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Currency trading is becoming one of the most prominent sectors in this centuries forever shrinking globe. With each nation trading, foreign currency now has a good worth on the world marketplace and there are even a fair few people who make foreign currency trading their job to buy overseas currency. Exchange foreign currency with Foreign Currency Direct.

Have you heard of foreign currency trading? Not unlike stocks trading, currency trading is the purchasing & selling of currency positions & individuals might well make returns as particular currencies have various positions in the world wide market. Obviously, should you be utilising United States dollars, then you might well not note the benefit, nevertheless, this venture works at its very best if you are engaged in exchanging, say, the Croatia Kuna for Israel New Shekels.

Currency trading of course has a significant amount to do with trading of goods and services. Firms which export their goods and services overseas, are usually paid foreign currency, which, quite obviously, they might not be allowed to use domestically, therefore, consequentially they get their currency converted. Ignoring this for the moment, the prices on the world stage are usually determined via currency trading, therefore, consequently they might well lose profit if their country’s currency has a weak position when compared to the stronger currencies, such as the US dollar and the British Pound

Currency trading is obviously critically important during holidays. Patently, if one travel to the EU, then you obviously need to have a bit of currency changed to Euros so that you could buy even more items. Of course, the American dollar is accepted anywhere in the world, but there are a significant number of nations where individuals need the exact amount in payment for services. Buying goods and services with US dollars when you are overseas will often just cause inconvenience to other individuals for the simple reason that they too, will very much need to get the currency converted. This is fast becoming the rational, why nearly all international transit hubs already have foreign currency exchange services therefore, consequently you will not have to jaunt around the land looking for shops or entrepreneurs that purchase foreign currency. Quite obviously, there are also on-line web sites, which will seek out overseas currency, therefore, consequently you have the option to have all your money changed on the net and withdraw any of the cash in domestic currency whenever and wherever you are right now on the globe.

Do you have stress in your life?……

I know you answered yes, we all have stress in our lives.

What is stress? It is a reaction to a physical, mental, or emotional stimulus that upsets the body’s natural balance. Stress is unavoidable, it can be positive or negative, it can be physical or psychological.

Stress can cause fatigue, chronic head aches, irritability, changes in appetite, memory loss, low self esteem, withdrawal, tooth-grinding, cold hands, high blood pressure, shallow breathing, nervous twitches, lowered sex drive, insomnia, gastro-intestinal disorders and many more lifestyle diseases.

It is estimated that stress contributes to as much as 80% of all major illnesses.

Do you know that in order to have a vibrant healthy body you need to de-stress your life!

Some of the following are suggestions that have worked for many people.

• Identify the stresses

• Take a five minute break; sit back and take 100 slow deep breaths

• Keep a gratitude journal, count your blessings (accent the positive)

• Start an exercise program

• Turn off the T.V. and play soothing music

• Give yourself a day off, on that day pamper yourself ,sleep in, turn off the phones, watch a good movie, connect with a friend, give yourself a face message, have a relaxing bath, buy yourself flowers, go for a walk.

• Give yourself permission to worry, but only once a day for 30 minutes

• Eat a healthy diet, drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day, eat 8 to 10 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables each day, avoid artificial sweeteners, carbonated drinks, fried food, junk food and sugar.

• Avoid alcohol, tobacco and mood altering drugs

• Get 8 to 9 hours of sleep a night

• Listen to your inner voice. Is it talking negative?

• Avoid or eliminate as many hassles from your life as possible

• Learn to laugh

• Live in the present, enjoy each day

• Research the herb “Valerian”. This herb is used to sooth, relax and heal the nerves. You might find this helpful while you make changes in your life style.

• Seek professional help if these changes haven’t improved your life

If you are looking for more information visit www.stressdoctor.com

This web site is hosted by Dr. Hans Selye the author of the book “Stress Remedies For Living In A Fogged Up World”

The web site is a wealth of information outlining effective methods of dealing with physical, emotional, and situational disorders produced by stress.

