Archive for December, 2008
Mind Mapping Essentials
Posted by: | CommentsWhen you are given a project in school or at work, do you immediately make a step-by-step list of the tasks that you should perform in order to complete the project? Or, do you do everything that you can randomly and just try to organize and put together the project in the end, when you gathered have enough material?
If you have chosen the first option, then you may not be making the most of your mind’s potential. Making a linear, step-by-step list of the things that you need to do in order to accomplish a goal is much like how a computer’s ‘brain’ works.
On the other hand, if you have chosen the second option, then you have a wider array of choices when it comes to the paths that you can take to achieve your goal, since this is basically how mind mapping works.
Mind mapping is a concept or technique wherein your thinking process will be externally reflected in the form of an illustration or diagram. This was developed by Tony Buzan, who, in his web site www.imindmap.com, encourages people to “unleash the remaining 99% of their brain” through mind mapping.
This concept essentially follows the natural way that the human brain works. For example, when you think of or visualize the color red, your brain instinctively associates the word ‘red’ with apple, blood, cherries, a scarlet shirt that you may have worn at one time – anything that is associated with the color is what comes to your mind instead of just the word itself. So, from just one root word, your brain will immediately associate it with other words to broaden the scope of the topic.
This natural working of the brain, when illustrated on paper, is mind mapping. You can start by writing in the center of a piece of paper one word, representing one idea. From there – through the process of association – you can come up with several branches which all connect to your central idea.
The relationship between the main idea and all the branches that will stem out from the central theme is how the end process will look like. With mind mapping, you can organize your thoughts more coherently, new ideas will be better expressed and developed, you can retain information faster because of the fact that visual illustrations that you mapped out yourself is easier to remember than any list – all these and more are the benefits of mind mapping.
Aside from these benefits, there are hundreds of instances at work and in your home life where you can make use of the process of mind mapping to maximize your brain’s potential and save you a lot of time and effort when planning.
Dean Ornish – Proponent of Complementary Medicine
Posted by: | CommentsWe know that Complementary Medicine is practiced when conventional medicine is used in tandem with Alternative Medicine methods. So perhaps you have also heard of Dean Ornish, M.D. – physician extraordinaire. This doctor has been able to prove through his patients that a combination of dietary changes, meditation, and exercise can effectively halt and even reverse the progression of instances of heart disease. This is the first research program that has been able to prove such claims.
Ornish, a holistic cardiologist who is a former student of Swami Satchidananda, has been so successful at preventing heart disease from progressing in his patients over the past 25 years that he was able to convince Medicare to shoulder the expenses of the patients who took part in his program. Ornish commented that the fact that the program could reap savings for Medicare was more convincing than if he had informed Medicare that the participants aimed to become one with the universe. This shows that though Western health care systems are oriented towards the bottom line, they may still be convinced of the efficacy of alternative forms of medical care.
Ornish has been working at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute to prove that even patients with severe cases of heart disease stand to benefit from his highly-effective program. The program emphasizes changes in diet and lifestyle that go beyond what was previously recommended by medical practitioners before. Ornish and his colleagues at the Institute opted to devote their efforts towards heart disease since it is the leading killer of people in the US alone. But his research on the positive impact of lifestyle changes can help not just people with heart disease but patients who have other life-threatening conditions as well (such as arthritis, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.) The program may also be able to reduce the risk for participants to become victims of various forms of cancer (like prostrate cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer.)
One interesting aspect of Ornish’s beliefs is that he considers love to have a relationship with the healing of a patient. He thinks that one’s survival hinges on the love one experiences from the people around him. Sustaining love comes from the community. In short, no man is an island, no man stands alone. This is why the Ornish program has a support group component integrated into it. Ornish cited other research that show it is more likely that people who have feelings of loneliness and depression will become ill and die early compared to individuals who enjoy caring and ties with their community.
The Numerous Benefits of Mind Mapping
Posted by: | CommentsIf you have not heard of the term mind mapping yet, now is a good time to learn about it. You will certainly be missing out on a lot of things if you are still using the old
‘listing’ technique or taking down notes when studying, mapping out a plan or drafting an outline for a project at school or at work.
Not only does mind mapping eliminate the need for tedious lists, but it also works the same way that the human brain works, so coming up with a mind map or concept map is a breeze for anybody who wants to try it out.
So how does mind mapping work? This technique involves the illustration of ideas on paper. Think of it as literally drawing a ‘map’ of what you are actually thinking.
First, what you need to do is write in the center of the paper a word which represents the main theme or central idea. From that one word, you can think of other words associated with this central idea which can be connected to the main word with the use of branches. A branch from the main theme could have a sub-branch which is another word associated with the keyword, and so on – let the process evolve from there.
Once the entire paper is filled out with your ideas, the entire illustration will merge into a whole, which you can easily remember, picture in your mind and understand.
