Begins today (23) in Rio de Janeiro, the project Geographical Tours.  The circuit takes the parties to an evening walk through the center of the Rio walk that begins in the illuminated buildings in the Evangelical Cathedral and travels to the Royal Portuguese Reading Room, through the Centro Cultural Carioca, the Church of Our Lady of Lampadosa along Avenida Passos the Tiradentes Square theaters secular and modern hotels, following the street of the Constitution, and Rua Gomes Freire Lavradio with its antique shops and venues, to reach the Mem de Sa of townhouses and music mix of Lapa.

The route ends at the Sala Cecília Meirelles, building administered by the Department of Culture where you can watch performances of classical music. The meeting for the start of the tour will be in the churchyard of the Cathedral of the Presbyterian Tiradentes Square and Rua da Carioca.

The Geographical Routes project is a realization of the core extension nepeco (Center for Studies and Research on Space and Culture) at UERJ (State University of Rio de Janeiro), the Institute of Geography.

Registration for the tours can be made by e-mail: roteirosgeorio@uol.com.br.

More information can be obtained by calling (21) 88717238. Plots were postponed when the weather is rainy. The tours are free.

Source: JT

Where are you going today?

How are you going to get there?

Do you know that where you are going is completely up to you?

Speaking of where you are, how did you get there?

Did you have a plan, a road-map, or are you where you are today by happenstance? Did you just wake up with no real idea of how you got here?

Whether you know it or not: your freedom of choice has brought you to be where you are.

You have the freedom of choice and because you have chosen each and every circumstance of your life: your success and failure is completely within your grasp, your happiness and unhappiness, your present and future.

Everything that exists in your life exists because of you, because of your behavior, words and actions.

Here are a few examples of that:

1. Kate, a young woman from Russia. Six years ago Kate emigrated to this country. Completely unable to speak the English language, she now has a better command of the language than people who grew up here. This spring, she is starting college to get her degree in Accounting.
2. Aloha, a young woman in Florida, who is working as a waitress at a Waffle House. Aloha dropped out of high school because she had gotten pregnant. Now, with 2 small children, she hopes to someday get her GED and grow a better life for herself and her children.
3. Susan, a middle aged woman who did finish high school, but soon afterward had two children. Working smart and planning her trip, she retired from a career that culminated in an upper-level management position with a major national corporation.

Over 400 years before Christ, Socrates came up with what are known as basic laws of human life. One of them is called the Law of Cause and Effect. What that means is that for every effect in your life, there is a cause.

Let me explain: if you want a certain effect (end result), then you have to take certain steps (causes) to get that effect.

In our examples above, you see that each of the three women showed responsibility for their lives in different ways: Kate has a plan to make a new life for herself here in the States. Aloha has no real defined idea of where her life is, or is going, and Susan knew what it took to get where she wanted to go and followed that plan. She also has a plan for even greater success and achievement for the rest of her life.

Responsibility is the basic necessity to having the life you want and deserve.

When you accept that you are completely responsible for yourself and also that no one is coming to your rescue is the beginning of your road to success.
After you accept that, there is very little that you cannot do or have. “If it’s to be, it’s up to me!”

Success, achievement, motivation all come from your responsibility to yourself. Happiness and self-actualization are the end result from your responsible choices and planning.

Responsibility: It’s the absolute minimum requirement for everything you could ever really want in life.

What is your plan?

Goals, a bucket list, a place where you want to be in your life? You deserve a wonderful life, what are you doing to grow the life you deserve?

Think about it and tell me what you are doing to grow your life into the one you want and deserve?

Translate this with Babel Fish

Author: Linden Huckle
Source: articlecity.com

Success, mbnanetaccess, or Failure online! What’s it going to be?

There are two types of people in the world, the people who do and the people who don’t.

We all like to think of ourselves as the people who DO!

The people who ‘DO’ and participate in online business’s fall into two sub categories, they are.

1. The people who make money.

2. The people who don’t make any money and unfortunately, a lot of the time, even lose money.

Sadly most people fall into sub category 2.

Don’t jump out of an aeroplane without a parachute. It hurts! Obviously no one is going to do that, are they? I hope not.

But people try and earn money online without a parachute, they sign up for the latest and greatest online opportunities, they have been given promises of tremendous wealth and happiness beyond their wildest dreams.

For a few weeks, they are so excited, light at the end of the tunnel. There they are, up in the clouds, flying high, then WHAM! BAM! they hit the ground, no million dollars in the bank, just maxed out credit cards and depression.

All the top online marketers would say, ‘why did you do that?. you should have done it this way, you should have used this, oh no, don’t do that’.

The work from home dream, shattered.

If you are going to jump out of an aeroplane, put your parachute, mbnanetaccess, on first. If your going to do business online, make sure you have the online parachute on, which is the right information and tools to guarantee your success.

It’s a thin line between success and failure, sometimes people show tremendous effort and determination, but get nowhere.

Other times people use minimal effort and have huge success.

This is nearly always down to the fact that some people have a ‘map’ to success and some do not.

You must have a plan of action, like a road map, one you can easily follow, a road map to SUCCESS.

When people first start marketing online, a lot of the time they go from business to business, from system to system, but never really working any business and system properly.

Sometimes they spend a small fortune and then tell themselves the money wasn’t completely wasted, because they learned so much.

The trouble is, most people who lose money online,, mbnanetaccess, do learn a great deal, but because they got burned so badly, they never take it to the next level, nearly all top internet marketers will have horror stories from when they first started, the difference is, they had the desire to continue.

Remember, ‘A big shot is simply a little shot that kept shooting’

I still look back in horror at some of the things I tried.

You must have the desire to succeed, if you have this,, mbnanetaccess, then all you need is your ‘Map to success’.

If you have a road map of the world you can go anywhere in the world, if you have an online business map, amazing things can happen.

Success is only around the corner.

