Here’s a story that I think gets at why we have such difficulty with change.

I was 8 years old and my parents gave me a dollar to go to the toy store with my best friend and his mom. I found a Frankenstein model that I had been wanting that cost 88 cents, but I put it back on the shelf. When my friend’s mom asked me why I put it back, I said because all I had was a dollar, the model cost 88 cents and I didn’t want to get in trouble by wasting 12 cents. She then explained to me that if I gave the clerk my dollar, I would be able to get my model and get 12 cents back in change.

I thought that was pretty cool and got the model.

The point of this silly little story is that until that moment, no one had explained the concept of change to me and therefore I believed I could not get what I wanted.

Now I just said all that to be able to introduce you to one of my favorite strategies for coaching people to get the changes they want in their lives.

Let’s say a person comes in and they want to work on balance in their lives. That’s a good thing to want, but how in the world do you take all the tasks and demands of life and manage them, much less balance them?

The first step is breaking down this task into manageable pieces.

The life balance wheel

So picture with me if you will a large circle divided equally into 8 sections, like a piece of pie (you may even want to stop and draw one for yourself). We’ll call it our life balance wheel. Each one of these pieces of the wheel represents a part of our lives. I usually divide it into these eight pieces: family, career, finances, personal/spiritual growth, recreation, effectiveness/contribution, friendship and environment.

The second step is to rate yourself in each of these areas, using a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is the worst/lowest possible and 10 is the best/highest possible. Now picture that circle again, and then picture each piece of the pie. As we rate each piece between 1 and 10, we simply place a curved line on the section of pie, where a one would be at the pointed inner piece of the pie and a 10 would be on the curved outer piece of the pie.

After we have rated all eight areas, we connect the various curved lines to each other which form a usually very bumpy circle.

Now imagine what it would be like to ride in a car with wheels as bumpy and rough as your life balance wheel. Sort of feels like our lives feel sometimes, doesn’t it?

As a coach, now my job is to help you discover what’s most important in your life, what you most want to change, create an action plan to get you there, and then hold you accountable and hold your hand as you achieve the changes you want.

The third step is to pick the first area in which you want to work. Let’s say it’s in your family relationships, that you have rated a 4 and you would like it to be a ten. Going from a 4 to a ten is a pretty big leap, and trying to do it all at once is part of what can make change so difficult at times. So we again break it down into manageable pieces. My next question would be what will it take to go from a 4 to a 5 in the next week before we meet again? A good place to start would be to spend at least 1/2 hour of uninterrupted one on one time with each member of your family. After you have completed this goal and moved from a 4 to a 5, we’ll chart a course for moving from 5 to 6. Then later on we’ll work on the other seven areas of the wheel.

Now these are 8 areas of life that I chose. You can pick whatever 8 areas work for you.

What this gives you is a simple yet powerful tool for breaking change done into manageable amounts, and a way to create a clear and detailed map for how to get there.

In closing, imagine what your life would be like a year from now if each month you chose one of these areas to work on and improve. My guess is it would be pretty cool. So let’s get moving!

Visit SecretsofGreatRelationships.com for tips and tools for creating and growing a great relationship. You can also subscribe to our f*r*e*e 10 day e-program on how to enrich your relationship today, from relationship coach and expert Jeff Herring.

The toner cartridge that you need for your printers, your fax machines, your photo copiers and your camera printers are nothing short of expensive. While you may be wondering why they are so expensive, there seems to be more and more of a need for these toner cartridges. Everyone needs them but no one wants to pay the high costs for them.

Here are some hints and tips to help you find the best prices on toner cartridge needs that you have. You can save money in the long run!

• It is a good idea to know what type of cartridges that you need at all times. Many times, you can go into a retail location and find these toner cartridges on clearance for really no good reason. If they happen to be yours, you could pay a fraction of the price for them.

• But, this isn’t going to help you in your time of need. Instead of going to the overpriced, very hard to find printer cartridge office supply stores, simply look to the web. You have heard it before that the web offers much savings but you can count on saving money on your cartridges here. There are various websites that will provide just the right options for you at reduced prices.

• You can also find off brands that work just as well. If you know the size and type of cartridge you need, you can often save on the costs of them by purchasing off brand options.

• Yet another option to consider in these printer cartridge expenses is that you can save money on them by purchasing refills for them. Look to the web for these options as well. This is a great way to recycle too!

Printer cartridges are expensive, but there are ways to save on them!

For more information please see http://www.toner-cartridge-shack.co.uk.

Properly storing wine keeps flavor and lets wine age so that you can taste its evolving, complex flavor. Buying a wine rack, however, can be pricey, especially for someone who is more interested in developing a robust wine collection, not decorating.

