mis-interprete or misjudge this as them being cold. Just let them know what
exactly you are in need. You might wanna talk about the person who died or simply just wanna get hug!
Confront your feelings
Death was never fair, is not fair and will never be fair to human race, so its obvious for you to feel angry about what
has happened. You might blame the doctors who were caring for your loved ones, or your might be angry with
Almighty himself for " letting things go so bad or happened so bad". Its okay to be angry in this condition but its not
okay to vent angerness to self or others. So learn to express your intense feelings in a way that wont hurt others or
self just try to manage it instead of controlling. Release tension by going for a walk or try some meditation, its hard
but one day you need to start things so try. Guilt is something else you might be feeling. Maybe you got into a
heinous fight with you best friend before she died. Or you feel bad because you didn't say" I love you" enough to
your mom. Now you feel yourself the worst person in this entire universe.Well, know this: You are not bad. When someone dies, everyone feels guilt about something ( like if you had done
this or that so he/she wont die), We all do and say things which we later wish we hadn't. But no one is perfect
indeed. Look, if you knew how things were going to turn out, or happen, you would have definitely done things
differently but no one knows the future so give yourself a break...If you just can't get over the guilt pangs, try this: Write a letter to the one who died, saying all the stuffs you wish you
had said or done earlier. You might even take it to the cemetery and read it out loud over the grave.
has happened. You might blame the doctors who were caring for your loved ones, or your might be angry with
Almighty himself for " letting things go so bad or happened so bad". Its okay to be angry in this condition but its not
okay to vent angerness to self or others. So learn to express your intense feelings in a way that wont hurt others or
self just try to manage it instead of controlling. Release tension by going for a walk or try some meditation, its hard
but one day you need to start things so try. Guilt is something else you might be feeling. Maybe you got into a
heinous fight with you best friend before she died. Or you feel bad because you didn't say" I love you" enough to
your mom. Now you feel yourself the worst person in this entire universe.Well, know this: You are not bad. When someone dies, everyone feels guilt about something ( like if you had done
this or that so he/she wont die), We all do and say things which we later wish we hadn't. But no one is perfect
indeed. Look, if you knew how things were going to turn out, or happen, you would have definitely done things
differently but no one knows the future so give yourself a break...If you just can't get over the guilt pangs, try this: Write a letter to the one who died, saying all the stuffs you wish you
had said or done earlier. You might even take it to the cemetery and read it out loud over the grave.
Make Memories
Find or create something that helps you to remember the person who died. Make a tape of songs he/she loved, special music he/she liked special portrait of her/his choice because the more you try to ignore his/her memories, the more they will come so try not to do that instead make it and take it positively. Record a song in his/her tribute which he/she liked the most. Carry a snap in your diary so that you can always feel that he/she is always with you. Put together a scrapbook of her life. These kind of remainders can help you to feel close to the person you've loved madly and lost badly. A good bye ceremony can also help. Buy a biodegradable hellium balloon, then using a permanant marker, write a special message to the person who died. Take it outside, and as you release it, imagine yourself letting go of your griefs and sorrows and sending love to the person who died, or even you can plant a tree in the name of him/her, this can be the best condolence for him/her so his/her soul rest in peace....
Get Help
Sometimes sadness turns into depression making you feel more exhausted that its hard to care about anything near you, you may even lose interest in the stuffs tht used to be your favorite. Suddenly you get lazy about your health, other relatives who are close to you, your career etc . If you are having this hard time, talk to the one very close to you, share your feelings ( Angriness increases by sharing, griefs decrease by sharing) . Dont be embarrased. it doesn't mean youa re weak or sick. Like i mentioned before think that you are hurted or injured now, and you are simply getting yourself help for your injury.
Last words
Losing someone close is probably hardest thing you'll ever have to go through. But this is the rule or law of nature which we all have to face one day. But as painfulas death is, it can actually teach you a really valuable lesson: how tuely precious and wonderful life is all about and how a person is valuable in your life. When you have memories, the person you lose never really die, but live on your mind and in your soul! GOD BLESS!!!
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1. THE SCENT OF HAPPINESS
Keeping 
fresh flowers in the home or office has an immediate postitive effect on your mood., claim researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersy. They found that men who keeps flora close produce more smiles and demonstrate increased eye contact in conversation that those who didn't.. Flower power doesn't stop there: A study at the University of Bristol found that exposure to friendly soil bacteria can lighten your mood by blostering your immune system.Squeamish that flowers are too girly? Well, bonsai trees can give you all the mood-boosting benefits of playing with plants and mud. Or you can choose a potted plant-research as Kansas State university found that being in an environment with living plants reduces stress, which in turn lowers pain perception. Your best bet: A low-maintainance ferm or palm.
fresh flowers in the home or office has an immediate postitive effect on your mood., claim researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersy. They found that men who keeps flora close produce more smiles and demonstrate increased eye contact in conversation that those who didn't.. Flower power doesn't stop there: A study at the University of Bristol found that exposure to friendly soil bacteria can lighten your mood by blostering your immune system.Squeamish that flowers are too girly? Well, bonsai trees can give you all the mood-boosting benefits of playing with plants and mud. Or you can choose a potted plant-research as Kansas State university found that being in an environment with living plants reduces stress, which in turn lowers pain perception. Your best bet: A low-maintainance ferm or palm.2. LIGHTEN UP
Artificial 
Bright light is effective in the treatment of depressive symptoms, including weight gain ( clinical obesity) and hypersomnia, according the University of Helsinki. Recent research shows that the lighting in your room or office is a type of sensory stimulation that influences your performance."Light effects mood and alertness by shutting down the production of melatonin, the sleep inducer," says Dr. Pierce J Howard, author of The Owner's Manual for the Brain. Doctors recommend the cheering effects of light boxes, but it makes sense to invest in some comtemporary lighting design and yellow CFL light bulbs
3. SING IN THE RAIN
Researc
hers at Duke University have found that just half an hour of outdoor exercise three times a week can combat symptoms of depression as effectively as any antidepressant. Granted, its the fresh air rather than the rain thats at work here, but that shouldn't stop you if you 're properly equipped.So pick up a sporty weather-proof jacket that will keep you dry in the heaviest downpour and you are ready to experience your childhood again. In fact, research has shown that if you do things that remind you of the good, fun times, you are more likely to bust a bad mood quickly ( right state of body and mind for achievement).
4. FISH FOR COMPLIMENTS
According to nutritionists around the globe, fish boosts the brain, heart and nervous system and also fires u
p a happy mood. Most sea fish have pigment known as Omega-3 fatty acid which is the major ingredient in boosting the brain or simply memory."The protein decreases the Gl of a meal, thus preventing mood swings,"says Carina Norris, a nutritionist who's studied the effects of fish-based diet for years. If you can pack in three servings of salmon or mackerel per week, you are on your way to emotional plain sailing. Also, studies have found that cyclists who took fish oil for eight weeks had lower heart rates and consumed less oxygen during intense cycling. So that means you can go faster as well! Can't stand the stuff or the smell? Well, opt for fish oil capsules that pack goodnes without any of the fuss.
[Note: Eat fish as fresh as possible cz fish kept for a few days leads to damaged fats that turn good HDL cholesterol bad. A salmon serving in the evening helps you win your night perk, and few mg of omega-3 abd omega-6 gives you an immunity boost]
5. TAKE A TRIP
Monotony can 
make you bore and sad, undervalue things and even mess up your mood for days, say psychologists. So, make like a bird and instead of flying south for the winter, just fly. Sitting on your sofa with your fav. sports channel or serial is unlikely to perk you up, but a short trip might. Pack up your stuffs and a pair of tracks into an ego-enhancing new set of luggage, and book a week of unlimited fun to top up your mood. Travelling is also a great form of learning and perceiving new things so just head towards without any delay. travelling for a short time take break can fill so much potential in you that you can double speed your work after being back....
[ Source: Men's Health journal-partially edited and picturized by me, ]
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UNLOCKING THE MEMORY POWER ( The Sharper Mind )
" i walked into the kitchen and suddenly wondered why i went there. What was i thinking of?""Now that i've reached middle-age, i can't expect my memory to serve me well. Forgetting just comes with the territory, i guess."
People can learn a variety of different things. We can lean to tie our shoes, ride bicylce, swim, type, playing guitar/piano, phone numbers,names, master foreign laguages and so on. The list is endless. Yet, none of this
learning is useful unless we can remember what we have learned. Without memory we would have to
relearn each skil or fact daily as if we had never experienced it before. your two-pound brain can store more than the
average computer. But humans, unlike computers, also forget. We, forget birthdays, phone numbers, names and appointments, among other things. Memory is a complex mental process with different facets. Understanding the three basic memory skills your brain performs is essential if you are to make the most of them.Modern research has identified three kinds of memory. One declines with age, one remains fairly constant, and one, psychologists maintain, can actually improve throughout life. Semantic Memory refers to the general knowledge and factial material you store in your head. The information you use on the job as well as those bits of infos you use to re spond a TV quiz shows or crossword puzzles are
good examples of semantic memory. This kind of memory actually improces as we fo through life and acquire more general knowledge about the external world. Such improvement is afforded those who continue to keep
their minds active.