If you work online from, mbnanetaccess, home now, or are thinking about starting an online business. GOOD LUCK

Copyright 2006 Linden Huckle

Melanjutkan kesepakatan-kesepakatan selama ini, nasional dan internasional, belakangan ini pemanasan global menjadi salah satu isu sentral di dunia. Pemanasan global pun dikaitkan dengan globalisasi ekonomi dan krisis keuangan global. Semua terkait dengan perkara hidup manusia sehari-hari, terkait dengan ritual hidup kita. Dan sekarang seolah-olah kita menghadapi ketidakberdayaan.

Pemanasan global terjadi ketika ada konsentrasi gas-gas tertentu yang disebut rumah kaca. Pemanasan global terjadi karena ulah manusia. Akibat yang kita rasakan adalah gejolak perubahan iklim. Terjadi pancaroba.

Bumi semakin panas bukan isapan jempol sebuah judul film, melainkan kenyataan semakin tidak nyamannya Bumi sebagai tempat tinggal makhluk hidup. Terjadilah peningkatan temperatur. Es kutub mulai mencair, mengakibatkan meningkatnya volume air laut dan anomali cuaca. Muncul kekhawatiran kepunahan spesies, bahkan ketakutan kiamat keburu datang.

Mengutip Pramana Yudha (Kompas, 3/10/2009), kepunahan massal semakin dekat. Diperkirakan saat ini 501-50 spesies Bumi punah setiap hari. Sekitar 50 persen dari sekitar 10 juta spesies yang ada saat ini akan punah dalam 100 tahun ke depan.

Laju kepunahan itu perlu diredam karena bisa berdampak pada kelangsungan hidup di Bumi. Salah satu caranya, menumbuhkan solidaritas lintas spesies yang saat ini masih sangat minim, sementara pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi lebih berorientasi pada kesejahteraan manusia.

Kerusakan alam berkait erat dengan kemiskinan, demikianlah pemakalah Johannes Muller. Ketika fokus perhatian dunia diberikan untuk mengatasi kerusakan lingkungan, di saat yang sama masih saja terjadi perusakan.

Perubahan iklim sebagai salah satu konsekuensi kerusakan alam berdampak global. Dampaknya lebih terasa di negara-negara berkembang sehingga tantangan menyikapinya harus global, sekaligus mengingatkan tentang kepunahan-kepunahan yang terjadi, tidak hanya sebagai gerakan berasas keagamaan, tetapi juga perlu lewat hukum, politik, dan ekonomi.

Indonesia, Bumi yang kita tinggali dengan segala kemewahan alami, kita rusak sendiri. Tanah yang menghijau membotak. Air yang melimbah kotor. Sampah menggunung, mengganggu permandangan dan menimbulkan ancaman kesehatan. Gerakan sekecil apa pun tentu akan terasa bermanfaat.

Tanpa sengaja, sinkron dengan ajakan Pramana Yudha, dirasakan perlunya ikatan batin bersama sebagai pemilik dan penghuni Bumi. Agama diyakini sebagai sumber kekuatan yang “maha besar” untuk mengembalikan keutuhan dan mengerem laju kepunahan. Agama dianggap mampu mengajak berbagai pihak mempersatukan, menjadi inspirasi, dan memberikan penguatan eksistensial.

Gerakan itu adalah gerakan pencerahan dan edukasi bersama, dilakukan dengan cara penyadaran kepada sebanyak mungkin orang melalui pendidikan publik, pendidikan lingkungan hidup di dalam kurikulum agama, juga lewat khotbah-khotbah di acara-acara keagamaan. Dibangun kemauan gaya hidup sederhana yang berorientasi pada penghargaan terhadap alam (back to nature). Tujuan akhirnya, membangun bersama-sama sebuah dunia sebagai rumah idaman.

Di Indonesia, penegasan profetik itu di antaranya terlihat dalam satu pertemuan para ulama pesantren di Sukabumi, tahun 2004, tentang fikih lingkungan. Dalam pertemuan itu  berkembang keinginan membangun tekad menyadari perlunya upaya nyata dan berkesinambungan mengerem laju kerusakan alam, memulihkan yang rusak, dan melindungi yang tersisa.

Pada hakikatnya alam adalah anugerah dan amanat Allah SWT yang wajib dipelihara, dikelola, dan dimanfaatkan untuk kemaslahatan hidup bersama. Ajakan itu mengikat semua agama dalam multifaith dialogue yang diwujudkan sebagai tanggung jawab global.

Tanggung jawab bersama

Pertemuan sehari di Yogyakarta tanggal 8 Oktober 2009 dibuka oleh dua tokoh agama, Rektor Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga Prof Amin Abdullah dan Uskup Agung Semarang Mgr Ignatius Suharyo. Kehadiran dan pernyataan-pernyataan mereka menegaskan, agama-agama perlu membangun kesepakatan bersama dalam sebuah dialog antariman untuk mengikat tanggung jawab global, utamanya dalam hal ini kelestarian alam Indonesia.

Menurut Amin Abdullah, Islam selama ini sulit mengakomodasi diri pada persoalan sekular. Islam masih Allah-sentris, kurang antroposentris dan kurang ekosentris. Padahal, yang kita hadapi adalah kerusakan alam yang membawa akibat buruk, meliputi persoalan-persoalan aktual seperti Merapi yang mulai kehabisan air dan mengancam kota Yogyakarta, dan marjinalisasi air – air tidak bersh lagi, tetapi comberan – menyebut dua contoh rusaknya lingkungan hidup yang menjadi habitat kita.

Diakui oleh Mgr Suharyo, dalam arah dasar pelayanan Keuskupan Agung Semarang 1984-2010, kata lingkungan hidup baru masuk tahun 2006. Artinya, sebelum tahun 2006 belum dianggap sebagai persoalan serius.

Baru sejak itu, Mgr Suharyo aktif memperkenalkan tantangan membangun kelestarian alam. Di antaranya menyadarkan bahwa kerusakan alam merupakan realitas yang keseharian, bukan nanti, tetapi sekarang, bukan persoalan nun jauh di sana, tetapi persoalan setempat. Kondisi itu harus diterima dan disikapi sebagai keprihatinan bersama.