Now that you have a basic idea of what mind mapping is, take a look at the numerous benefits of mind mapping:
• You can save a lot of time and effort when using the mind mapping technique, instead of the traditional ‘listing’ method.
If you are fond of using itemized lists when taking down notes from a lecture, or even planning a vacation trip – imagine the amount of time and effort that you will save if you will use mind mapping instead. With mind mapping, you can eliminate the unnecessary details and just concentrate on what is important to you.
• Mind maps are easier to understand and remember.
This is especially applicable for students who are studying for an exam. Use mind mapping during a lecture, and you will find that the illustration will help you remember facts better, rather than relying on the traditional notes. This is because it will be easier for you to imagine an illustration rather than memorize a bunch of lists about the topic discussed.
With mind mapping, you can use your brain to its utmost potential and enjoy the advantages of having a better time at planning, organizing your thoughts, remembering facts and analyzing data – skills that you can apply both at work and in your home life.
Mind Mapping: An Example How-to Guide
Posted by: | CommentsMind mapping is a breakthrough concept wherein you will use the properties of association to come up with a drawing, map, or illustration of the ideas lodged in your brain about a particular topic.
Sounds confusing? Actually, mind mapping is a lot easier than what you think. This is because this technique or concept follows the natural workings of the brain – which associates one word with another word to have a clear picture of the overall idea.
For example, if you say technology, there are several things that will instantly come to your mind. This central theme can branch out to the Internet, gadgets, mobile devices, telecommunications – the list is practically endless. Thus, mind mapping will give you more leeway when it comes to freedom of expression in the sense that one keyword is not just limited to one sub-topic, but it can branch out to several sub-topics. This will help you easily remember and understand the main concept which is represented by one word.
To have a deeper understanding of the process of mind mapping, take a look at the following example and how-to guide:
1. On a piece of paper, write down the central idea or the main theme of the topic that you want to tackle. Enclose it in a box or circle.
2. From this main word, what other words can you associate with it? Take the aforementioned example which is technology. How many branches of technology are there? From the circle of box that you have drawn in the middle of the paper, draw branches or curved arrows surrounding the main theme and connect them all together.
3. If you can think of other sub-topics under the branches of technology, place another batch of boxes or circles to represent these sub-topics.
4. Let all your ideas branch out until you are satisfied with the results and you have exhausted all the possibilities.
The resulting illustration will be the result of your mind mapping. Now, isn’t this easier than making copious and detailed notes about the branches of technology and all the other sub-topics under it.
You will surely remember this map by heart because you are the one who made it – which is a plus factor, aside from the fact that visual maps are easier to remember than attempting to memorize pages of lists.
There are also mind mapping software available for you, since a lot of people find the process so useful and time-saving. No matter which method of mind mapping you choose, be it using a mind mapping software or through the traditional pen and paper – the important thing is that you can enjoy the benefits of living up to your brain’s potential by making use of this ingenious mind mapping technique.
Work at Home Scams
Posted by: | CommentsBeing paid while working from home sounds like the ultimate dream job, isn’t it?
Imagine the following scenario:
You wake up anytime of the date. There is no need to wake up early to prepare for work.
You work in your pajamas and no longer have to don a business suit or suffer in high heels
You just head to your work corner and say goodbye to rush hour traffic
You work within the safe confines of your home and feel safe
With all of these in mind, work-at-home job opportunities are godsend to people who want to spend more time at home with their loved ones.
There may be a gazillion of opportunities available in the Internet but there are also a gazillion of posers, who are only after your money. How can you protect yourself from work at home ‘offers’ that promise you the world and fail to deliver after you have done your part?
Deciding to work from home is a very big risk. For one, Internet deals can disappear in just a snap; hence, there is no job security. Payment modes for some work at home jobs are not always stable compared with a regular 8 to 5 office setting. While you might be lucky to work for companies that DO pay and deliver what they said when you were hired, there are companies that only want all the gains for themselves.
Here are some tips to help you weed out the bad from the good.
1) No legitimate and decent work at home job opportunity will ask you to pay them first before they give you work.
2) If the job will need training, you should be paid for the entire duration of the training. Again, you should not shell out a single cent.
3) You should know what kind of work you want to do before saying yes to every offer that comes in. This way, you specialize and don’t have to balance unrelated workloads that are highly unrelated. Focusing on related themes will make it more profitable.
4) A real work at home job will ask about your work history and analyze your qualifications to do what they require. Be wary of opportunities that instantly tell you that you are hired without bothering to look at your resume.
5) Do not fall prey to sites that tell you that you can get rich quick if you work with them. While it is true that you can make thousands and millions off the Internet, there is no magic formula to make you a millionaire overnight. You will need to work your way up and any company that tells you otherwise is only trying to trick you.
Working from home sounds like heaven at first, but when you really get deep down into the economics of the entire business, you will need to spend time ‘on the job’.