Implicit memory doesn't decline with age; it stays fairly constant. It is a kind of moror or kinesthetic memory, including such skills as typing, playing piano, swimming, and bike riding. If you were a good typist or a pianist in
high, school, your fingers will feel comfortable on a keyboard now. A little practice will restore confidence. After a 20-year hiatus, you can still ride a bike if you had this skill as a child. The balance and coordination that
took so long to master at age eight will come back with little practice. Your body seems to " remember" how to ride, swim, type, and so forth.The only kind of memory that seems to decline with age is Episodic memory. This refers to personal , autobiographical incidents, such as what you ate for lunch yesterday, your neighbor's phone, the place for tomorrow's
meeting, and of course, " Why did i walk into the kitchen?" I will try my best to publish the strategies in this blog for reducing the loss of episodic memory ( keep visiting )
People can learn a variety of different things. We can lean to tie our shoes, ride bicylce, swim, type, playing guitar/piano, phone numbers,names, master foreign laguages and so on. The list is endless. Yet, none of this
learning is useful unless we can remember what we have learned. Without memory we would have to
relearn each skil or fact daily as if we had never experienced it before. your two-pound brain can store more than theaverage computer. But humans, unlike computers, also forget. We, forget birthdays, phone numbers, names and appointments, among other things. Memory is a complex mental process with different facets. Understanding the three basic memory skills your brain performs is essential if you are to make the most of them.Modern research has identified three kinds of memory. One declines with age, one remains fairly constant, and one, psychologists maintain, can actually improve throughout life. Semantic Memory refers to the general knowledge and factial material you store in your head. The information you use on the job as well as those bits of infos you use to re spond a TV quiz shows or crossword puzzles are
good examples of semantic memory. This kind of memory actually improces as we fo through life and acquire more general knowledge about the external world. Such improvement is afforded those who continue to keep
their minds active.
Implicit memory doesn't decline with age; it stays fairly constant. It is a kind of moror or kinesthetic memory, including such skills as typing, playing piano, swimming, and bike riding. If you were a good typist or a pianist in
high, school, your fingers will feel comfortable on a keyboard now. A little practice will restore confidence. After a 20-year hiatus, you can still ride a bike if you had this skill as a child. The balance and coordination that
took so long to master at age eight will come back with little practice. Your body seems to " remember" how to ride, swim, type, and so forth.The only kind of memory that seems to decline with age is Episodic memory. This refers to personal , autobiographical incidents, such as what you ate for lunch yesterday, your neighbor's phone, the place for tomorrow's
meeting, and of course, " Why did i walk into the kitchen?" I will try my best to publish the strategies in this blog for reducing the loss of episodic memory ( keep visiting )
MASTERING THE 3 R'S OF MEMORY: REGISTER, RETAIN, RETRIVE
The first step in remembering anything is to Register it. For example, you have just meet a fren in one seminar and he introduces himself as JACK..you are concentrating on the seminar topic and after the seminar is
finished you again meet him but surprisingly you begin with, " I'm sorry, but i forgot your name." Wrong. You didn't forget his name. You never resgistered his name. If you heard it, you didn't register the name. How can you remember something that you didn't access or attend to in the first place? Registration is a form of input. As like we input information to the computer through keyboard, its similar. If you skip input and dont put the name, fact or info into memory because you weren't paying attention, there will
be nothing to remember. It is essestial to input or register the thing you wanna remember. Pay attention. Our inability to remember names, in most cases, is due to not attending in the first place. Concentration is another handmaiden of registration. A mind free from distraction or worry, a relaxed mood, physically and mentally-- all favorably affect your ability to concentrate on what you wanna remember. If these
conditions are not present, begin to blame them, not your memory, if you can't remember...
The first step in remembering anything is to Register it. For example, you have just meet a fren in one seminar and he introduces himself as JACK..you are concentrating on the seminar topic and after the seminar is
finished you again meet him but surprisingly you begin with, " I'm sorry, but i forgot your name." Wrong. You didn't forget his name. You never resgistered his name. If you heard it, you didn't register the name. How can you remember something that you didn't access or attend to in the first place? Registration is a form of input. As like we input information to the computer through keyboard, its similar. If you skip input and dont put the name, fact or info into memory because you weren't paying attention, there will
be nothing to remember. It is essestial to input or register the thing you wanna remember. Pay attention. Our inability to remember names, in most cases, is due to not attending in the first place. Concentration is another handmaiden of registration. A mind free from distraction or worry, a relaxed mood, physically and mentally-- all favorably affect your ability to concentrate on what you wanna remember. If these
conditions are not present, begin to blame them, not your memory, if you can't remember...
STORING INFORMATION FOR FUTURE REFERENCE
If you do register the name, fact, or skill, you will now want to store it for future reference. Such efficient sotrage is called retention. When placing items in your memory bank for retention, you can't just toss t
hem in as if
your brain were the Grand Canyon! We need pegs or other devices to help us store all the information we register.Well organized people retain information better than disorganized people. If your doctor has evening hours on thrusday, file that wat in your mental file cabinet in the appropriate drawer and in the correct manila folder.
Thrusday is also your spouse's bowling night. "I can go the the doctor after he or she leaves for the bowling for me. " By doing this, you have now taken the first step to remembering the doctor's late office hours--you have
made associations i repeat associations ( association plays a crucial or vital role in remembering ).
Retention, or the storage phase of memory, is strengthened by interest, observation, association, and repetition. The mere act of learning a term, price list, stock quote, or name so that is can be recalled once or twice is not
sufficient for good retention. Data must be practiced, reviewed, or even relearned into regular use also stengthens retention. The juggler who can toss three balls at once does not stop practicing the trick as soon as he
acquires it. He continues, hoping to retain and improve his skill. So, too, with retention of information. Once registered, you must continue to review the information if you wanna retain it.
Retrieval is the process of calling up an item from memory when we need it. When we remember something, we've retrieved it from the retention or storage phase of memory. This becomes easier if we classify or
categorize the item at the time we place it in our memory bank. Then we have a variety of cues to help us access the information. A good way of calling up a memory is to recall all or part of the code that was used to file it
away. For example, you and your friend enjoyed seeing The Phantom of Opera on Broadway. In your mind you classified it under Andrew Llyoyd Webber, musical, or even your friend's name. Anyone of these are
retrieval cues. They refer to the information used to access a memory trace. These cues help you in the same way as key words help a librarian locate reference material.Retrieval is the payoff. If you have registered and retained the information properly, you'll not have a problem calling up the memory item when you need it. Occasionally, you may suffer from TOT. the tip-of-the-tongue
syndrome. That is the experience of trying to recall a specific word or name but not quite being able to get it. Perhaps you can tell what letter the name starts with, what it rhymes with, or its length, but not the name itself.
We explore this phenomenon in later posts....
If you do register the name, fact, or skill, you will now want to store it for future reference. Such efficient sotrage is called retention. When placing items in your memory bank for retention, you can't just toss t
hem in as ifyour brain were the Grand Canyon! We need pegs or other devices to help us store all the information we register.Well organized people retain information better than disorganized people. If your doctor has evening hours on thrusday, file that wat in your mental file cabinet in the appropriate drawer and in the correct manila folder.
Thrusday is also your spouse's bowling night. "I can go the the doctor after he or she leaves for the bowling for me. " By doing this, you have now taken the first step to remembering the doctor's late office hours--you have
made associations i repeat associations ( association plays a crucial or vital role in remembering ).
Retention, or the storage phase of memory, is strengthened by interest, observation, association, and repetition. The mere act of learning a term, price list, stock quote, or name so that is can be recalled once or twice is not
sufficient for good retention. Data must be practiced, reviewed, or even relearned into regular use also stengthens retention. The juggler who can toss three balls at once does not stop practicing the trick as soon as he
acquires it. He continues, hoping to retain and improve his skill. So, too, with retention of information. Once registered, you must continue to review the information if you wanna retain it.
Retrieval is the process of calling up an item from memory when we need it. When we remember something, we've retrieved it from the retention or storage phase of memory. This becomes easier if we classify or
categorize the item at the time we place it in our memory bank. Then we have a variety of cues to help us access the information. A good way of calling up a memory is to recall all or part of the code that was used to file it
away. For example, you and your friend enjoyed seeing The Phantom of Opera on Broadway. In your mind you classified it under Andrew Llyoyd Webber, musical, or even your friend's name. Anyone of these are
retrieval cues. They refer to the information used to access a memory trace. These cues help you in the same way as key words help a librarian locate reference material.Retrieval is the payoff. If you have registered and retained the information properly, you'll not have a problem calling up the memory item when you need it. Occasionally, you may suffer from TOT. the tip-of-the-tongue
syndrome. That is the experience of trying to recall a specific word or name but not quite being able to get it. Perhaps you can tell what letter the name starts with, what it rhymes with, or its length, but not the name itself.