Yang perlu digerakkan adalah membangun dan memperluas bela rasa (compassion) terhadap sesama. Diciptakanlah gerakan-gerakan bersama yang mengarah pada kesadaran bersama. Gerakan-gerakan ini ibarat virus yang harus menular cepat, yang keberhasilannya ditunjukkan dengan banyaknya pertanyaan sebagai awal positif mendorong untuk melakukan sesuatu terhadap alam.

RP Borrong dari agama Kristen menggarisbawahi bahwa memelihara integritas ciptaan Allah tidak saja dalam iman dan penghayatan hidup beragama, melainkan juga dalam langkah-langkah nyata gerakan orang yang prihatin dan berprilaku demi keadilan, perdamaian, dan integritas dengan ciptaan.

Di Indonesia, upaya itu diwujudkan dengan tiga langkah untuk mengimplementasikan kepedulian terhadap lingkungan hiudp, yakni melalui pendidikan dan pelatihan, gerakan/aksi/advokasi, dan membangun jaringan. Kesimpulan Borrong, memelihara lingkungan merupakan bagian dari misi Allah mendatangkan shalom. Dalam kenyataan praksis, itu tidak gampang dilakukan sebab menyangkut kenyataan bahwa keyakinan iman belum otomatis bisa diimplementasikan dalam keseharian hidup.

Energi dan air

Menyangkut prioritas, forum menyepakati dua hal, yakni menyangkut energi – baik yang terbarukan – dan air. Perlu dilakukan pendidikan penyadaran ekologis sehingga amsyarakat tidak mengalami keterasingan budaya, tidak kehilangan mitos.

Apa yang dilakukan Pastor Kisjito dengan masyarakatnya di lereng Merapi merupakan keinginan mengembalikan mitos. Melestarikan lingkungan berarti juga melestarikan kehidupan. “Surga yang di bawah mengalir air,” sebuah kutipan dari kitab suci Al Quran dipungut untuk menegaskan luhurnya makna air dengan kehidupan manusia. Meningkatnya perolehan kepiting lewat penyelamatan hutan bakau di Lombok dan Kalimantan Timur disampaikan sebagai contoh lain bagaimana menggerakan bela rasa terhadap kerusakan perlu dijebol dari dalam.

Dengan segala cara itu ? Solidaritas dengan alam diwujudkan dengan ajakan menghemat air, menghindari penajisan air dengan cara memunculkan kearifan-kearifan lokal menyangkut konservasi hutan, misalnya. Menyimpan air dalam embung-embung seperti di kawasan kering Gunung Kidul merupakan langkah dan kisah keberhasilan yang direfleksikan dalam terang iman, terutama dalam konteks bersahabat dengan alam, satu sisi dari perubahan iklim yang dirasakan penuh anomali sekarang (ini).

Aksetisme dalam arti semangat mesu budhi demi kelestarian lingkungan – dalam hal ini kelestarian Bumi – tidak hanya digerakkan oleh faktor untung-rugi, tetapi disemangati kesadaran diri sebagai salah satu makhluk ciptaan. Dengan semangat itulah dilakukan perlawanan terhadap keserakahan menggasak kekayaan alam.

Kerusakan Bumi dengan presentasinya perubahan iklim adalah musuh bersama. Kalau dibiarkan, tidak hanya mengancam lingkungan Bumi tempat berpijak makhluk hidup, melainkan juga melawan kodrat kemanusiaan yang tidak boleh tidak harus bersahabat dengan alam dan tidak memusuhinya.

Lembaga pendidikan ikut bertanggungjawab mengedukasi masalah kegawatan lingkungan. Sesuai dengan harapan Rektor Universitas Sanata Dharma (USD) P Wiryono dalam pembukaan, forum ini jangan hanya olah pikir, tetapi juga menelurkan langkah konkret. Pusat Studi Lingkungan Hidup USD pun melaksanakan, bahkan disepakati sebagai melting pot untuk menggerakkan kesadaran tentang lingkungan hidup.

Apa yang diharapkan Rektor USD terungkap dalam makalah Ignatia Esti Sumarah. Dalam road map USD ada benang merah target hasil didikan yang terampil membaca konteks ekologis, sosiologis, dan ekonomis agar terbangun sikap solider terhadap sesama dan alam.

Sumber   :

Asketisme Lingkungan Vs Musuh Besarnya – ST Sularto
Kompas, 06.11.2009

I feel like my feet have hardly touched the ground lately. 

We had a successful performance of “Theft” last week and I’ve been truly welcomed as a member of Cardiff Players – www.cardiffplayers.org .  Right now I’m both apprehensive and excited about attending their Annual Dinner, apparently prizes are awarded and then it pretty much turns into a massive party (as far as I can tell).  I’m looking forward to it as it really makes me feel as if I’m a member of the Players but I’m also apprehensive because I’m going alone.  For someone who is pretty confident I still hate walking into a room full of people on my own – I’d much rather do it on the arm of an attractive, dashing gentleman.  OK, I’m an old romantic, but there’s nothing wrong with dreams.

Work has become increasingly busy and we’re juggling more and more work alongside an office and a store move.  Nothing quite like changing everything at once, although I know exactly what that feels like.  If you’re going to upset the Status Quo why not do it on a grand scale?

I feel like anything could happen for me at this point, my life is still in transition – it has been for the past few months and I see no reason for that to change in the next couple of months.  It’s a good opportunity for me to slow down a little, take stock and really start working towards my end goal.  I’ve said before that I want to write a book and speak for a living, what I haven’t quite worked out yet is just how I will do that.  I’ve got a couple of the building blocks in place but I need to establish what the stepping stones are.  I’ve had some interesting conversations with people and I’m starting to create a far better road-map of how to get from A to B, the next few months will certainly sort that out for me.

In the meantime, I’m going to take a deep breath, hold my head up high and walk into that room (and every other room in the future) on my own,  knowing that I’m totally in control of what I want to do and when and if I choose to enter a room on the arm of a dashing gent then that’s a very conscious decision, just as entering a room alone, with my head held high is another. 

And right now I think I’m going to enjoy going it alone…….