I know you have probably heard this before, but you can make small changes in your life. Some of the changes I listed on de-stressing your life will make a huge difference in your physical and emotional health.

Only you can change your life style, cut the stress in your life and have a vibrant healthy body.

© Jane Kriese janes-store@telus.net

Would you like to have a Healthy Vibrant Body? To learn more, sign up for Jane Kriese’s Herbs For Health Newsletter at www.herbsforhealthstore.biz

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We were impressed with South Western Colorado as a good place to hang your hat and a pretty good place to run a business. Great labor supply, good transportation and excellent tourist flows. The town is growing in Cortez and up the hill in Durango as well. Their nearest trading partners Montrose and Farmington NM also helped with money flows to the area. We like the area and thought it was completely economically viable and an excellent choice especially for manufacturing.

About the only drawback is the drug issue in the region, but that is with any US City really. It was not as bad there as we have seen in border cities, desert cities of big cities in other parts of the US. We talked with police and city officials about this and they admitted it was an issue, but felt they had a pretty good handle on it and were working hard to clean things up and that it is no longer a growing problem. They know who the bad apples are and they keep an eye on them. Anyway that reminded us of a conversation we had with the City of Cortez Economic Development Association director Bruce A Johnson, who admitted to us they had a drug problem and said even had people making crystal meth in hotel rooms that they rented and advised us that the drugs were made locally and affecting crime rates only a little. Incidentally they shut that tactic down quickly.

Drinking was also an issue with Indians and young white kids getting into mischief that caused several horrific accidents over the years on all the two-lane roads. Lots of car wrecks there, even witnessed a tourist making a slow left turn in front of a local teenager in a Nissan Sentra who broadsided them. Good place for a body shop or tow company. In those Utah cities where the kids are migrating to so they can afford to own homes there are kids hanging out on every corner and everyone knows everyone. The entire area is challenged by the Old West VS New West and Value clash. Value clash of low cost of living, which has self segregated residents, workers and retirees or rich and poor. This has really been an economical development challenge.

The citizens want small businesses not Wal Marts, clean industries and a proper value fit. The areas are growing middle class and upper middle tourism area down town and leaving it difficult for locals to go downtown to hang out and afford things. Some anchor stores have left in shopping centers in Cortez making it an issue for some trying to hold on small businesses. They are willing to give mass incentives to build office parks, but the infrastructure is a problem needing telecommunication systems in place first to compete for company recruitment of mid and large businesses.

Transportation systems need up grade and some businesses in the area are doing that for the high-end clientele but not the lower end workers. For instance taking people to Durango and Pagosa for jobs from Cortez and other areas, it is needed for the services required of the richer folks, jobs for others and fairness among issues of real estate values of distance natural segregation in the towns which are all intertwined for commerce and growth and of course success. Noah’s Ark in Durango has two new tour buses and extended limos and a 1.2 million dollar facility for tourists, but not workers to the city, perhaps the city or county can fund them on a contract to buy another buss or two for that purpose?

There is a large labor pool in Cortez many are Navajo and are extremely hard working, reliable and dependable, others are of the Ute Tribe and many are mixed with every nationality you can think of all great family people. Many of the workers do not have technical training but could learn. The entire four corners region is like that.

http://www.state.co.us/oed/bus_fin/source.cfm

explains the incentives for people who wish to bring businesses there to set up shop, although Durango is somewhat anti-business unless you are willing to join the club of the New West idea and sell high-end nick nacks, which not all store owners were making a lot of money, similar to Palm Desert CA, Carlsbad CA, downtown shops of OH, Jackson Hole WY, Whitefish MT or Sun Valley ID and places like that. Lots of competition in the area and many of the businesses are boutiques run by people willing to wither the off years such as the recent fire year, and drought periods where the National News downgraded the area and scared travelers who took those locations off their lists. Recovering now, but no small businesses are breaking records. We did see a number of vacant shops to park trucks in the 1000 -2000 square foot range as well as many in the 5000 to 20,000 range.