Just because you work at home doesn’t mean you have the liberty to laze around whenever you want. After all, it’s still called work because you will have to exert effort to rake in decent earnings.
Finding Work Through Freelance Job Boards
Posted by: | CommentsThere are a lot of opportunities for work at home jobs but not all people know where to find them. If you have access to the Internet then you can easily search for your dream work at home job by looking at the various freelance job boards that are offering all sorts of work at home jobs.
The world has indeed become smaller due to the Internet. A freelance writer can easily get a job assignment from the United States, United Kingdom or even from Japan. He can travel the world in an hour just by surfing the various places in the world for his work assignment using the Internet.
Freelancers are no longer limited to finding work in their base locations because freelance work at home jobs are aplenty and they are posted in freelance job boards.
Looking at the job offers featured with the various freelance job boards can be daunting especially if you are a first timer. To do this, your have to use your search engine and type in the terms freelance work at home jobs or something like that. You will get several sites that offer freelance work at home job boards and you should choose the sites that are credible enough.
You will know when the site is credible because first of all, they do not ask you to pay them offhand even before you have found a freelance work at home job through their services. Most sites will offer free registration for freelance writers and you can register for as long as you have an email address where they can send the confirmation link.
Once you have registered successfully then you can start looking for the present freelance work at home opportunities and bid on them. But not all freelance work at home job boards requires bidding. Some job boards will ask you to send your resume and they will contact you if you made the grade.
There are a lot of advertised freelance work at home opportunities but the safest you can get if you do not have established contacts yet are the freelancer sites that only require a five to ten percent commission for every project you undertake. These sites also make sure that you get your payment through escrow, paypal or other payment modes.
However, if you consider freelance work at home jobs as a fulltime occupation and not just a sideline then you should not limit yourself to advertised job posts. You should also submit your proposal to the various sites that may be looking for freelance writers.
Concentrating on the advertised job posts will only limit your opportunities. If you want more work then you should look for work and not be content waiting for the job boards to post their vacancies.
The Internet is a world that is open to a lot of opportunities especially for people who want to work at home. However, the Internet is open to all people who have access to the Internet so you should also be careful in dealing with possible employers who may dupe you into doing something for them without paying you in the end.
The fast rule is to always question job boards that require you to pay offhand before delivering the goods. Most legitimate freelance job boards do not require you to send money but they instead deduct their commissions once you have already taken on a freelance job.
Powers of Your Inner Mind
Posted by: | CommentsWouldn’t it be nice if you have a genie at your disposal? You know, that gigantic magical creature appearing from the opaque smoke of Aladdin’s lamp who can grant three out of this world wishes? Oh, how you’d love to give up a limb to purchase such an impressive product, right?
Fame, fortune, good health, loving relationships…all these would then be yours for the taking. It’s like staring at a catalogue of the universe and pointing out the ones you want to be delivered at your doorstep.
But all those are just wishful thinking!
Well, not exactly.
There is actually a secret kept hidden from men that can allow the realization of their deepest desires and aspirations. The secret is creative visualization.
Basically, creative visualization harnesses the power of your inner mind by converting your abstract thoughts into concrete reality. It is founded on the premise that whatever exists in the physical level must first take place in a higher plane, which is the mental level. Just take a look at the visual masterpieces of some of the greatest artists known to mankind like Michaelangelo, Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso. Before they have picked up their respective paintbrushes, mixed the paint in their palettes or set up their reliable easels, they already have a well-defined image in their mind of what they are about to paint, one that is bursting with different vibrant shades. They just didn’t go about splashing random colors on their canvass and prayed for the best.
Just like them, it would take serious effort and intense concentration to achieve your masterpiece. Here are some guidelines for a calming creative visualization.
First, seek out your comfort zone. Whether you prefer to meditate in silence at a church, a secluded oratory, a tranquil temple, in your disarranged cubicle or even in the comforts of your own bedroom, the most important thing you have to remember is that you have to be at ease. Noise should be reduced at a minimum so that you can shut out from your actual environment.
Second, decide on your goal. What is your pressing need for the moment? If it is good health, then focus on attaining a healthy body. Imagine your medical examinations with positive outcomes and laboratory results on a normal level. If you want abundance, imagine cash coming in your house. Conjure images of checks in your name arriving at your mailbox. Should you decide to heal a broken relationship, visualize yourself shaking hands with your partner. Just create a distinct mental image of what you really want and let it stay on your mind.
Third, give positive feelings to your mental image. Be optimistic. Suffuse yourself with pure, unadulterated joy during that moment. Feel exhilaration, excitement and peace. Strip yourself of all the negative vibrations. Let go of heartaches and heartbreaks.
Be consistent in performing this exercise. If possible, set aside a few minutes of your time every day, preferably upon waking up in the morning and before going to sleep at night. This will solidify your expectations and put you in the right mood as you go through the motions of your daily life. Believe that the best will happen to you and your dreams will be realized sooner than expected.