La pornografia come veicolo di pace. Altro che Road Map. È il sesso l’unico vero processo di coabitazione tra israeliani e palestinesi. Ne è convinto il 49enne Avi Levy. Israeliano, cicciottello. E pornografo. Di professione.

Il mercato si sa, è saturo. Ma questo signore di Umm-Al-Fahm – una delle città a maggioranza araba – ha trovato la sua nicchia. Redditizia. E, ne è convinto, utile. Offrire un sito web a luci rosse destinato al pubblico di tutta l’area. Nessuno escluso. “Qui non c’è soltanto la guerra”, dice a chi gli chiede perchè. “Israeliani e palestinesi vivono insieme, mangiano insieme, lavorano insieme. C’è qualcuno che può negare che facciano pure sesso?”.

Così, nel 2001, ha fondato il sito web – porno – “Parpar 1” (evitiamo il link per evidenti ragioni). Significa “farfalla” in ebraico. Ma anche “scambismo”. Ed ecco quindi i filmati e le foto. Amatoriali. “I protagonisti sono persone normali – continua Levy – segretarie, dottori, ingegneri”. Non si sa quanti clienti abbia. Ma a colpi di tette, falli e eccitazioni sotto sotto spera di dare il suo contributo al processo di pace.

Its Friday the 13th, Im on my way to my work, heavy traffic ahead of us, and ill be late for work, it’s almost 7:45am traffic jams in the underpass of Quezon Ave. A woman wearing blue (an MMDA) waving to make way to right, and signing to the FX driver that dead found!! On our way near to the cause of traffic, MMDA cars and SOCO were there taking picture like seen that you’ll be seeing on the movie. Way near to it, i saw a dead man wearing red shirt and a shorts, wearing gray sock, didnt see if wearing shoes, a dead man fill with blood, head flattened, i just scared out and hold my hands, seating in front of the FX and seeing everything, makes me feel an awful day. Terrible and move walking to my work.. Life’s really too short.

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It’s a “GREAT” *REAL-TIME* L.B.S.-(Location Based Service) App., that will TRACK You, Your Friend’s, & Business, in “REAL-TIME” & Also has (Geo Fenceing)~witch let’s You know when Your FRIEND or CONTACT is Approching or Leaving Your Location within ~ 3 Kilometer’s. Great for Keeping a EYE on Your KID’S !..
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I’ve had FUN with this App., & Hope You Will Too !!.. Rick !…

Perhaps if Americans  recognize that America is one big corporation, and it’s citizens are all shareholders, maybe Americans will reevaluate their thinking. Corporations are in business to make money?  Board Members and the CEO are responsible for the continued success of the business. They are also beholden to all shareholders .

America  rose to prominence in this world  because it was allowed to follow a free  market business road map without government interference.

Today the only growing sector in the economy is More Of Government and it’s  Reckless Criminal Over Spending. The multi-arms it uses,  reminds one of a giant Octopus sucking the living air from its prey.

America desperately needs a President that can lead and inspire its citizens back to Economic Greatness.  Americans would so benefit with a President that could replace the division among its frightened people and unite them once more.

Less than 50 years ago, any flirtation with communism resulted in dire consequences.

Today President Barack Obama’s administration is riddled with far left-wing radicals who are openly implementing a Socialist Agenda. By crook and hook they lied, cajoled and duped the people into believing  Great Change  was on its way…….  Americans  never dreamed that this great change meant the over turning of the American Constitution.

Strutting  across the world stage  showing his colorful plumage, while reading sound bites off a teleprompter, does little to inspire confidence in the people. Where are the economic  incentives for small businesses?  When Barack Obama  became President , he swore to protect this Nation and The American Constitution. He was not elected  President of this Capitalistic Country to transform it into a Nation that embraces a radical Socialistic Doctrine. During his campaign Barack Obama promised change. He Promised the American people that when elected he would create a transparent agenda.

What President Obama delivered  instead was  Total Darkness.  New policies and bills were never to be posted on the web for all to see, as promised.  Instead new policies and bills are held behind locked doors. These new bills are pushed through  Congress at the end of a  Friday without any regard for anyone wanting to familiarize themselves with the contents.  I understand they do this because they want to keep Republican legislators out of the loop.  But what about us?

Instead of pecocking his way around, maybe the President should learn about quiet time. A little meditation would go a long way to help him understand  he is loosing his  grip on the people. A great leader is one who feels the true heartbeat of the nation and not the sound of his ever drumming ego.

Andrea

This is a very interesting diagramatic representation, will easily eat a few mo’s.

When I wrote my EBook: 50 Ugly Truths About Owning and Running Your Own Business…and 5 reasons why you should do it anyway I was responding to a number of misperceptions I was hearing from entrepreneurs.

Historically, at any given time six out of ten US adults is thinking about starting their own business. A number of new entrepreneurs are emerging that  I refer to as “necessity-preneurs “who were downsized and can not find new employment, are deciding to launch their own businesses as they want a much more active role in the security of their careers. The last group are cashing in their 401k and or borrowing from friends or family to buy an existing business and in a short amount of time realize they really just bought a job and they are quickly running out of cash.

One thing I have learned over the past 25 years of identifying roadblocks impeding businesses profitable growth is there really is not any new creations in terms of problems and strategies to grow a profitable business. Peter Drucker simplified it even further; there are only two considerations; innovation or marketing.

Just as I shared 12 mentor moments that I have used personally over the years to help businesses grow profitably, I have the Top 20 entrepreneur best practices that I have observed and lived over the years.

#1 “More” Sales or “Create Sales Velocity”?

#2 Dismiss or Distribute “Yafo’s” quickly …

#3; If Sales are Scary, You Can NOT Afford to NOT get Creative..

#4 Remember “The Law of the Locker Room”… it truly is a small world after all

#5 Tailor Questions for your buyers that Illustrate your Expertise and Prepare you to Serve their Needs

#6 Learn To Cut Bait …early

#7 You are Not Your Market

# 8 When Sales Get Rough…Look for Diamonds

#9 Don’t Let the Two Most Important Plates Drop

#10 “How” you “CHASE” New Business Matters….Do you want pepperoni with that new checking account?