The growing Cortez City has about 8,200 projected by years end. Many more women than men about 2% difference. They have now also been growing wheat. They have been doing the mailings and educational activity to be good neighbors and save water for farmers and downstream cities that are more taxed with no reservoirs, more reservoirs are needed down stream. 2006 is the Centennial of Mesa Verde and it is already being planned, the parks bring in 600-7000 thousand tourists per year with 2.3 average people per car.

We heard of a Juice Company which located in Delores which could ship to the Los Angeles market fo $ .50 per case and the LA competition did it for $ .30 per case bu the cost to manufacture made up for the shipping of oranges and fruit from Florida and then to LA after completed processing. Low costs made the difference and they are successfully competing and hiring more people. Another company which manufactures Tuff Boxes for security and after market auto, and a favorite at the annual Las Vegas SEMA show moved their operations from Denver to Cortez, stating costs were extremely lower, better labor and the owner and his wife could mountain bike every night and maintain twice the quality of life with none of the I-25 corridor traffic mess, permanent construction and free freeway parking at rush hour issues. Lots of dead head truckers are willing to pick up loads from trucks traveling through the area. Freight brokers said that the prices are decent and cheaper then out of Denver, Salt Lake, Flagstaff or Albuquerque.

Labor in the region except for Durango and Pagosa could be hired at $7 per hour for car washing and detailing and managers at $10.00, anything more than that and you could get a first class worker and manager since cost of living where the workers live is less. Also a new Mormon Stake Center just got built out side of town with labor assistance for their people. For more information on the Economic Development Specialist Bruce Johnsons comments go to

http://www.mesaverdecountry.com

There is also a big noon time meeting ad hoc Business Club which meets and they are also countered by the Rotary Club night time meeting group which is the older crowd, we see issues of passing the torch to the next generation there and some small town politics which are getting worked out. Also working through other issues of the area are Hal Shepard of the Police Department on the drug issues. They have a good handle on it and are winning the local war on drugs. There are some wineries also on the NM side, which are getting popular.

http://www.winesofthesanjuan.com

Farmington has the biggest area population of the four corners region and lots of transportation companies. Right now using lots of greenhouses and drip irrigation tape to farm. Sweet corn grows well there and Canyon de Cheilly cliff dwellings and also known as one of the most beautiful canyons of the world. It is true. You should check it out and spend some money there, see America, travel and go inside a Keva this summer, nice and cool whereever you are. This concludes our preliminary report on the areas surrounding region 9 of Colorado and our ability to find the niches necessary for those looking to expand businesses or find great places to live as well as to the people who desire services and jobs to those who are willing to work and show up on time, drug free.

One thing that must be mentioned, the people there in the region are extremely polite and nice. Honest and pleasant and would stop to help you if you needed it. Not too many places like that anymore. This is definitely one of them. Thank you South Western Colorado for your hospitality, can’t wait to get back and visit.

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

A subject of debate for thousands of years, spirituality will no doubt spark much debate for another thousand years. That is how it should be. Once spirituality becomes 100% defined by 100% of the human population, then uniformity and rigid boundaries take over. Should that ever occur, then there is no spirituality, for spirituality cannot be locked in a box and confined within its walls.

The exception to that view would come if individual human beings eventually became absorbed within a collective consciousness and sub-consciousness; a bodiless existence, where all knew 100% and there was no need to define. What would be the point of defining when everyone knows?

That will not happen within a thousand years. It could be, though, that within a thousand years, science will move closer to God than any religion ever has. Once science accepts that it is naive in understanding the human mind, the universe, and life itself, then it may move forward at a greater pace than it has over recent centuries.

Metaphysics and quantum physics may then assume their rightful position of prominence in the human scientific world. Thereafter, science may move towards better understanding the universe, or universes, and the way they relate to each other and the human subconscious.

Such a transformation in scientific attitude could happen at any time: the next decade, the next century, the next millennium. The first step is to show humility and accept the fact we are ignorant. I am not a scientist, and have no wish to be. I am not an expert on the human brain either. But I do have common sense, and humility, against a backdrop of a stunningly beautiful, and intricate, natural world. Everything around us, if you make the time to look, is a miracle, which we do not really understand beyond scratching the surface of knowledge.