We explore this phenomenon in later posts....
( source: The sharper mind, Fred B. Chernow )
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Time Boxing is an Effective Getting Things Done Strategy
Given a task, there are essentially two ways we can approach it. Either, we can work as hard as we can until it is “done” or we can fix the amount of time we have available and do the “best” we can. The latter approach is known as “Time boxing“.Time boxing is a very simple technique we often use in software development. It is an effective technique for tracking progress and simply getting things done. From a planning perspec
tive, time boxing is useful, especially when things appear complex or daunting initially and we are unsure of how to begin.From a personal management perspective, I’ve found that time boxing can greatly improve our productivity and effectiveness. Because it’s simple, anyone can do it - including you. I use it when working on open ended tasks, like writing, where neither the scope or the quality is well defined.This article briefly discusses how we can apply time boxing to our daily lives and get things done.What is time boxing?Time boxing is about fixing the time we have available to work on a given task and then doing the best we can within that time frame. So instead working on something until it is “done” in one sitting, we only work on it for say 30 mins. It is either marked as done at the end of this period or we commit to another 30 mins at a later time or another day.In software development, an agile team releases new versions of a product to the customer for testing in fixed length iterations, say weekly. The customer and the development team work together to identify the features to be included in each release based on the relative priority and complexity of each task.What’s special about Time boxing?There are always several things competing for our time. At any moment, each of us could have hundreds of outstanding things to do. This question immediately become important - How can we ensure we get as much done as possible?I believe time boxing is special for four reasons. Firstly, by consciously being aware of time, it allows us to focus on doing the things that matter most. Secondly, it serves as a reality check on how much time we spend working on open ended tasks. Thirdly, because of the fixed time constraints, it can be an effective tool against procrastination. Finally, it allows us to work on things during the free gaps we have between our commitments and appointments.Focus on doing the things that matter mostIf the time available we have is limited, a rational person should immediately think about prioritising their outstanding tasks based on what’s important and urgent.By using time boxing and ranking our outstanding tasks, we make ourselves consciously aware of how much time we have available. This allows us to focus our energies towards things that matter most. In this way, we get things that matter most done first.There are many techniques for ranking tasks and I won’t go into them in this post. However, it’s worth mentioning “Quality Function Deployment” - which is a technique we use in software development and engineering to translate customer requirements into engineering specifications. In the simplest sense, for each feature, we multiply a number representing a customer’s perception of its importance by another number representing an engineer’s estimation of the complexity. The final result is ranked and the relative ordering gives us an indication of what we should implement given a certain time constraint.Limiting the time spent on open ended tasksDo you know people who are perfectionists? Those who are constantly tweaking things to make them incrementally better or just different? To a certain extend, I suffer from a perfectionist personality which is why I find working on open ended tasks difficult. I’ll use some examples relating to my writing to illustrate: Should this sentence be structured in a passive voice? Does this paragraph look ok here? Are there enough anecdotes in this article?Because by their nature there is no distinction between done and not done, an arbitrary open ended task can take anywhere between 1 min and 3 weeks. Time boxing is particularly useful as a reality check when working on open ended tasks. By limiting the time we spend on a given task, as long as it is complete though not perfect, we can objectively decide when something is done. This frees us up to work on the next task.Effective tool against procrastinationIn my experience, people procrastinate for two reasons - firstly, when faced with a complex task they are unsure of how to start and secondly, the prospect of having to do something they’re not particularly interested in doing.- As a tool against complex tasks: Time boxing is useful here because it allows us to work on complex tasks over several iterations or in bite sized chunks. For example, writing a good article is a complex task for me and it is rare to be able to find one block of time in which I can write an article from start to finish. For me, it is more effective to write as best as I can within a fixed period, constantly refining and repeating this process until I finish. - As a tool against uninteresting things: Time boxing is useful here because it allows us to commit to an undesirable task for only a limited amount of time. It’s a lot easier to start working on something we don’t like if we knew we only need to work on it for the
next 30 mins. For example, if you have to clean a messy house, instead of trying to get through the entire house in one go, try only doing as much as you can for 30 mins. When you have another 30 mins to spare another day and feel so inclined, you can continue. Using free gaps between commitmentsThe composition of a day from person to person and day to day is different. For some of us, our calendars are completely filled with appointments and meetings. For others, our days are relatively unstructured. Irrespective of our calendars, we often have what I call “null” time. That is, gaps between commitments in which we are either waiting for something or have free brain cycles.Examples of “null” times are: At the station minutes before the train comes. In the car on a winter morning whilst waiting for the engine to warm up. At the desk, after you have kicked off a full compile on a complex codebase.Time boxing can be immensely useful during these “null” times. If you knew the train will come soon, the car will warm up in moments or the code will compile in a few mins, you can choose to use that time effectively and work on a relatively simple task you know can be done within that short “null” time.In conclusionTime boxing is an effective way for getting things done. By fixing the amount of time we spend on a given set of tasks, we can focus on doing the things that matter, give us motivation to start, prevent overruns and use our “null” times effectively. In contrast, if we worked on things until completion in one sitting, we’re less likely to start on complex tasks, more likely to overrun on open ended tasks and leaves us with less time and motivation to work on the next set of tasks....
tive, time boxing is useful, especially when things appear complex or daunting initially and we are unsure of how to begin.From a personal management perspective, I’ve found that time boxing can greatly improve our productivity and effectiveness. Because it’s simple, anyone can do it - including you. I use it when working on open ended tasks, like writing, where neither the scope or the quality is well defined.This article briefly discusses how we can apply time boxing to our daily lives and get things done.What is time boxing?Time boxing is about fixing the time we have available to work on a given task and then doing the best we can within that time frame. So instead working on something until it is “done” in one sitting, we only work on it for say 30 mins. It is either marked as done at the end of this period or we commit to another 30 mins at a later time or another day.In software development, an agile team releases new versions of a product to the customer for testing in fixed length iterations, say weekly. The customer and the development team work together to identify the features to be included in each release based on the relative priority and complexity of each task.What’s special about Time boxing?There are always several things competing for our time. At any moment, each of us could have hundreds of outstanding things to do. This question immediately become important - How can we ensure we get as much done as possible?I believe time boxing is special for four reasons. Firstly, by consciously being aware of time, it allows us to focus on doing the things that matter most. Secondly, it serves as a reality check on how much time we spend working on open ended tasks. Thirdly, because of the fixed time constraints, it can be an effective tool against procrastination. Finally, it allows us to work on things during the free gaps we have between our commitments and appointments.Focus on doing the things that matter mostIf the time available we have is limited, a rational person should immediately think about prioritising their outstanding tasks based on what’s important and urgent.By using time boxing and ranking our outstanding tasks, we make ourselves consciously aware of how much time we have available. This allows us to focus our energies towards things that matter most. In this way, we get things that matter most done first.There are many techniques for ranking tasks and I won’t go into them in this post. However, it’s worth mentioning “Quality Function Deployment” - which is a technique we use in software development and engineering to translate customer requirements into engineering specifications. In the simplest sense, for each feature, we multiply a number representing a customer’s perception of its importance by another number representing an engineer’s estimation of the complexity. The final result is ranked and the relative ordering gives us an indication of what we should implement given a certain time constraint.Limiting the time spent on open ended tasksDo you know people who are perfectionists? Those who are constantly tweaking things to make them incrementally better or just different? To a certain extend, I suffer from a perfectionist personality which is why I find working on open ended tasks difficult. I’ll use some examples relating to my writing to illustrate: Should this sentence be structured in a passive voice? Does this paragraph look ok here? Are there enough anecdotes in this article?Because by their nature there is no distinction between done and not done, an arbitrary open ended task can take anywhere between 1 min and 3 weeks. Time boxing is particularly useful as a reality check when working on open ended tasks. By limiting the time we spend on a given task, as long as it is complete though not perfect, we can objectively decide when something is done. This frees us up to work on the next task.Effective tool against procrastinationIn my experience, people procrastinate for two reasons - firstly, when faced with a complex task they are unsure of how to start and secondly, the prospect of having to do something they’re not particularly interested in doing.- As a tool against complex tasks: Time boxing is useful here because it allows us to work on complex tasks over several iterations or in bite sized chunks. For example, writing a good article is a complex task for me and it is rare to be able to find one block of time in which I can write an article from start to finish. For me, it is more effective to write as best as I can within a fixed period, constantly refining and repeating this process until I finish. - As a tool against uninteresting things: Time boxing is useful here because it allows us to commit to an undesirable task for only a limited amount of time. It’s a lot easier to start working on something we don’t like if we knew we only need to work on it for the
next 30 mins. For example, if you have to clean a messy house, instead of trying to get through the entire house in one go, try only doing as much as you can for 30 mins. When you have another 30 mins to spare another day and feel so inclined, you can continue. Using free gaps between commitmentsThe composition of a day from person to person and day to day is different. For some of us, our calendars are completely filled with appointments and meetings. For others, our days are relatively unstructured. Irrespective of our calendars, we often have what I call “null” time. That is, gaps between commitments in which we are either waiting for something or have free brain cycles.Examples of “null” times are: At the station minutes before the train comes. In the car on a winter morning whilst waiting for the engine to warm up. At the desk, after you have kicked off a full compile on a complex codebase.Time boxing can be immensely useful during these “null” times. If you knew the train will come soon, the car will warm up in moments or the code will compile in a few mins, you can choose to use that time effectively and work on a relatively simple task you know can be done within that short “null” time.In conclusionTime boxing is an effective way for getting things done. By fixing the amount of time we spend on a given set of tasks, we can focus on doing the things that matter, give us motivation to start, prevent overruns and use our “null” times effectively. In contrast, if we worked on things until completion in one sitting, we’re less likely to start on complex tasks, more likely to overrun on open ended tasks and leaves us with less time and motivation to work on the next set of tasks.... [P.S Source: Do it Tommorrow-Mark Forster]
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Fight Procrastination!