#11 Follow the leader is a dangerous game, particularly when you follow Hippos…

#12 An “Idea” is not a product…and it’s definitely not a business

#13 Hire Strategic Partners… Not “Marketing Tools”

#14 Customers will Stiff you…But Don’t Let Them Burn you…

#15 Beware of “Smores”…Social Media Whores

#16 “Make a Wish” come true with Focused Passion

#17 intentionally reward the customer behaviors you desire …

#18 You will Receive Your Best Tips To Grow Your Company From Prospects Who Do Not Buy From You…

#19 Interview those who Exit and identify Roadblocks to Achieving Your Strategic Objectives…

#20 Exercise Your Power of Choice in Choosing Your Role on the Team…If Your Gift is Being a Duck….Be a Duck!

The above are by no means an all inclusive list of every entrepreneur best practice but they are some of my favorites. The post that seemed to resonate the most and create the greatest number of discussions was the difference between creating “more” sales versus “creating sales velocity” ( entrepreneur best practice #1).

How about you….do you have an Entrepreneurial Best Practice you use regularly and would like to share?

Of the above which best practice(s) resonate most with you?

Which of the above do most entrepreneurs struggle the most with based on your observations?

Is there a Key best practice not identified? (If so please add to the discussion)

As we move into 2010 which of the above Best practices do you feel will resonate most? Why?

Thanks for hanging with me  in this series of posts and I want to particularly thank those who have reached out to me personally to discuss this series of posts. As I have discussed, I enjoy helping entrepreneurs realize profitable growth and the strategies discussed are not new. One of my goals in blogging is to help business owners who may not be able to afford outside help at this time and I hope this blog adds value.

If you are wired to take on the 50 Ugly truths of starting and owning your own business and you have intentionally chosen to do it anyway I hope the above best practices were of value to you and your team.

Entrepreneurs will lead our country to economic recovery and I am proud to serve this innovative group of passionate problem solvers along with my other clients.

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I Don’t Know why we all pass the ball of World Peace to others.

I do know, Peace on Earth is the summation of I + You.

I am enjoying inner silence this morning.

Market leading entrepreneurs value data and feedback. They seek and are constantly sensing the changing needs of their internal and external customers. When an account or employee exits your team, make the time for an exit interview with the mission of identifying roadblocks that are standing in the way of your team’s performance execution and success.

I shouldn’t be surprised, as it happens so often… a key account leaves an organization and very quickly the team moves into “good ridden mode” with comments like; well they were slow pay anyway. Or “they were a pain since the day we signed them” …or “they were not all that profitable anyway”…and so on. Team members assume they know why the customer left and often quickly close the file, and or arrogantly say …” they will be back, our competitor sucks and is not as good as us…”

Market leading organizations understand the value in interviewing customers who chose to leave to improve the overall experience of the customers that stay and future targeted new clients.

When you contact a client that has chosen to leave your organization the key thing to remember is the goal of your call; gain insights into why they left and not try to sell them or win them back. I have often been the one to make those calls as the salesperson who served the account can not help but try to win them back. Your mission is to understand, from the client’s perspective why they chose to leave, take detailed notes without “defending the fort” and reflect on that information. As you review what you learn look for roadblocks and “no-see-ums” in the overall customer service experience. Your team will be “assuming” it was price. However I have found price is rarely the true wedge that drove the relationship apart.

Just as you interview clients that leave, you must also conduct exit interviews with your team members that voluntarily or involuntarily leave. In this interview you are trying to gain insights into roadblocks and or disconnects in initiatives in relation to your teams flight plan or roadmap. You will need the emotional intelligence to handle the often harsh criticism particularly if the separation was not voluntary. However the leaving team member has no incentive to play politics and their raw feedback is actually something market leaders value as it is can be acted upon once verified. For example you may learn you have dysfunctional “kingdoms”, silos within your organization that are more about the silo than achieving the strategic plan. You may learn that a perception senior management has is a significant disconnect with the market reality of today.

Team members who leave have information that others who may be busy blame storming are not articulating.

Interview team members who are leaving before they leave and you may be shocked that a key assumption or two the senior management team has is a significant disconnect with the reality of the market today.

How about your organization…..

Does your team have a procedure to interview clients who chose to leave you?

Do you interview employees who are leaving your team?

When you conduct those interviews do you have the emotional intelligence to listen and later validate or do you defend the fort?

Market leaders value feedback. Market losers believe the only view that matters are theirs…what kind of a team do you serve?

There is an old Native American saying; “the wolf you feed is the one that grows”. Simply put, the behaviors we reward are those that are repeated. With that understanding it is critical market leaders intentionally reward customer behaviors they want and make customers pay for those that are not in alignment with your overall flight plan.

I flew back to Ohio last weekend on Delta/ Northwest to work with one of my new clients just outside of Columbus. At one point in my career I flew 3-4 days per week, every week, for just over 15 years so I guess I could wear the “road warrior” title. Back then air travel was not perfect, but it was at least predictable. I felt like the airlines and their employees valued my patronage.

On this trip I was greeted at check-in with a $20 fee to check my bag. Although I was aware Delta still charged a fee, it was an interruption for me as most of my flights this year have been with Southwest Airlines who does not charge for a checked bag. When I fly Southwest I feel valued, and the attendants and all their employees make me feel like a valued customer. When I flew Delta / Northwest this week I felt like a number, and I felt like I was being nickel and dimed.

So we board the flight and I noticed the amount of carryon baggage other people were trying to fit in overheads and under their seats. When I used to travel on British Airlines in Europe I was conditioned to check my bags and have a small carry on. As I watched people with panicked looks trying to stow their bags it dawned on me; the customers are responding to the charge for checked bags. Not only did we miss our departure time and take a considerable amount of time to board because some of the passengers bags had to be checked after all, but when we landed it also took a great deal of time to get off the plane. I noticed how slow things seemed to be moving so I timed how long from when the cabin door opened it would take for me, in row 23 to get off the plane. It took 13 minutes for me to walk through the cabin door.