Twenty years ago, anybody who said there may be life on other planets was considered as some kind of mental case, locked in a fantasy world where Captain Kirk ruled. Such a view was, to my mind, an ignorant one. The universe is so vast, and we knew so little about our little corner, how could we say there was no life on another planet? It was just a plain silly belief that there was no such extraterrestrial life, but it was the scientific norm. It was arrogance mixed with ignorance, with neither being acknowledged by the scientists of the time. Those who spoke of life on other planets were ridiculed, while science wallowed in an “holier than thou” mire of ignorance.

Now, science has shifted in its “belief”, accepting that the sheer volume of planets in the universe, billions and billions of them, means that other life is inevitable. We are ignorant of what’s on those planets, but the scientific consensus now is that there must be life elsewhere. Well, I could have told them that 20 years ago, not because I had knowledge, but because I accepted that I was ignorant, and had common sense and perspective. Also, maybe, I allowed my spirituality to flow unfettered, to tell me in no uncertain terms: there must be life on other planets. To me it was never a question of “if”. I knew. It was not clever. I had no proof. But, I knew.

Could such a shift happen in the views of science on spirituality itself? Could scientists attitudes change just as rapidly as they did with the life on another planet debate? After all, nothing much new has been discovered about life on other planets. Proven volumes of planets in existence has increased, but common sense, applied to what existing knowledge there was, could have achieved that end 20 years ago.

When it comes to spirituality, I accept that I am ignorant, at least in the eyes of a scientist. But I am open. I am also aware of perspective, and again apply common sense. It is a simple fact that we know practically nothing about the human brain, and we use such a tiny portion of it. The rest of the brain would not be there if it did not have a use. While science has devoted extreme effort to computers, other high technology, weapons and dangerous drugs, that vast capacity of human potential is left untapped.

Why has science not concentrated on learning about the human brain and how to use it? Each one of us is far more powerful than the fastest and biggest computer. Maybe such a shift will take place in this century, and focus will be on the true potential of the human mind, the collective subconscious, and the truth about the universe.

It needs a shot of spirituality into the scientific world for it to happen. More scientists need to be receptive to the possibilities, then those scientists need to take a critical mass of other scientists with them. That’s what happened in the life on another planet debate. I hope it can happen with spirituality.

Roy Thomsitt is owner and part author of the self improvement website: http://www.routes-to-self-improvement.com

Initially used for spreading awareness about cancer, custom rubber bracelets are now the darling of every non-profit organization - both for awareness generation and as a great fundraising tool. The Red Cross has its own red custom rubber bracelets for supporting Tsunami victims, while the relatives of American servicemen wear green custom rubber bracelets bearing the message ‘Support our troops.’ Besides, each cancer charity has its own custom color bracelets!

Custom rubber bracelets also serve as a fashion statement. That’s one of the main reasons for their popularity. Ace cyclist Lance Armstrong had returned to win the Tour de France title for a record seventh time after his successful fight with cancer wearing one of these rubber bracelets. Since Lance Armstrong cycled to victory wearing his famous yellow LiveStrong rubber band, the Lance Armstrong Foundation has sold 52 million rubber bracelets and contributed millions to cancer research. Snapping at the heels of the LiveStrong cancer rubber bracelets in popularity, we have the pink breast cancer awareness bracelets.

There are rubber bracelets worn by Hurricane Katrina rescue workers and custom rubber bracelets with the tsunami theme as well. You also have NBA, MLB, and NASCAR custom rubber bracelets, rubber bracelets with team symbols, or ones with any specific designs you like.

Now you can even design your own custom bracelets: when you shop online you can have silicon custom-embossed extra wide bracelets, twice as thick as the standard silicone bracelets; you can select the colors, the design, and the text you want to print. There are colors and designs that glow in the dark. Obviously, the more you want to customize your bracelet, the more expensive it becomes. Silicone, leather and metal custom bracelets are more expensive then the rubber ones. The former, though, are really great fundraisers.