I’ve often thought about why we procrastinate. If one was logical, one would assume if there’s something that needed to be done and was Urgent/Important or rewarding enough, we’d get on to it right away.
Here’s what it would look like on a diagram:
Here’s what it would look like on a diagram:
The reality however is people are seldom logical. As humans we’re governed partly by our intelligent mind and partly by our feelings and desires. Maybe we’re avoiding a task because we have a low sense of worth or a self-defeating mentality. Maybe we’re avoiding a task because it’s small, petty and annoying (not worth doing). Maybe we’re avoiding a task because it’s too big and we don’t know where to begin (too hard).
Here’s what this would look like on a diagram:
Here’s what this would look like on a diagram:
Whatever the actual reasons are, generally when the Pain associated with doing a particular task increases, so too does the level of Procrastination. That’s just human nature - we run away from things which cause us pain.
Let’s consider a couple of typical examples.
-Doing the school report: I’d have to do some research at the library and online. I’m going to have to read lots and take notes. After all that, I’d have to compile the data and write the actual report.
-Going for a 5km run: I’d have to wake up earlier than I normally would. It’d be freezing cold in the morning. I’d have to go to bed earlier. Then there’s the actual run itself - painful and exhausting.
I’m sure you can think of better things to do than that school report or 5km run. It wouldn’t be hard. Let’s see, how about sitting in front of the TV and watching the latest episode of Heroes or Desperate Housewives? Or, calling Jane, your best friend whom you haven’t spoken to for a month? Maybe, you could be making a nice ham and cheese sandwich instead since you had a small lunch?
The good news is Procrastination is a function of both Pain and Payoff. In reality, the relationship is more like so:
As before, Procrastination increases along with Pain.
However, this tapers off as things become more urgent and important. For instance, looming deadlines can kick start us into action this instant! That report is due tomorrow, so we’d better get cracking now. There’s only two more months to the wedding, we’d better start getting up early for a run.
The Payoff also seems more real and tangible. Doing that report 3 weeks in advance has no perceivable increase in Payoff compared to doing it 2 weeks in advance. However, if the report was due tomorrow, the Payoff of doing versus not-doing the report is now very significant. It could be the difference between a pass or fail. Again, similarly with the run. Wedding photos don’t lie so if we didn’t want to look fat, we better start losing the weight now or there won’t be enough time.
So given this information, what can we do to combat Procrastination?
Stop for a moment and think of a particular task you’ve been avoiding. Why have you been putting it off? Is it because of the amount of effort involved? Is it because you don’t have enough time? Is it because you don’t know how to begin? Whatever the reasons, consider the following tips:
-Experience Quantification: Use the Experience Quantification technique to increase the attractiveness of a task by either downgrading the associated Pain or boosting the associated Payoff.
-Set aside some time: Use time boxes, schedule them in your calendar and when the time comes stick to the plan.
-Develop some positive patterns and habits: Get into the habit of doing things and working around good patterns. You’re more likely to keep at things when they become second nature.
-Look at alternate ways of doing things: Don’t just assume every problem is a nail if you have a hammer. Try to look for alternative approaches which may simplify things.
-Pace yourself: Don’t go our strong only to burn out before you get to the finish line. Pace yourself. Break the problem down into smaller chunks and tackle each in turn. You may also apply other great problem solving nuggets.
-Stay motivated: Big and important tasks often require hard work and dedication. Often it’s not a sprint but more of a marathon. Keep yourself motivated with appropriate rewards at key milestones and work within the 10R Success framework.
-Do it now: Don’t let the Broken Windows Theory eventuate. Take on problems early and often, before they get too big and too hard to overcome.
I believe there is a threshold associated with Procrastination. This action/inaction boundary is determined by both Pain and Payoff. These simple tips are all designed to either reduce the Pain associated with a given task or increase the Payoff.
Good luck in your fight against Procrastination
Let’s consider a couple of typical examples.
-Doing the school report: I’d have to do some research at the library and online. I’m going to have to read lots and take notes. After all that, I’d have to compile the data and write the actual report.
-Going for a 5km run: I’d have to wake up earlier than I normally would. It’d be freezing cold in the morning. I’d have to go to bed earlier. Then there’s the actual run itself - painful and exhausting.
I’m sure you can think of better things to do than that school report or 5km run. It wouldn’t be hard. Let’s see, how about sitting in front of the TV and watching the latest episode of Heroes or Desperate Housewives? Or, calling Jane, your best friend whom you haven’t spoken to for a month? Maybe, you could be making a nice ham and cheese sandwich instead since you had a small lunch?
The good news is Procrastination is a function of both Pain and Payoff. In reality, the relationship is more like so:
As before, Procrastination increases along with Pain.
However, this tapers off as things become more urgent and important. For instance, looming deadlines can kick start us into action this instant! That report is due tomorrow, so we’d better get cracking now. There’s only two more months to the wedding, we’d better start getting up early for a run.
The Payoff also seems more real and tangible. Doing that report 3 weeks in advance has no perceivable increase in Payoff compared to doing it 2 weeks in advance. However, if the report was due tomorrow, the Payoff of doing versus not-doing the report is now very significant. It could be the difference between a pass or fail. Again, similarly with the run. Wedding photos don’t lie so if we didn’t want to look fat, we better start losing the weight now or there won’t be enough time.
So given this information, what can we do to combat Procrastination?
Stop for a moment and think of a particular task you’ve been avoiding. Why have you been putting it off? Is it because of the amount of effort involved? Is it because you don’t have enough time? Is it because you don’t know how to begin? Whatever the reasons, consider the following tips:
-Experience Quantification: Use the Experience Quantification technique to increase the attractiveness of a task by either downgrading the associated Pain or boosting the associated Payoff.
-Set aside some time: Use time boxes, schedule them in your calendar and when the time comes stick to the plan.
-Develop some positive patterns and habits: Get into the habit of doing things and working around good patterns. You’re more likely to keep at things when they become second nature.
-Look at alternate ways of doing things: Don’t just assume every problem is a nail if you have a hammer. Try to look for alternative approaches which may simplify things.
-Pace yourself: Don’t go our strong only to burn out before you get to the finish line. Pace yourself. Break the problem down into smaller chunks and tackle each in turn. You may also apply other great problem solving nuggets.
-Stay motivated: Big and important tasks often require hard work and dedication. Often it’s not a sprint but more of a marathon. Keep yourself motivated with appropriate rewards at key milestones and work within the 10R Success framework.
-Do it now: Don’t let the Broken Windows Theory eventuate. Take on problems early and often, before they get too big and too hard to overcome.
I believe there is a threshold associated with Procrastination. This action/inaction boundary is determined by both Pain and Payoff. These simple tips are all designed to either reduce the Pain associated with a given task or increase the Payoff.
Good luck in your fight against Procrastination
[ Source: Fight Procrastination --Dave Cheong]
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How to Over come Distractions!
Each of us at one stage or another have succumbed to a distraction or two. Let’s face it. We all do it. Personally, when I’m at home, I find I would make excuses not to sit at my desk. I’ll be flicking through some catalog, turning on the tv or playing on the Xbox. When I’m in the office, I’ll gravitate towards social bookmarking sites like Digg, Delicious and Reddit. Unfortunately, some of us tend to be weaker than others and indulge in our desires more often than we really should! Distractions as a whole are a huge drain on every aspect of who we are. It takes our focus away from what we should be doing - our tasks, goals and purpose. This is why we have to eliminate them from our lives if possible! Personally, I find if I was to indulge in a distraction, a hour could go by and before I know it, I’d blow away an entire time box. Generally, this makes me feel drained and disappointed, not just in myself for having been weak but also about the lost opportunities and productive time I could have spent working on an article or researching a business venture. So what can we do about it? If you haven’t done so yet, take a look at two articles I wrote about how to stay focused - 18 ways to stay focused at work and the more generic 11 ways to staying focused. These tips are great, but inevitably distractions will happen. When they do, how can we reduce our urge and tendency to indulge in them? Here’s something very simple I do in my head whenever I feel the urge to indulge in a distraction. I don’t know who came up with it originally or even if it is unique to me, so for now, I call this technique Diminishing Distractions. This is how it works. Essentially, a distraction is attractive because of two reasons:
1.It gives us pleasure.