Before you begin construction, plan where you will put the wine rack. Storing the wine in the right environment is crucial to its flavor. Always store wine in a cool, dark, and slightly humid area. Never store wine in the sun or in the heat. It will cook the wine and ruin its flavor. Keep the temperature between 50 and 59 degrees Fahrenheit. Store the wine on its side so it keeps the cork moist.

Wine rack kits let you grow your wine collection piece by piece. Wall-mounted wine racks let you store nine to 36 bottles on one shelf. Wall-mounted metal wine racks make it easy to see the label of each bottle. Expect to pay between $50 and $100 for each shelf. Don’t be afraid to ask the retailer for a discount if you buy many shelves at once. You can also buy matching wine islands so that you can store wine and have a tabletop in your wine cellar. Look online for the best selection.

Build your own wine rack for the lowest cost. Free plans are on the Internet, and you’ll probably need at least a table saw or jigsaw, a sander, and drill press. For simple projects, you can expect to pay less than $10 for equipment.

Probably the cheapest, but most effective wine rack you can build uses brick and wood planks. Stack the bricks for height, and use wooden planks with smaller wooden dividers for an easy-to-make wine rack.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wine Racks provides detailed information about metal, wood, hanging, and wall wine racks, as well as wine storage racks, wine glass racks, wine rack plans and kits, and more. For more information go to http://www.e-wineracks.com and/or visit our affiliate site at http://www.growthink.com.

Me and Mao Tse-Tung!

My first political experience was with Mao Tse-Tung 1968-69.

That was exactly before the second Sudanese military dictator Ga’far Numeri took over power through his coup d’etat in May 25, 1969.

I was at the final level of my intermediate school and about to receive the results of the high secondary school examination that time.

I read a lot of Mao’s Red Books during the second democracy in the Sudanese history.

It was called democracy, but I was not sure if it really was!

I always have a lot of DOTS in the Sudanese way of understanding DEMOCRACY and practicing it, because the three periods of what they call democracy in Sudan led to dictatorship. So, what’s the odds?!

Well, early in that year of my age in the intermediate school, I had much respect for Mao Tse-Tung so I wore one of his Red beautiful Medals on my T-Shirt just over the heart.

I came this way one evening to the school and found my class-room door closed. Just before I put my hand on the doorknop, I heard the heavy steps and the voice of the headmaster coming along the corridor. I pushed the door open and entered the class-room to hear some of the students singing and to see one of them dancing.

At that specific moment and exactly while I held my index finger over my lips saying “shhh”, the headmaster entered, glanced like an eagle and captured the full “prospects”. Everything, even the small details. He was a “rightist” member of one of the top governing parties.

The student who was dancing was a son of a well known Islamic figure in the town. And I who carried Mao’s thoughts am a son of a well known unionist member. The majority of my comrades were from the middle class, except few who were aristocratic.

So, when the headmaster heard the music, saw who was dancing there and glanced Mao Tse-Tung on my chest, he got crazy enough to pull Mao until my T-Shirt came into pieces on his fat hand.

I was not afraid at all although he gathered all the school next morning to lecture the students about that event and to punch us. He slashed everyone of us very hard 30 times in front of all the students.

It was happened in the second turn of what they call democracy in Sudan!

So, for this reason and other logical political points I say: Sudan knows no democracy since what’s so called independence!

We’ve got up to this moment right there two political categories consist of: 1- The Military Dictatorship! and 2- The Civil Dictatorship!

And since the Civil Dictatorship built up its mechanical majority dependent on the climate of illiteracy, it still influences the very simple and traditionally Muslim Sudanese people by an alleged Islamic emotions.

So it gave the army its “climax” three times to bring those militant adventuerers to power. The army took over power not to correct this situation but to be more and aggressively fundamentalist.

Nowadays the third military dictatorial regime plays the political game very wise, by importing the same Islamic emotions and using them against the innocent Sudanese people, its neighbors and the World.

Khalid Osman
–
ezine-act-politics-business-and-love.com

Khalid Osman is a webmaster. He was a teacher, a journalist and a freelancer with 30 years experience. He wrought in Sudan, Iraq, Kuwait and Eritrea. He was a freelancer contributed in many newspapers and magazines published in London, Paris, Cyprus, Amman and Beirut.

Fitness rowers are also known by other names such as stamina air rower or simply air rower. It’s a good way to work the whole body as it simulates the action of rowing the boat. It’s a complete exercise machine, which works the lower half as well as the upper half of the body. It’s similar to swimming. Thus it’s a great way to lose the calories as well as one up the body. Whereas a treadmill or an exercise bike only exercises the lower half of the body. This is the reason that it is preferred by people and is very popular among athletes as well as beginners.