There are also screen-printed silicone bracelets. These cheaper than the embossed versions. Contact the custom rubber bracelet agencies and they will provide you with the different color and design options they have for their bracelets. Once you select your color, design, and even the material (whether silicone, metal, or rubber), the agency will send you a full color proof. You can make further additions or any other changes to the proof. Once you are satisfied with the design, the agency starts the production of your custom bracelet.

Custom rubber bracelets are used as identification devices. In hospitals, custom bracelets are worn by patients. These bracelets have all the medical information of the patient imprinted on them. This is really useful in emergency situations when doctors can access all the information they need from the patient’s wrist. Newborn babies have bracelets around their wrists for identification in neo-natal wards.

Custom rubber bracelets are not just about a message or an attitude, but they are now important information tools as well.

Lisa Hyde-Barrett, a registered nurse and wellness advocate has become passionate about the new research behind cancer and the fundraising efforts supporting it. www.buy-rubber-wristbands.com

If you’re like most people who find themselves in business for the first time, you find yourself in an awkward scenario: you know almost everything you need to do for your clients and virtually nothing about what you need to do for your business.

This is a common and normal situation, but one that can be mastered. Before you can truly decide what you need to do and how to act, you need to determine who you are. What kind of businessperson are you? There are two major divisions: a small business owner or an entrepreneur. Neither one of these is intrinsically better than the other but they are different, and you must know which one you are.

A small business owner is a person who is self-employed and focuses on creating income. In some respects it’s like having a job from which you can’t get fired. The goal of a small business owner is to get his job to be like Neil Diamond’s or a surgeon’s: you only work when you’re on. Someone else moves the piano, makes the arrangements, schedules the surgery, opens the curtain, or sterilizes the scalpel. Neil just sings and plays, the surgeon
“surges.” And that’s what a small business owner like yourself wants to do, just the thing for which you get paid.

So the first step is to know what you get paid for. I suggest there are at least three things you do that make you money, but it’s up to you to define them. This is not as easy at it sounds. Typically small business owners think that every thing they do is important and so everything they do makes them money. But what really makes you money? In each of your cases it might be different. If you are fee-based, it probably includes: getting the client to sign the initial agreement; getting the client
to approve a plan of action (agreeing to an expenditure, or anything in which they agree to become more involved), and
any meeting with the client that furthers your relationship with them. Things that don’t make you money include filling out tax forms, cold calls, meetings that aren’t about a plan of action, and decisions about phone systems, desks, filing cabinets, etc.

When you are determining which three things you do that make you money, be honest and be ruthless. Once you know what you get paid
for, your goal is to fill solid blocks of time doing nothing but those things that make you money. Imagine your best-ever deal.
Then imagine if you could sign three or four of those kinds of deals back-to-back every Monday morning. And then every Monday all day long! To support a day like that, you have to make the other days work for you. Either you personally do all the things that don’t make you money on those days, or you shift the responsibility (delegate) for those tasks to your support staff.

For most small business owners, that support staff takes the form of a secretary or an office manager. As your business grows, you may increase the numbers of those kinds of employees or you could create strategic staff using independent contractors, part-time workers, or any combination that works for you. As you get more support, your goal then is to perform more days a week - do more new-client signings, more surgery, more things that make you money.

In the case of the small business owner, when you quit or retire, your business ends at the same time. There is usually nothing to sell because you are the business. You are the person making all
the financial decisions and completing all the transactions and relaying that information to the client. Your business is a
job and when you quit, the job ends.

An entrepreneur is someone who focuses not on creating income but on creating wealth. The small business owner does the work that makes the money. An entrepreneur gets the business to do the
work that makes the money.

Entrepreneurs create systems that are process-dependent, not people-dependent. They look at what they do that makes them money, analyze it, define it, systematize it, and then hire and train people to make money for them. The system brings in new clients, assigns them to workers, monitors the progress, and runs the day-to-day of the business.