2.It takes pain away.
When we indulge in a distraction, we focus our time and energy on something that is inherently more pleasurable than what we are currently doing. Solving that problem is hard, so I’ll just surf on Digg instead. Finishing this document is going to take some time, so let me squeeze in 30mins on the Xbox. Making that call to the customer will be challenging, so let me read the news first. Now, tell me if you’ve never felt this way before. The reason these things are attractive is because they either give us pleasure or take some pain away. So in order for us to minimise the time we indulge in our distractions, what we need to do is either decrease the pleasure we get or the pain they take away. The trick to doing this is by quantifying our experiences. That is, measure how much enjoyment we hope to get by indulging in our distraction and then diminish that enjoyment in our minds to a level low enough that it is no longer appealing. To do this:
1. Rate the experience on a scale of -10 to +10. What the scale means: -10 being something I really hate doing and there’s nothing in the world to make me like it and +10 being something that gives me ultimate pleasure and utter enjoyment. For example, at any given moment, playing on the Xbox may rate +6 on my scale (I have fun and it gives me pleasure but it’s not the best thing since slice bread).
2. Think of things to lower the rating by one or two points. Once you have the rating, try to think of things to make the experience less enjoyable. This doesn’t mean a massive jump from +6 to a -10. It means lowering the enjoyment in a small way. For example, I might associate the discomfort of sitting on the floor with playing on the Xbox. After 30mins in this posture, it’s going to hurt. This will lower the experience for me to a +4 on my scale (It’s still fun, but less so now than before).
3. Repeat until the experience is neutral (ie a rating of 0). Keep thinking of things to diminish the experience (either the pleasure or pain) until you don’t really care either way whether you do it or not. Once you are indifferent, you stand a better chance of resisting the distraction. Here are some of the things I think will make the Xbox experience less enjoyable - lengthy wait times when saving, small tv with bad colours, tired shoulders and a sore neck.
4. Consider what you should be doing instead. At this point, look at what you’re currently doing or plan to do. Ask yourself would you rather be doing this or indulge in your distraction? For me, I ask myself “Would I rather finish this document I am in the middle of or play on the Xbox?”. I find most of the time, because the distraction’s experience is neutral, I’d rather continue what I’m doing. If this isn’t the case, move on to the next step.
5. Make the experience unappealing and undesirable. If you still rather indulge in the distraction, then repeat Step 2 and make the experience unappealing and undesirable. The trick to this is you don’t have to come up with completely realistic things. All you need to do is convince your mind about what you want it to feel regarding the distraction. For example, what would make the Xbox unappealing for me are - melting ice cream on the controller (I hate getting my hands dirty), not wearing my glasses (what’s the point of playing when I can’t see what’s going on), ear plugs (I can’t hear a thing) etc. Keep doing this until you take the experience to a -10. Once you hit -10, this being a level which you associate with things you absolutely hate doing and nothing can make you do it, it becomes really easy to resist the distraction. You don’t even have to put up a fight. As far as your mind is concerned, you don’t want to do it. I call this technique Diminishing Distractions - that is we are diminishing the experience we hope to get by indulging in the distraction. Simple isn’t it? It is. But that’s the beauty of it. When faced with a particular undesirable urge, what we need is a simple technique we can use and r
ely on to suppress that urge. What we don’t want
is a technique that has 50 checklist items for us to go through, because in most cases we either won’t bother or it’ll take too long to work! With some practise, you will find you can associate a 0 or a -10 to any distraction and make them less desirable than what we should be doing. Here’s the other beautiful part of this technique. Not only can you apply it to the distraction, you can also apply it to the task you should be working on. All you have to do is apply the technique in the steps I’ve outlined above but in a positive way and try to make the experience a +10 instead. By doing this, you will increase the gap between the experience you will get from this task and the distraction. For example, let’s say I really wanted to focus on writing. To make writing a +10 experience, I could visualise myself writing a top notch Diggable article (hint, hint), having lots of positive comments from my readers and earning lots of money from Adsense! If this doesn’t make this a +10 experience, I don’t know what will! I’ve written in the past that we can be happy if we choose to. I just want to take a moment to reiterate a particular point in that article because I think the repetition will help the message sink in. If you rely on external events to determine your happiness, than you relinquish control about when you will be happy. By using the technique I’ve outlined above, you take control of the way you feel about a particular experience. If you apply it to other aspects of your life, you will be able to control whether you have a -10 experience or a +10 experience irrespective of what happens. Sometimes we cannot prevent bad things from happening, but what we can control is how we react and respond to them. That’s food for thought. If you choose to employ this technique in your daily lives, drop me a comment or message. I would like to hear whatever feedback you may have on this. Good luck with your battle against distractions!
[Source: Overcoming distraction--Dave cheong]
Each of us at one stage or another have succumbed to a distraction or two. Let’s face it. We all do it. Personally, when I’m at home, I find I would make excuses not to sit at my desk. I’ll be flicking through some catalog, turning on the tv or playing on the Xbox. When I’m in the office, I’ll gravitate towards social bookmarking sites like Digg, Delicious and Reddit. Unfortunately, some of us tend to be weaker than others and indulge in our desires more often than we really should! Distractions as a whole are a huge drain on every aspect of who we are. It takes our focus away from what we should be doing - our tasks, goals and purpose. This is why we have to eliminate them from our lives if possible! Personally, I find if I was to indulge in a distraction, a hour could go by and before I know it, I’d blow away an entire time box. Generally, this makes me feel drained and disappointed, not just in myself for having been weak but also about the lost opportunities and productive time I could have spent working on an article or researching a business venture. So what can we do about it? If you haven’t done so yet, take a look at two articles I wrote about how to stay focused - 18 ways to stay focused at work and the more generic 11 ways to staying focused. These tips are great, but inevitably distractions will happen. When they do, how can we reduce our urge and tendency to indulge in them? Here’s something very simple I do in my head whenever I feel the urge to indulge in a distraction. I don’t know who came up with it originally or even if it is unique to me, so for now, I call this technique Diminishing Distractions. This is how it works. Essentially, a distraction is attractive because of two reasons:
1.It gives us pleasure.
2.It takes pain away.
When we indulge in a distraction, we focus our time and energy on something that is inherently more pleasurable than what we are currently doing. Solving that problem is hard, so I’ll just surf on Digg instead. Finishing this document is going to take some time, so let me squeeze in 30mins on the Xbox. Making that call to the customer will be challenging, so let me read the news first. Now, tell me if you’ve never felt this way before. The reason these things are attractive is because they either give us pleasure or take some pain away. So in order for us to minimise the time we indulge in our distractions, what we need to do is either decrease the pleasure we get or the pain they take away. The trick to doing this is by quantifying our experiences. That is, measure how much enjoyment we hope to get by indulging in our distraction and then diminish that enjoyment in our minds to a level low enough that it is no longer appealing. To do this:
1. Rate the experience on a scale of -10 to +10. What the scale means: -10 being something I really hate doing and there’s nothing in the world to make me like it and +10 being something that gives me ultimate pleasure and utter enjoyment. For example, at any given moment, playing on the Xbox may rate +6 on my scale (I have fun and it gives me pleasure but it’s not the best thing since slice bread).
2. Think of things to lower the rating by one or two points. Once you have the rating, try to think of things to make the experience less enjoyable. This doesn’t mean a massive jump from +6 to a -10. It means lowering the enjoyment in a small way. For example, I might associate the discomfort of sitting on the floor with playing on the Xbox. After 30mins in this posture, it’s going to hurt. This will lower the experience for me to a +4 on my scale (It’s still fun, but less so now than before).
3. Repeat until the experience is neutral (ie a rating of 0). Keep thinking of things to diminish the experience (either the pleasure or pain) until you don’t really care either way whether you do it or not. Once you are indifferent, you stand a better chance of resisting the distraction. Here are some of the things I think will make the Xbox experience less enjoyable - lengthy wait times when saving, small tv with bad colours, tired shoulders and a sore neck.
4. Consider what you should be doing instead. At this point, look at what you’re currently doing or plan to do. Ask yourself would you rather be doing this or indulge in your distraction? For me, I ask myself “Would I rather finish this document I am in the middle of or play on the Xbox?”. I find most of the time, because the distraction’s experience is neutral, I’d rather continue what I’m doing. If this isn’t the case, move on to the next step.