Contrast the above experience with my flights on Southwest. People still have carryon bags but not nearly the amount I experienced on Delta / Northwest. Southwest is one of the most profitable airlines and interestingly they do not nickel and dime their customers. From what I understand one of the reasons Southwest is more profitable is their fast turnaround time at the gate.

As I walked to my connecting flight I thought about what I just experienced and was reminded how we teach our customers how to behave by the rules and rewards we offer them.

The key is market leaders understand to intentionally reward those behaviors that are in alignment with their team’s overall vision and flight plan for their business.

Market losers like Delta/ Northwest charge their clients because they can and not because they should with little regard for the overall big picture of profitability driven by turnaround at the gate due to quick boarding and unloading of passengers.

What about your organization….

What behaviors are you rewarding?

Are those behaviors in alignment with your overall vision and flight plan for your business?

What wolf are you feeding? And is that the wolf you really want to grow?

Do you have other examples of corporate led initiatives that feel like tripping over dollars to pick up pennies? If so please share…

For those in leadership positions at Delta / Northwest you have an opportunity to be seen as a market leading partner by your customers, or a market loser…it truly is your choice. You must focus on the flight plan you have developed to drive shareholder value and I hope overall customer experience is high on your intentional initiatives.

Haaretz,  October 5, 2009

Mahmoud Abbas’ chronic submissiveness

By Amira Hass

In a single phone call to his man in Geneva, Mahmoud Abbas has demonstrated his disregard for popular action, and his lack of faith in its accumulative power and the place of mass movements in processes of change.

For nine months, thousands of people – Palestinians, their supporters abroad and Israeli anti-occupation activists – toiled to ensure that the legacy of Israel’s military offensive against Gaza would not be consigned to the garbage bin of occupying nations obsessed with their feelings of superiority.

Thanks to the Goldstone report, even in Israel voices began to stammer about the need for an independent inquiry into the assault. But shortly after Abbas was visited by the American consul-general on Thursday, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization got on the phone to instruct his representative on the United Nations Human Rights Council to ask his colleagues to postpone the vote on the adoption of the report’s conclusions.

Heavy American pressure and the resumption of peace negotiations were the reasons for Abbas’ move, it was said. Palestinian spokespeople spun various versions over the weekend in an attempt to make the move kosher, explaining that it was not a cancelation but a six-month postponement that Abbas was seeking.

Will the American and European representatives in Geneva support the adoption of the report in six months’ time? Will Israel heed international law in the coming months, stop building in the settlements and announce immediate negotiations on their dismantlement and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the occupied territories? Is this what adoption of the report would have endangered? Of course not.

A great deal of political folly and short-sightedness was bared by that phone call, on the eve of Hamas’s celebration of its victory in securing the release of 20 female prisoners. Precisely on that day, Abbas put Gaza in the headlines within the context of the PLO’s defeatism and of spitting in the face of the victims of the attack – that is how they felt in Gaza and elsewhere.

Abbas confirmed in fact that Hamas is the real national leadership, and gave ammunition to those who claim that its path – the path of armed struggle – yields results that negotiations do not.

This was not an isolated gaffe, but a pattern that has endured since the PLO leadership concocted, together with naive Norwegians and shrewd Israeli lawyers, the Oslo Accords. Disregard for, and lack of interest in the knowledge and experience accumulated in the inhabitants of the occupied territories’ prolonged popular struggle led to the first errors: the absence of an explicit statement that the aim was the establishment of a state within defined borders, not insisting on a construction freeze in the settlements, forgetting about the prisoners, endorsing the Area C arrangement, etc.

The chronic submissiveness is always explained by a desire to “make progress.” But for the PLO and Fatah, progress is the very continued existence of the Palestinian Authority, which is now functioning more than ever before as a subcontractor for the IDF, the Shin Bet security service and the Civil Administration.

This is a leadership that has been convinced that armed struggle – certainly in the face of Israeli military superiority – cannot bring independence. And indeed, the disastrous repercussions of the Second Intifada are proof of this position. This is a leadership that believes in negotiation as a strategic path to obtaining a state and integration in the world that the United States is shaping.

But in such a world there is personal gain that accrues from chronic submissiveness – benefits enjoyed by the leaders and their immediate circles. This personal gain shapes the tactics.

Is the choice really only between negotiations and armed-struggle theater, the way the Palestinian leadership makes it out to be? No.

The true choice is between negotiations as part of a popular struggle anchored in the language of the universal culture of equality and rights, and negotiations between business partners with the junior partner submissively expressing his gratitude to the senior partner for his generosity.

At any given time 6 out of 10 US adults are thinking about starting their own business. Half of those will attempt to launch their own business. As I discuss in my eBook; 50 Ugly truths about starting your own business …and why you should do it anyway, they often enter into their own business with a false set of expectations. One of these false expectations is their “idea” is a product and even more disturbing is when they start investing to support their idea as a business. Recognizing the majority of those who launch a new business will fail within 18 months, one of the common contributors to their demise is not asking the right questions.

Before you ask friends and family for start up money, before you tap into your home equity and 401k, and definitely before you quit your day job…you need to play “20 questions”.

You must verify your “idea” can be monetized into a viable business before you launch.

20 questions to ask before you invest;

#1 what problem does your product or service solve?

#2 how big of a market is there for this problem? This pain and or need?

#3 how are those who have this problem solving it now?

#4 clearly articulates your secret sauce, other words what is your unique selling proposition?

#5 is there replacement products in existence that could solve the problem?

#6 who is the market leader in the space you plan to enter?

#7 how many other competitors are there in this space?

#8 what is your level of understanding of this market?

#9 is your idea a product or IP that can be patented?

#10 what stage is this market in terms of its lifecycle? Infancy, growth, mature..?

#11 what level of support will be required to serve this market? Do you personally have expertise in running a business?

#12 what are the distribution channels of this market?

#13 what is the buying cycle?

#14 what is the common payment terms for this market?

#15 Do the potential buyers of your new product have the ability to pay for it?