Entrepreneurs love to build businesses more than they love to perform the functions within the business that makes the money.

It doesn’t mean they don’t perform those functions, it means they have others who also perform them, who are creating revenue for the entrepreneur that is greater than the income he or she could
create for themselves if they were merely a small business owner.

So, once you know whether you are a small business owner or an entrepreneur, you are ready to build your business, to make it create more income, and/or more wealth.

You are ready to become a leader rather than just the producer you were when you started.

Dick Zalack is a sought after corporate speaker, having addressed companies such as PPG Industries, Mutual of New York, Guardian Insurance, Lincoln Financial Advisors, and Goodyear. In 1992 he created Focus Four, an organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs achieve better, more focused personal and professional lives, and to achieve breakthrough goals with a high level of focus, energy and balance.

There is nothing more than I enjoy than marketing products on the net. Products which have been thoroughly researched and 99.9% of times are exactly the one that I myself use. I use the net each and every day and update myself with exactly what is happening online. All of those little changes, which most times result in big changes. And I meet these by adjusting my campaigns and ideas accordingly. I also love receiving those constant spam messages into my email inbox what a great way to monitor exactly what others are doing. Overall in the research I have done over the past few months here are a few points I would like to address, that will have a direct cause and effect impact on your own online business promotions.

It stuns my senses just how many scams and dodgy products are currently doing the rounds. It is a disgrace and all that it achieves is to directly wipe consumer confidence away from products which actually have a genuine worth and value. There is absolutely no benefit in promoting a product or service which does not have real value or effect. The internet has gained over time this reputation for making a simple quick buck. This is very far from the truth, but there are quite a few people out there who believe this point, and are doing there best to really make those quick bucks at any price. But these type of actions do have consequences and most of these fall back right into the lap of genuine sellers.

If you sell online in any form you really need to ask yourself one question How Long Do You Plan To Operate In Business Online. If your answer is, Forever! Then you have a future. If the answer is, Not Long At All. Then go ahead and just give up right now. I will let you in on a simple truth and it costs nothing! There is absolutely no way to make an easy dollar online, not one way at all. I have seen every scheme and idea in the book and this idea of ‘An Easy Buck’ an idea promoted fairly widely in most dodgy sales pitch’s, is simply not possible. Nor is it possible I might add in offline world business practice.

It is good advice that a degree of knowledge is really a must needed commodity for potential buyers, before they purchase. This action needs to be provided by sellers, in the form of direct product information. A fancy sales pitch without real product information just doesn’t work online. Customers are cautious before spending online already, firstly because of internet security risks and secondly because of the fact they have seen all the gimmicks before. Truth in advertising works online and this is something sellers need to be totally aware of, when marketing there own products. Truth is an absolute online asset, ask yourself the question, would I purchase the product I am selling. And as important are the 2 words, Online Trust.

Customers should be advised to always check their rights and/or the sellers background before purchasing online from any seller, check a sellers online sales policy, about us or contact us page. And if you buy a product you should always have the ability to ask for a refund, within due reason. Consumer confidence is an essential ingredient for good online buying experience. I myself have purchased products with which I have been far from happy. I contacted sellers and have received no response back, so I have had to contact the credit company I purchased the items though re: pay pal etc. And then a sellers response becomes automatic, because there is a negative action in result for the seller.

This type of action is called leverage. If you are unhappy use leverage, but buyers really should not need to resort to this type of action. This is exactly what separates the good sellers from just the plain bad, and exactly one point which ruins consumer confidence which directly effects everyone who operates in real online business. My advice, always follow your sales up with a question, asking for any feedback from your sales. Make sure the customer is pleased with the level of service and product you supply. The customer is number one and always should be treated with this exact respect. If you are serious about long term online success then this type of action is more than necessary. And always remember if you get any negative feedback, fix or negotiate the problem immediately and effectively.