5. Make the experience unappealing and undesirable. If you still rather indulge in the distraction, then repeat Step 2 and make the experience unappealing and undesirable. The trick to this is you don’t have to come up with completely realistic things. All you need to do is convince your mind about what you want it to feel regarding the distraction. For example, what would make the Xbox unappealing for me are - melting ice cream on the controller (I hate getting my hands dirty), not wearing my glasses (what’s the point of playing when I can’t see what’s going on), ear plugs (I can’t hear a thing) etc. Keep doing this until you take the experience to a -10. Once you hit -10, this being a level which you associate with things you absolutely hate doing and nothing can make you do it, it becomes really easy to resist the distraction. You don’t even have to put up a fight. As far as your mind is concerned, you don’t want to do it. I call this technique Diminishing Distractions - that is we are diminishing the experience we hope to get by indulging in the distraction. Simple isn’t it? It is. But that’s the beauty of it. When faced with a particular undesirable urge, what we need is a simple technique we can use and r
ely on to suppress that urge. What we don’t want
is a technique that has 50 checklist items for us to go through, because in most cases we either won’t bother or it’ll take too long to work! With some practise, you will find you can associate a 0 or a -10 to any distraction and make them less desirable than what we should be doing. Here’s the other beautiful part of this technique. Not only can you apply it to the distraction, you can also apply it to the task you should be working on. All you have to do is apply the technique in the steps I’ve outlined above but in a positive way and try to make the experience a +10 instead. By doing this, you will increase the gap between the experience you will get from this task and the distraction. For example, let’s say I really wanted to focus on writing. To make writing a +10 experience, I could visualise myself writing a top notch Diggable article (hint, hint), having lots of positive comments from my readers and earning lots of money from Adsense! If this doesn’t make this a +10 experience, I don’t know what will! I’ve written in the past that we can be happy if we choose to. I just want to take a moment to reiterate a particular point in that article because I think the repetition will help the message sink in. If you rely on external events to determine your happiness, than you relinquish control about when you will be happy. By using the technique I’ve outlined above, you take control of the way you feel about a particular experience. If you apply it to other aspects of your life, you will be able to control whether you have a -10 experience or a +10 experience irrespective of what happens. Sometimes we cannot prevent bad things from happening, but what we can control is how we react and respond to them. That’s food for thought. If you choose to employ this technique in your daily lives, drop me a comment or message. I would like to hear whatever feedback you may have on this. Good luck with your battle against distractions! [Source: Overcoming distraction--Dave cheong]
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I have been watching recently the increase in popularity of my post about the 5 steps to accomplish your goals with some interest. When I first wrote the article, I was hoping to articulate a simple framework for anyone to follow. Keeping it simpl
e was important, because in our times of need, simple things can help to keep us motivated and get back on track. In the months since writing that article, I have expanded on the 5 steps and have come up with a useful framework to apply to personal growth and development in general. Though it is slightly more ambitious in what it aims to cover, it is still easy to understand and follow. Note, the intent is to communicate a high-level framework — one that guides our thinking and actions. It won’t get you from zero to hero on its own, but if you follow it’s principles and philosophy, it may just guide you when you need it the most. To help you remember it, the framework is simply called 10 R’s to Success. There are essentially 10 elements to the framework. In the description to follow, I’ll use the word “problem” but you may substitute it with “goal”, “challenge” or “objective” . These are all interchangeable and equally applicable in this context. Here is how it works:1. Realistic If you’re anything like me and have read self-help books before, you’d find that sometimes when you finish one of these books, you’d feel like you can walk through fire and conquer the world. Whilst that’s not necessarily a bad thing, sometimes it can be a little dangerous. Unrealistic goals and expectations can lead to failure and disappointment. This is why I’ve set being Realistic the most important element of the framework. It wraps the other elements and serves as a reminder that throughout the process, we have to be brutally honest with ourselves about what we are trying to do, whether it is attainable or not and what’s really involved.
2. Realise The precursor to any change is Realising a change is required. For me, this is typically personified by the “Ah ha” moment. That is, the moment when something inside just clicks by magic and I realise there’s a problem and something needs to be done. Based on my experience, this is really the first step in the whole process. If we don’t know whether a change is required or not, either nothing would change or something would change but not by choice or conscious effort. The net result of this is we’re left letting the Universe dictate our happiness.
3. Recognise The Recognise step comes immediately after Realize. It is about identifying what the problem is truly about and whether there are any parallels we can draw from based on our past experiences and circumstances. I find problems are seldom completely unique. If I were to break a problem down, there are always similarities with other things I’ve done before. Recognise is the step in which we try to figure out what the problem is about and whether we’ve solved similar things before.
4. Reframe Sometimes, our initial assessment of a problem can be incorrect. Often, I find this is because the problem is poorly defined. Reframing is the feedback step which allows us to restate the problem in a different way and in doing so perhaps Realise and Recognize the problem as something else entirely. This can sometimes cast a problem in a different light and present a solution which may otherwise not be obvious.
5. Respond Although Respond is depicted as the next step which comes after Recognize, it doesn’t really occur until the problem is fully Realised, Recognized and Reframed (if necessary). Respond is an action step. It is about taking the problem we have identified and working at the action items until the problem is resolved. I find using solutions I have applied to similar issues, keeping things positive and other great problem solving nuggets to be useful here.
6. Review Have we actually resolved the issue? That’s a question we should always ask, even though it may seem obvious for simple problems. Review is the time we do this and it’s important because without it, we may never learn from our mistakes or know if our solution has done the job or not. If we aren’t satisfied for whatever reason, we will need to Repeat a few things.
7. Repeat Repeat is the step which we follow if for whatever reason the solutions we have put in place does not meet all the requirements we have identified. I find as I work on a problem, my initial assumptions can be incorrect. For these cases, I repeat the Recognise step to redefine and potentially reframe the problem. Sometimes also, I may need to re-execute and re-implement for no other reason than me making mistakes the first time through. For these cases, I simple Respond again.
8. Reflect Reflection is similar to Review in the sense that we are comparing what we’ve done against what we have set out to do. Whilst Review is focused mainly on the problem itself, Reflect is about matching what we’ve done against our overall mission statement and goals in life. I’ve always believed that life is too short to be doing things that are not congruent to our life’s goals. Reflection is the step in which we pause for a second to ask if we’re doing the right thing. If we aren’t perhaps we need to reassess our position and change. While this isn’t a step we need to do all the time, I find it pays to do it occasionally simply because sometimes we can work in auto-pilot, get bogged down with the realities of life and forget what’s really important to us.
9. Reward I described this step in the original post about the 5 steps to accomplishing your goals and I’ll briefly reiterate it here. If you have met all the requirements of the problem and are measuring well against your overall goals, then reward yourself. This is an important step because it helps to keep us motivated. As with the other steps, ensure your Rewards are Realistic!
10. Renew The final element in the framework is Renew. Renew is essentially using the results of the work you have just done and the things you have just achieved as a motivator for new and more ambitious goals. Use it as a launching platform to set your sights to new things which may not have seem possible or Realistic before. In conclusion Life is a continuous process of discovery and learning. We only stop doing either of these when we die. At this very moment, you are discovering new things, experiencing interesting events, learning and growing constantly. For any given problem, challenge or goal, pause for a moment and identify which step you’re at. The great thing is you don’t have to start at the beginning of the flow. Just start applying the 10 R’s to Success based on where you’re at right now, irrespective of the problem. I hope what I’ve written makes sense. I don’t think I’ve fleshed it out as well as I could have in this article. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. If you can, please provide me with some input on what works and what doesn’t based on your own experiences, so I can incorporate your suggestions and improve the overall effectiveness of the framework for one and all.
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Five Steps to protect your brain and body
1. LIVE LIKE A BOWLER
Having a pet has been shown to make you happier, more attractive to women, keep you fit and increase your life span. Researchers in the UK examined the health status of adults after they acquired a dog or a cat. They experienced a “highly significant reduction in minor health problems.” Reason: the pets’ insatiable love for walks forced their owners to abandon their couches and it really makes a person happy playing with pets. The university of Minneapolis states having any sort of per can cut your risk of heart attack or stroke by 30%. So why not install an aquarium? The University of Pennsylvania found that blood pressure plunges after 20 minutes of aquatic viewing.
2. ACE THIS COURSE
Dust off your visitor spikes (or pick a set up of golf clubs), because new research has found that every man’s favorite walk to spoil a walk can protect their brain. According to John Hopkins Medical School, Maryland, being over your optimal weight can increase the risk of mental deterioration by 42%, dementia by 73% and Alzheimer’s by 80%. The American college of Sports Medicine calculates that a round of golf twice a week is enough to lose 2kg in 3 months, while the fresh air will help keep your memory intact for longer. “If you can’t hit the golf course for some reason, try jogging or walking in the morning”
3. BANK YOUR MEMORIES
A survey by Unisys, a global technology service and security firm, found that 86% of respondents are worried about unauthorized access to their personal information. Phishing is the latest high-tech fraud and it uses spam or pop-ups to deceive you into disclosing your bank info or details, passwords or other sensitive information. Storing your sensitive info on a thumbprint memory stick will keep it safe from artful online dodgers- and the “password” is always on hand.