Therefore fitness rowers provide the best cardio vascular workout to the body. It’s important that before you buy a fitness rower, you should know the cost and the functions of the same. Hence, before you buy a machine, its important that reviews are referred to, reviews of fitness rowers give an added advantage to the customers. By knowing the various functions as well as the costs of the fitness rowers, you are in a better position to buy the machine that is required by you.

Don’t be fooled in by what the sales person of the various companies say. Obtain various leaflets from the companies, which sell the fitness rowers. You can make a comparison yourself by looking at their costs and functions. After you have read enough reviews of fitness rowers, you would be able to negotiate prices with retailers. Its essential to keep in mind the warranty periods of the fitness rowers, which are offered by the various companies as well as a good after sales service so that in future if there is any problem, it can be rectified easily.

It would be unwise to walk into a store with no idea.It would make you fair game for an unscrupulous vendor.

If you enjoyed this article check out this list of fitness rowers related articles. And here you’ll find our most recently added fitness rowers article for your reading.

Life on other worlds is a given agree most intellectual humans. Intelligent life therefore would also be a given. But what would other intelligent life look like and does it matter since they would be intelligent in nature, who cares what they look like, as we need to meet them and hope they can help us in our own advancement of sciences.

This is a fascinating topic indeed and it was recently brought up in an online think tank when one guest member stated; “Depending on the environment an intelligent species evolved in, they could have more than two arms (almost certainly a multiple of 2, though, and not likely more than this unless they are something like evolved arthropods.”

This is an interesting point indeed and we know that life has symmetry, yet we also see other life on Earth with more than two-limbs in combinations, a star fish has five right? Geometrically and symmetrically speaking this is also a possibility, yet our thinker has a very good point; especially if the patterns of life in the Universe follow certain known symmetrical shapes and designs? Our guest thinker goes on to state;

“Alternately, though, they could have extended and enlarged spines, should then be vertabrates. They will most likely have an upright walking appearance – whether they have multiple legs or not – with a vertical “torso” or mid-section from which the manual appendages will be attached to.”

This is another good point although indeed we should not get too overly ego-centric in Earth Species when imagining life on other planets should we? Perhaps we must consider all these factors and give it some more thought. So, think on this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Simply put, fleet maintenance allows companies to monitor and maintain their fleets of commercial vehicles more efficiently.

Fleet maintenance requires a great deal of organization and management skills. Thousands upon thousands of commercial vehicles travel U.S. roadways each day. Most of the companies that use vehicles for commercial purposes need a way to track and manage the various aspects of their usage. Managing maintenance and repairs, creating fueling budgets and monitoring other costs related to vehicle usage are a few of the responsibilities that rest upon the Fleet Maintenance Manager. Fortunately, fleet maintenance software can help.

Companies such as UPS and FedEx have hundreds of vans on route for delivery at all times of the day. Police departments need a way to manage and maintain their vehicles. County and city governments need to keep track of the whereabouts of their fleets at all times. In the past, especially during ‘pre-computer’ years, the task may have been slightly more complicated than it is today. With the many options for fleet management software available in today’s market, the duties of the fleet manager can be entered, tracked and maintained through high-tech software.

Fleet maintenance software is widely available to companies that need assistance with record keeping of their vehicles. Many of the products available are very user friendly and can certainly make the task of managing fleets less daunting. Most of the companies supplying fleet management software also understand that not everyone is a technical genius. For those who are less experienced with computer programs, many companies offer world-class customer support and are only a phone call away if assistance is needed. From maintaining parts inventory to organizing fleets in various locations, many managers are turning to fleet management software instead of the paper files and scribbled notes of the past.

Fleet Maintenance Software Info provides comprehensive information on fleet maintenance software, reviews and programs for commercial vehicles. Fleet Maintenance Software Info is the sister site of Preventive Maintenance Software Web.

When you are just about to begin to play cricket it is not always straightforward to choose what you must acquire. If you go into a sports retail store and ask them what you require, you will most likely end up getting loads of kit. So, it’s reasonable to fathom what you will require prior to you going shopping. That way you are a great deal more likely to get what you demand, instead of what the shop owner advises you need.

Below, is essentially a full cricket equipment inventory, you don’t need all the items on this list, as several organisations will lend you kit especially at junior level:

Cricket whites, cricket bats, balls, helmets, gloves, batting (wicket keeping) inner gloves, wicket keeping gloves, batting pads, wicket keeping pads, box, chest pad, arm guard, inner thigh pad, cricket boots (bowling boots; batting boots), box (groin guard), stumps and bails. Find cricket equipment online at Sportswear-Equipment.com.

For most of the cricket competitions you partake in you will require to have your own set of whites. Cricket whites include white cricket trousers & cricket shirt. Check that you get a suitable set of cricket trousers & also a nice white cricket shirt and jumper as it can easily get cold if you are standing out on the pitch for a long time especially if you intend to play in England (the start and end of the season are the coldest).