#16 is there any legal and or compliance issues this product must pass prior to launch?

#17 what do you estimate is the total costs per unit of sale, transaction

#18 what is the anticipated number of units sold in year one? What % of the market opportunity does this represent?

#19 what is the number of units needed to break even with your upfront investment?

#20 How much cash will you need, based on the buying cycle, the costs, payment terms and distribution channels to launch this product or service?

Once you have answers to the above we can start to have a good discussion about your new idea and how you may be able to monetize it. Unfortunately however far too often entrepreneurs get that rush, that “buck fever” and they stop asking rational , needed , questions and they attach their focus on the days when…

When they become millionaires…

When they are recognized in their community…

When they sell their business for millions and retire without a care in the world

All of these When’s can become a reality if you spend the time upfront understanding the market, its buyers and their needs.

Entrepreneurs must understand: You are not your market.

Although this idea you have may be so obvious to you, you can not assume nor extrapolate that assumption across the market without real market data.

If you have an idea, that may be the next iPod, do yourself a favor and play 20 questions before you invest one dime in making your idea a product or service.

How about your organization….

Do you launch new products or services because one of your Hippo’s says so, without market data?

Have you launched products that failed to meet ROI targets?

If you are in sales, how did it make you feel when you were given a goal, and told to make it happen …only to find out your marketing needed to “create a need for it”?

If you are the president or CEO, what processes and procedures do you have in place to insure your teams are asking at least 20 questions?

Market leaders understand the importance of building new products and services from the market need up, versus the ivory tower down.

Market losers have a; ready – fire – aim launch process.

The state of Himachal Pradesh is one of India’s most popular tourist destinations and is also the home to many hill stations.

It is one of the most preferred places by the newly married for a honeymoon and also by families for a holiday. Himachal Pradesh is enveloped by an aura of natural divinity and sanctity.

There is a large crowd visiting Himachal Pradesh all around the year.

The state offers several eye catching views like snow filled peaks, winding pathways and lush green vegetation.

There are also various places that are important as places for Hindu pilgrimage in the Himalayas.

Perfect Blend

Himachal Pradesh is an important tourist destination in India. The spectacular topography of Himachal Pradesh coupled with adventure tourism provides the perfect blend that magnetizes the tourists to lunge forward in its direction. There are also wildlife sanctuaries in Himachal Pradesh. Apart from these, there are always the fairs and the festivals celebrated by the natives. There are many attractions in Himachal Pradesh. The city of Shimla is a great place to spend a holiday. It was previously the summer capital of British India. It is the present capital city of Himachal Pradesh. Manali is another romantic place in Himachal Pradesh. It serves a portal to the villages of Spiti and Lahaul.

Other Attractions

Religious Places

Himachal Pradesh has many religious sites and tourists flock to these places of sanctity frequently as it is believed that these Gods have great power. Some of the Hindu pilgrimages are Jwalamukhi Temple, Bajreshwari Temple, Chamunda Devi Temple, Chattari Temples and Lakshmi Narayan Temple. The Buddhist pilgrimages have also preserved the sanctity in Rewalsar in Mandi, Kardang Monastery, Guru Ghantal Monastery and Tabo Monastery in Lahaul. There are some ancient churches in Dalhousie and Shimla. These temples are popular all over the world and tourists make it a vacation point as well.

Adventure Tourism

Himachal Pradesh bestows with lots of adventure tourism to its tourists. Adventure enthusiasts can explore the areas enthusiastically. Besides, there are many other activities to sustain adventure enthusiasm. The Recent tremendous growth in infrastructure has compelled adventure tourism in this state. Some of the popular destinations for adventure are Skiing is appropriate in Shimla and Kufri; River Rafting is popular in Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chandra and Chamba. This state entertains other adventurous activities such as Surfing, Rowing, Para-Gliding, Kayaking, Mountaineering, Canoeing, Trekking and Rock climbing.

This “conversation starter” essay by Donna Hoffman of McKinsey Quarterly features the LEAD (listen, experiment, apply, develop) Model as a way to “create a road map that will help companies thrive in the online world’s environment of constant change”.

With technology and the online world changing at such a fast rate, how will you prepare for Web 3.0?

Salta il vertice a tre all’Assemblea Generale dell’Onu

George Mitchell, inviato di Obama in Medio Oriente, ha concluso la sua missione con un nulla di fatto. La richiesta di fermare la colonizzazione da parte di Tel Aviv della Cisgiordania e di Gerusalemme Est (annessa da Israele nel 1967, ma non riconosciuta sotto sovranità israeliana dal diritto internazionale) non è stata accettata dal governo di destra di Netanyahu.

Secondo Mitchell Israele avrebbe dovuto congelare gli insediamenti nei Territori Palestinesi per un anno. Israele ha proposto lo stop per nove mesi nella solo Cisgiordania, negando ogni possibilità di mutamento della politica di occupazione per Gerusalemme Est.

Nessun vertice a tre a New York quindi. Mitchell è ripartito per Washington senza essere riuscito a trovare un compromesso in grado di permettere la convocazione di un vertice fra Obama e i due contendenti durante la 64° Assemblea delle Nazioni Unite a New York.

Abu Mazen, parlando prima dal Cairo e poi da Amman, attribuisce il fallimento dei negoziati a Netanyahu e alle sue resistenze sul dossier degli insediamenti. «Il processo di pace è bloccato», ha detto il presidente palestinese, deplorando che Israele abbia offerto solo «un falso congelamento», senza «mai smettere di costruire negli insediamenti», e ribadendo – in perfetta sintonia col presidente egiziano Hosni Mubarak e col re di Giordania Abdallah – che il nodo delle colonie resta l’elemento da sciogliere prima di tornare al tavolo dei negoziato.

Lo stop agli insediamenti era previsto negli impegni della Road Map, predisposta da Usa, Russia, Unione Europea e Nazioni Unite, sottoscritta dalle parti nel 2003, quindi anche dal governo israeliano, che poi, nel passaggio di governo lo ha osteggiato e vergognosamente trsgredito.