Thumb rule:
1) Delete messages you think look suspicious right away.
2) Always look for “https” in your internet browser instead “http” cz if it’s got “s” you could be secure.
3) Always double check your internet browser and address typed there and put your password and confidential information only when you are sure of it because some phishing sites create the same display page like original but these pages are being headed to their personal server address. (For e.g. If the page is displayed of hotmail, don’t forget to check the browser as http://www.hotmail.com)
4) Commit your password to memory not to any guy who claims to provide you “account maintenance” services
4. GET YOUR OWN BACK
Injuries were a lot more outdoorsy. Whereas we once suffered from athlete’s foot and tennis elbow, hunching over tiny screens has left us with painful bad backs. Nearly half of notebook users interviewed report some form of postural discomfort, with 85% of them complaining of back-related pain. Also, the State University of New York found sitting with the laptop increases scrotum temperature, therefore hindering sperm production. Free yourself from your portable torture by using a stand to see straight wherever you sit and stop your spine (and your sperm) from logging out. And if you are too lazy to find a stand, keep your chair at the right height, let your wrists rest on the desk, let your feet sit flat on the floor, keep your shoulders and back relaxed…and take regular breaks away from your PC.
5. SET THE TONE.
Staying in shape means just that, not swelling into that shape. Recent research suggests women like their guys ripped, not ripping out of their shirts. In a survey by UCLA professor David Freidrick, brawny or larger-built men were considered volatile by the girls, while toned, athletic guys were rate the most attractive and sexually desirable. Your six-pack is the sure-fire showcase of your muscle tone. If you choose boxing as your fitness tool, spend 20 minutes shadow boxing daily. If you are a gym regular, try some bad work. It burns more calories that most other forms of cardio and strengthens your core. An hour and a half of shadow boxing and bad work a week can burn between 700-800 calories.
[Source: Men's health Journal]
1. LIVE LIKE A BOWLER
Having a pet has been shown to make you happier, more attractive to women, keep you fit and increase your life span. Researchers in the UK examined the health status of adults after they acquired a dog or a cat. They experienced a “highly significant reduction in minor health problems.” Reason: the pets’ insatiable love for walks forced their owners to abandon their couches and it really makes a person happy playing with pets. The university of Minneapolis states having any sort of per can cut your risk of heart attack or stroke by 30%. So why not install an aquarium? The University of Pennsylvania found that blood pressure plunges after 20 minutes of aquatic viewing.
2. ACE THIS COURSE
Dust off your visitor spikes (or pick a set up of golf clubs), because new research has found that every man’s favorite walk to spoil a walk can protect their brain. According to John Hopkins Medical School, Maryland, being over your optimal weight can increase the risk of mental deterioration by 42%, dementia by 73% and Alzheimer’s by 80%. The American college of Sports Medicine calculates that a round of golf twice a week is enough to lose 2kg in 3 months, while the fresh air will help keep your memory intact for longer. “If you can’t hit the golf course for some reason, try jogging or walking in the morning”
3. BANK YOUR MEMORIES
A survey by Unisys, a global technology service and security firm, found that 86% of respondents are worried about unauthorized access to their personal information. Phishing is the latest high-tech fraud and it uses spam or pop-ups to deceive you into disclosing your bank info or details, passwords or other sensitive information. Storing your sensitive info on a thumbprint memory stick will keep it safe from artful online dodgers- and the “password” is always on hand.
Thumb rule:
1) Delete messages you think look suspicious right away.
2) Always look for “https” in your internet browser instead “http” cz if it’s got “s” you could be secure.
3) Always double check your internet browser and address typed there and put your password and confidential information only when you are sure of it because some phishing sites create the same display page like original but these pages are being headed to their personal server address. (For e.g. If the page is displayed of hotmail, don’t forget to check the browser as http://www.hotmail.com)
4) Commit your password to memory not to any guy who claims to provide you “account maintenance” services
4. GET YOUR OWN BACK
Injuries were a lot more outdoorsy. Whereas we once suffered from athlete’s foot and tennis elbow, hunching over tiny screens has left us with painful bad backs. Nearly half of notebook users interviewed report some form of postural discomfort, with 85% of them complaining of back-related pain. Also, the State University of New York found sitting with the laptop increases scrotum temperature, therefore hindering sperm production. Free yourself from your portable torture by using a stand to see straight wherever you sit and stop your spine (and your sperm) from logging out. And if you are too lazy to find a stand, keep your chair at the right height, let your wrists rest on the desk, let your feet sit flat on the floor, keep your shoulders and back relaxed…and take regular breaks away from your PC.
5. SET THE TONE.
Staying in shape means just that, not swelling into that shape. Recent research suggests women like their guys ripped, not ripping out of their shirts. In a survey by UCLA professor David Freidrick, brawny or larger-built men were considered volatile by the girls, while toned, athletic guys were rate the most attractive and sexually desirable. Your six-pack is the sure-fire showcase of your muscle tone. If you choose boxing as your fitness tool, spend 20 minutes shadow boxing daily. If you are a gym regular, try some bad work. It burns more calories that most other forms of cardio and strengthens your core. An hour and a half of shadow boxing and bad work a week can burn between 700-800 calories.
[Source: Men's health Journal]
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Has your intellect been hiding in the basement? Boost your brain to add some serious grey matter!
1) Occipital lobe
What is it?- Responsible for processing visual details, shapes and colours, the occipital lobe is found in the bottom of the back bulge of your grey matter.
Boost it- Learn to juggle. Clowning around with coloured balls can increase reaction times by up to 10 percent in just two months, according to neuroscientists at the University of Hamburg.
2) Dentate gyrus
What is it?- These neurons lift your spirits when you are down.
Boost it- Get running. In Columbia University tests, 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week boosted brain cell growth by a fifth. " The depletion of the cells is responsible for increasing depression or severe mental maladies with age, and regular exercise beats this" says the institute of Neurology, London.
3) Hippocampus
What is it?- Banana-shaped nuggets on either side of the brain, meant for awareness and memory consolidation
Boost it- A study at Glasgow Caledonian University found that consuming the equivalent of 25gm of sugar in a 200ml glass of orange juice can boost memory retention by a fifth. "Sugar boosts reaction times and memory function" says Dr. Leigh Riby
4) Pituitary gland
What is it?- The gland that controls your sleep and hunger hormones. It also produces the 'love rat' hormone vasopressin, linked to certain men's inability to stay faithful. Boost it- Load up on manganese, found in egg yolks and fish. "Without this, your pituitary gland is unable to eliminate overloads of hormones that reduce sleep and increase appetite," says Dr Kit Ashley, Pituitary Foundation.
5) Brain Stem
What is it?- This crucial link between brain and brawn controls survival mechanisms and arousal
Boost it- "Stress causes the upper back muscles to constrict the nerve pathways and blood flow to the brain stem, resulting in shallow breathing and blackouts," says Dr. de silva. Get relief by squeezing your trapezius muscles, from your neck to shoulders in circular motions for five minutes.
6) Cerebellum
What is it?- This contains over 60% of your brain's neurons, coordinating your muscles for posture.
Boost it- Do 'Lazy 8s': Extend one arm in front of you, thumb pointing up, and trace a figure eight on its side, focusing ahead for five minutes twice a day. "It connects the cerebellum to different parts of your brain for better neuro-muscular control and spatial awareness," says Dr. de Silva. (source: Men's health Journal)
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'It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change.’-Charles Darwin
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
What is NLP?
NLP is described as the study of human excellence and demonstrates how to communicate effectively and infl
uence others. It was developed in the 1970s by a group of psychologists who were studying successful people in order to analyse human behaviour. The group included Richard Bandler (psychologist), John Grinder (linguist) and Gregory Bateson(anthropologist). They considered styles of language, brain patterns and how words andactions are linked together to form certain programmes or sequences of behaviour.Since then NLP has been developed further, providing a much greater understanding of thought processes, language patterns and human behaviour. It offers a process to help interpret human experiences, and to understand how people think, feel and react.NLP is seen as a vital skill to improve the effectiveness and impact of communication.It aids understanding of human experiences and the relationship between the mind,body, emotions and actions.Using the language of the mind can help you achieve desired outcomes consistently.
In short its defined as the "psychology of excellence and the difference that makes the difference in communication".
If we fragment the whole terminology,
Neuro – relates to the brain and what happens in your mind
Linguistic – relates to language and how you may use it
Programming – relates to patterns of behaviour which you learn and repeat.
Generally, Neuro is the process of using your senses to interpret the world and environment around you. Neurological processes affect your thoughts and emotions, your physiology, and subsequent behavior. Linguistic is how your use language to communicate with others and influence your experience and lastly Programming is the internal thoughts and patterns of behavior that help you evaluate situations, solve problems and decision making.