If you can not hire kit from your club the other most critical items of equipment are a cricket bat and box. A well built cricket bat is crucial if you aim to score many runs & is a very individual piece of equipment, so spend some time selecting your bat, in an ideal world you would be advised to go to a sports shop & pick one up before you buy in order for you to know how it feels to play with. When you know what you want you can often get bats on the Internet considerably cheaper). You need a good box to guard your groin from the ball, as getting hit down below’ is awfully painful, so investing in a good box before you start is a clear must – you can not bat without one.

Running Applications in Compatibility Mode With Windows XP, you can run programs as if though they were being run under a different operating system. (This is known as “emulation”.) Simply right-click a shortcut, select “Properties” and then check “Run in compatibility mode” and select the operating system you wish to make the program believe it is being run under. This fools or tricks the program into thinking you are really using a previous version of Windows, such as NT, 2000, 98, or 95. This is especially useful for certain games that won’t run properly. Be careful *not* to use this with certain system utilities, such as antivirus, defrag, registry, and disk tool applications.

Customizing the Start Menu Right click on the “Start” button and left click “Properties”. From here, you can select the new Windows XP style Start Menu, or return to the Windows 2000/Millennium style one. You can also customize the two possible choices using their corresponding “Customize” buttons. This also allows you to turn on or disable cascading menus and other options that are useful, such as large or small icons and more.

Bring Back Those Desktop Icons After you install Windows XP, you probably noticed that some of your icons from previous versions of Windows you’ve used are missing. Microsoft did this intentionally to help simply and reduce clutter. Of course, for some people, this isn’t the best choice or the user preference. So, if you want those icons like “My Computer” and “My Network Places” back, just open Display Properties (right click Desktop Wallpaper, left click “Properties”) and click the “Desktop” tab. Click the “Customize Desktop” button and on the “General” tab check the items you want. You can also change the icons used by these desktop items in the same screen. One final tip related to this screen is the “Clean Desktop Now” button, which notifies you of unused icons on the desktop and offers to remove them if you choose.

Give Me My ClearType Windows XP includes a great new visual technology, called “ClearType” which increases horizontal legibility by approximately 300% and it looks great. Go back into “Display Properties” [see tip: "Bring Back Those Desktop Icons" for instructions] and this time, go to the “Appearance” tab. Click “Effects” and for the second drop down box, labeled “Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts”, select “ClearType”. Click OK twice and you’re all set.

Lock Computer vs. Welcome Login Screen You must go into Control Panel and open the “User Accounts” applet to change this setting. Click “Change the way users log on or off”. For maximum security, uncheck the “Use the Welcome screen” option. This re-enables the use of the “Lock Computer” option from the ALT CTRL DELETE menu, but prevents multiple users from being logged on locally at a single time. This also returns to the Windows 2000 style login screen. If you’d rather have the ability to *not* be able to use “Lock Computer” and would rather allow multiple users to logon to the computer at a single time locally, leave this setting checked and also check “Use Fast User Switching”.

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When you are deciding to buy a brand new telly, one of the principal choices that you will need make, in particular if you have young kids, is whether or not you need to wall-mount you’re telly, house it within a living room cabinet or on a television stand.

If you choose you would like to lay your television on a television stand, it’s prudent to buy your stand at the precise time as you purchase your new pristine TV in order that you are capable to set it up immediately as it gets there.

Many makes of tellies come with a stand already as standard, nevertheless if you’ve chosen TV isn’t one of these, you will have to make your mind up whether or not you want to purchase a stand specifically designed for your television or a all-purpose TV stand that is particularly designed to fit any variety of television.

If you choose a TV stand specifically created by your tellies company, you will definitely have to ensure that you have the exact model number of your particular TV handy when you are searching for the stand to go with it. Visit www.digitaldirect.co.uk for huge savings on many TV Stands.

Furthermore, there are also more than a few types of TV stands on the market for sale, for that reason you will need to settle on whether you would like a floor stand, a plinth stand or a desk-top stand. You may possibly prefer to pay for what’s branded as an “open cabinet”. Open cabinets are telly stands which, unlike the typical furniture TV cabinets, contain open shelves so that you can keep your gear while at the same time still being capable to have easy entrance to the wires & the back of your TV when you need to.

Procuring the best cabinet to work with your set-up can be tremendously tough, considering the number of television manufacturers in the marketplace currently. To support you in making the correct choice there is a large collection of guides available online currently.

When you purchase a television or home cinema system, you may need some accessories to go with it. There is a wide assortment of telly accessories on sale online for example; remote controls, television stands, TV cabinets, wall fixings & telly cables to name a few.