Israele non solo non rispetta le decine e decine di Risoluzioni dell’Onu, ma  ormai non rispetta nemmeno i trattati sottoscritti dagli stessi governi isareliani in carica che firmano in nome dello stato.

Netanyahu ha gradito il regalo fattogli da Obama di dissociarsi dal rapporto Onu che accusa Israele di crimini di guerra e contro l’umanità durante l’offensiva sulla Striscia di Gaza (dicembre 2008-gennaio 2009, vittime: circa 1400 palestinesi, 9 israeliani). E Israele, che ieri aveva fatto un giro di telefonate ai leader mondali per avere sostegno, è rimasta soddisfatta.

La dissociazione degli Usa: un portavoce del Dipartimento di Stato dice che il rapporto «si focalizza larghissimamente su Israele», soffermandosi sulle «deplorevoli azioni di Hamas» e sulle sue responsabilità all’origine del conflitto solo in modo «timido e generico». Opinione che non impedisce peraltro agli Usa di sollecitare Israele ad affidare alle proprie «istituzioni democratiche» indagini approfondite sugli «abusi» denunciati durante l’operazione Piombo Fuso ma che sembra comunque una presa di distanza dalla commissione Goldstone.

Haaretz e Yediot Ahronot sottolineano con enfasi i rilievi mossi dall’amministrazione Obama al testo redatto sotto la guida del magistrato sudafricano Richard Goldstone, rilevando come sia stato ritenuto «iniquo verso Israele».

L’agenzia palestinese Maan minimizza l’intervento Usa come «una cauta espressione» di critica che non risponderebbe in realtà alle pressioni israeliane per una condanna vera e propria.

Market leaders act different. They understand it’s about more than taking your customer’s money. They go out of their way to teach their clients about their products and they show their clients creative new ways to use their products or services .

Market leaders focus on the buying experience.

The net result is they deepen the bond, the trust, with their clients and their sales increase.

I needed some chlorine tablets for my pool floater so I went to Paddock Pools. I have tried a number of pool supply stores over the last eight years, but I always come back to Paddock. I could buy my tablets at Home Depot, or even Big Lots if I time running out correctly, but I prefer to pay a little more and buy my chemicals from someone who knows pools.

As I entered the store I could not help but notice a mini Haunted house to my right. I thought how cool…just like they create amazing Christmas tree displays to offset their down season sales, they also have Halloween decorations.

How smart…they created a merchandising customer experience.

As I checked out with my new bucket of chorine tablets I was asked …” Did you go inside?” I admitted the young boy still inside me wanted to, and she encouraged me to go inside and check it out. So I ducked my head and went through the cray paper streamers and went inside.

Inside there where all kinds of products merchandised to illustrate how to use them, even a spooky fireplace in the back of the room. Everything in this mini Haunted house were product’s the store sells and they showed how to use them with a little creativity.

I just had to ask the cashier how long this took to build and the cost. She said with a smile…” well we argues about how to do it for an hour, …we planned it for another, then it took two hours do when the store was slow.” I asked; “was it expensive?” …she said “no, not really.. I think we spent about $75”, (and my gut said they spent their own money and did not expense it.) I asked if I could take pictures of their handiwork and their faces just lit up with smiles.

When business is tough you must be creative. As I discussed in my post about leveraging what you have, you must assess what you have instead of doing what most struggling entrepreneurs do and that is make a list of what they need to be successful…”if we only had….we could hit our revenue numbers”.

This store, this organization, did a number of things right…

They leveraged what they had.

They stuck to their “flight plan”

Created an experience and not just a floor display

They “showed” their clients how to use their products

They “taught”their clients

They empowered their associates to be a part of the solution

They recommended I check it out

Once inside they had a create Halloween Christmas tree, reinforcing their other seasonal products

If I had young children, I promise you this display would spread in their network of friends and parents would be visiting this store, or junior would make their lives miserable until they did.

Market leaders act differently.

They understand it’s about more than taking your customer’s money. They go out of their way to teach and show ( versus tell and sell) their clients creative new ways to use their products or services and they focus on the buying experience. The net result is they deepen the bond, the trust, with their clients and their sales increase.

How about your business….

What can you do today that is creative, but is not expensive?

How can you create a customer experience instead?

When sales are scary you must leverage what you have and get creative to; “create sales velocity”.

I plan to circle back with this Paddock store and hopefully their manager will share with me the sales this year compared to last year as a % as my guess is their seasonal Halloween merchandise sales will see an increase AND their other products will as well.

Great Job to those at Paddock Pools who built this display in the store on Shea near the 101 freeway,… if you live nearby , bring the kids and check it out!

A good rehabilitative subjective assessment should include the following eight characteristics known as SOCRATES:

S = Subjective Exam – Talk to client and find out who, what, where, when and how.  Find the source of the pain, when it is worse and so forth.  The key id to LISTEN and do not make early rationalizations!

O = Onset -  When did symptoms start?  Are they acute or chronic in nature? Insidious?  Is it something they have been living with for awhile now or is it a recent change in status?

C = Course -  Does symptoms vary at different times of the day or with different functional positions/activities?

R = Radiate – Does pain move to other areas of the body, long distances from source of pain?  Is it sharp, burning, dull, intense, achy, hot or numbing pain?

A = Alleviates – What do you do that takes the pain away or eases your symptoms? Any positions of comfort at your prefer?

T = Treatment or Tests – Have you had any previous treatments for these symptoms int he past? Any test like X-ray, MRI, CT Scan performed?

E = Exacerbation – Is this something that comes and goes in life?  Is this related to another condition like MS or IBS where flare ups come in waves?

S = Systemic – It this related to a systemic condition or disease process that travel in the blood?  Like RA, Lupas or other related conditions?

When an evaluator follows a detailed procedure such as this during the subjective exam, they are very likely able to zone in on area of focus for the Objective examination.  A detailed subjective exam sets the foundation for narrowing its search to located the true source of the root problem eliminating guessing work, resulting in just dealing with symptomology.

* A detailed subjective assessment is the road map to successful treatments !