ACHIEVE EXCELLENCE WITH NLP
Every day you will interact with people by what you say, by whatyou do and by your body language, even if this is only in a facialreaction or a smile. The contact may be face-to-face, on the telephone or via e-mail. The interaction influences how you feel,how you may react to a certain situation and the effect you may have on others. Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) provides the tools and techniques to help you at home and in theworkplace to:
1)Communicate effectively
2)Motivate yourself and others
3)Think positively
4)Create actions to make a difference.
The tools will help you understand how you and other people work, and provide you with skills to help achieve excellence in your personal and professional life.
WHO IS NLP FOR?
NLP can be used throughout business, whether you work for a small organisation or a multinational. The skills are useful in communication, managing teams, project management, dealing with challenging situations and on any occasion when your work involves interacting with people. NLP can be used throughout business and education,during all stages of life.The tools w
ill help you gain an in-depth understanding of behaviour patterns and how individuals may respond in a variety of situations, and they will help you work more efficiently and effectively. Everyone can benefit from the skills, including, for example,business people, sports enthusiasts, actors, students,leaders, politicians and trainers.Consider the following proverb, which aptly describes some of the key principles:
‘If for atranquil mind youseek, these thingsobserve with care, ofwhom you speak, towhom you speak, andhow, and whenand where.’-Anon.
HOW NLP CAN HELP!
Think of some daily activities you are involved in:-
-Meetings
-Communicating with team members
-Dealing with customers
-Sales or marketing of products
-Appraisals and interviewing
-Production planning
-Learning new information
-Studying, exams
-Preparing and delivering presentations
Add your own daily activities related to your workand have these in your mind as you read through the tools and techniques within this blog.Consider how you can deal with situations in a different way in the future.
SETTING YOUR INTENTION!
Let’s start by using NLP on you.One of the principles of NLP is understanding what you want – your goals or outcomes.Just as you would tell a taxi driver where you want to go, having clear intentions helpsyou create the outcome you want. Consider your daily priorities from the previous pageand set your personal intentions by answering the following questions:
-What do you want to improve?
-Which aspects of your work would you like to understand better?
-Why do you react in certain ways to different situations?
-Which habits or patterns of behaviour do you often repeat?
-Could you improve how you communicate with others?
Have these thoughts in your mind as you explore the key principles of NLP.
( to be contd.. keep exploring and visiting)
What is NLP?
NLP is described as the study of human excellence and demonstrates how to communicate effectively and infl
uence others. It was developed in the 1970s by a group of psychologists who were studying successful people in order to analyse human behaviour. The group included Richard Bandler (psychologist), John Grinder (linguist) and Gregory Bateson(anthropologist). They considered styles of language, brain patterns and how words andactions are linked together to form certain programmes or sequences of behaviour.Since then NLP has been developed further, providing a much greater understanding of thought processes, language patterns and human behaviour. It offers a process to help interpret human experiences, and to understand how people think, feel and react.NLP is seen as a vital skill to improve the effectiveness and impact of communication.It aids understanding of human experiences and the relationship between the mind,body, emotions and actions.Using the language of the mind can help you achieve desired outcomes consistently.In short its defined as the "psychology of excellence and the difference that makes the difference in communication".
If we fragment the whole terminology,
Neuro – relates to the brain and what happens in your mind
Linguistic – relates to language and how you may use it
Programming – relates to patterns of behaviour which you learn and repeat.
Generally, Neuro is the process of using your senses to interpret the world and environment around you. Neurological processes affect your thoughts and emotions, your physiology, and subsequent behavior. Linguistic is how your use language to communicate with others and influence your experience and lastly Programming is the internal thoughts and patterns of behavior that help you evaluate situations, solve problems and decision making.
ACHIEVE EXCELLENCE WITH NLP
Every day you will interact with people by what you say, by whatyou do and by your body language, even if this is only in a facialreaction or a smile. The contact may be face-to-face, on the telephone or via e-mail. The interaction influences how you feel,how you may react to a certain situation and the effect you may have on others. Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) provides the tools and techniques to help you at home and in theworkplace to:
1)Communicate effectively
2)Motivate yourself and others
3)Think positively
4)Create actions to make a difference.
The tools will help you understand how you and other people work, and provide you with skills to help achieve excellence in your personal and professional life.
WHO IS NLP FOR?
NLP can be used throughout business, whether you work for a small organisation or a multinational. The skills are useful in communication, managing teams, project management, dealing with challenging situations and on any occasion when your work involves interacting with people. NLP can be used throughout business and education,during all stages of life.The tools w
ill help you gain an in-depth understanding of behaviour patterns and how individuals may respond in a variety of situations, and they will help you work more efficiently and effectively. Everyone can benefit from the skills, including, for example,business people, sports enthusiasts, actors, students,leaders, politicians and trainers.Consider the following proverb, which aptly describes some of the key principles:‘If for atranquil mind youseek, these thingsobserve with care, ofwhom you speak, towhom you speak, andhow, and whenand where.’-Anon.
HOW NLP CAN HELP!
Think of some daily activities you are involved in:-
-Meetings
-Communicating with team members
-Dealing with customers
-Sales or marketing of products
-Appraisals and interviewing
-Production planning
-Learning new information
-Studying, exams
-Preparing and delivering presentations
Add your own daily activities related to your workand have these in your mind as you read through the tools and techniques within this blog.Consider how you can deal with situations in a different way in the future.
SETTING YOUR INTENTION!
Let’s start by using NLP on you.One of the principles of NLP is understanding what you want – your goals or outcomes.Just as you would tell a taxi driver where you want to go, having clear intentions helpsyou create the outcome you want. Consider your daily priorities from the previous pageand set your personal intentions by answering the following questions:
-What do you want to improve?
-Which aspects of your work would you like to understand better?
-Why do you react in certain ways to different situations?
-Which habits or patterns of behaviour do you often repeat?
-Could you improve how you communicate with others?
Have these thoughts in your mind as you explore the key principles of NLP.
( to be contd.. keep exploring and visiting)
[Source: NLP pocket book--Gillian Burn]
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Study or Studyin'?
In the broadcast sense, for a student, study may be defined as " the pursuit of knowledge". Therefore, all our lives are spent in study to some extent. Study is not limited to specific activities
or particular environmental situations. It is not confined to work in the classroom or to reading and writing in "private study". While , of course, you must initially acquire basic infos and skills in such situation, this is only the first step in studying'.(Unfortunately it is all too often the limit of studying which many students reach). To study fully you must spend a great deal of your time working with toe hrs proficient in the subject or profession which you desire to master. U must observe,discuss, and solve problems in practical situations. You can't become a competent teacher or nurse or engineer or a doctor without practical classes or by simply reading books, writing and listening to lectures. If study only involved perceiving and remembering facts and skills, then the vast majority of the time we spent in school was surely wasted.. the 'Pursuit of knowledge', must be accessed in much wider terms, based on gathering information but extended into the development of attitudes and modes of thinking. The time spent by the students in college should be a period of particularly intense study when there is a very great deal to learn in a comparatively short duration, although under conditions more conducive to academic work than those likely to be encountered at other times. It is essential for the student to make the most efficient use of his college days both in acquiring and susbsequent utilization of knowledge.Ways for gaining knowledge:
There are various ways for us to acquire knowledge apart from being bookworm. Every term can't be described here but i tried to mention some.
1. Learning via Environment-
Yes, its definately true and effective way to gain knowledge from environment or nature as there is nothing great mentor than nature which is giving us priceless properties from the beginning of time and also mentoring us to use it properly.
2. Learnin
g from our Elders-No matter we acquire highest degree or certificate, we can never beat our elders as they have something more which we also done have , i.e. EXPERIENCE, no matter we are technical, technological but our elders' suggestion will always help us in any field, so don't ignore what they say.
3.Learning from Medias, Television and Radios-
Definately, we can earn from various medias, this is what we call the boon of technology. We can hear,see the very latest information,news, various entertaining programs and much more. Some knowledge based channels are The NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL, THE HISTORY CHANNEL, THE ANIMALS PLANET, THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL etc etc.
4. Learning from FAILURE-
We can also learn from our past failures, as "FAILURE IS THE PILLAR OF SUCCESS".We must take failures as our strength not weakness. Our attitude should be utilizing the failure so that we can achieve highest in future with our full potentials.
5. Study in and apart from HOME-
Home Study is sufficient to pass exam. It is exam oriented but our focus must be knowledge oriented not exam, passing exam doesn't necessarily determine how much we learn...as learning not only means eating, its eating and digesting too. With respect to this, we should study and discuss in groups not only independent study can boost our whole potential, so group study with independent study is also needed.
6. Online learning-
For our era, its very easy to acquire information of anything from internet. So, we must also focus and sharp our studying campaign by searching what we desire by online learning.
( continuing.....)