The sharks and internet get rich quick artists have a short life span online, but as soon as one disappears another replaces them. Their actions do put the spotlight onto genuine sellers and we need to be wary of this and act accordingly. Being aware of potential changes and actions of others that may have a direct negative effect on our business provides us with a real option to make our online opportunities more successful. Turn a simple negative into a positive and this is an approach that we can always use no matter where in life, to make things simply better. The only substance that will make you a success in any form is plain hard work. There is no substitute for hard work, and if you already understand this exact fact you are on your first steps to reaching success already.

Michael J. Keenan (CEO - SitePromotionNow) Achieving high online sales turnover for over 5 years. email: mickyk703@hotmail.com Website: www.sitepromotionnow.org Also visit my new online marketing blog at sitepromotionnow.blogspot.com/

Are you looking for the Ultimate Army Themed Party Games and Activities? Well stop looking because they are right here…

Good Luck and happy reading…

“Water Brigade” For their first high priority assignment, your unit must put out a fire that is destroying civilian crops! Divide the soldiers into two teams; line the teams up next to each other. Put a bucket full of water at the head of each line and give the first person in each line a large cup full of water. Place an empty bucket for each team about 35 ft away. Blow a whistle or say “GO!” the first person runs to the empty bucket, pours the water into it, and races back to their team with the empty cup. They should pass off the cup to the next teammate who fills the cup, runs to the bucket, pours the water in it and brings the cup back for the next player. When each team member has run down and back the game is over. To see which team has carried the most water down, insert sticks into each bucket and compare the water lines.

“Drill Sergeant Says” This is a simple game of Simon with a twist of Army. Next you are going to need a Drill Sergeant. Any volunteers? Oh yes, we have the honorary Mom and Dad. Try and dress up with a hat, sunglasses and shaved head. To play the game, the Drill Sergeant will give commands like: Drill Sergeant Says run for 10 seconds! You can have them respond with a Yes Drill Sergeant. If the Drill Sergeant didn’t say “Drill Sergeant Says” and a few kids keep doing the commands, they have to go down for a few pushups. This really gives the kids the feel of Army-like drills!!

“Pack Up Relay” Find or borrow full size backpacks and things that would go inside (canteens, compass, pack of food, plate, etc). You will need one pack per team and one item per person. Have the teams line up with their pack. The first person must run to the pile of item #1 with the pack on, take the pack off, put the item into the pack, put the pack back on and run back to their team. Continue this until each child has picked up at least one item. The kids will love this game because they get to work as a team.

“Missing In Action (MIA)” Hide plastic Army Men outside and inform your soldiers that there are some fellows Soldiers Missing In Action. Send your soldiers out on a Top Secret Mission to locate and bring back as many plastic Army Men as they can find. You can keep score by how many they bring back.

“The Balloon Pop” This is a perfect game to get the kids to interact with each other more. Before the party, blow up a bunch of balloons and put a piece of paper inside that has different instructions, such as, “Do 10 Push-ups”, “Run 2 Laps”, “Do 15 Jumping Jacks”, “Tell another soldier to do 15 Jumping Jacks”, “Just got Promoted”, etc. The kids will love the anticipation of popping a balloon and finding out what their orders are. Have fun and be creative.

“Rescue the Injured Soldier” Divide up the soldiers into two teams. Provide each team with a gurney (tarp or beach towel) and a roll of toilet paper. One person on the team will be the “Injured Soldier” and should be positioned about 40 yards from his teammates. When you say, “Go” the team runs across the yard to their injured soldier. They first wrap up the injured soldier in toilet paper, then transfer him to the gurney and finally transport him back to their starting position (I would suggest having one child hold a corner). This game is guaranteed to be loads of fun!

“Mine Field” Start out by placing a bunch of water balloons in the yard and blindfolding each soldier. Have them try and walk across the minefield without breaking any balloons.

“Grenade Toss” Before the party, construct some bean bags out of camo fabric and fill them up with rice. You could also purchase beanbags at your local party or fabric store. Place to cement blocks about 3 feet apart and place board on them. Next, setup of different types and sizes of pop bottles for the targets. Give the soldiers the beanbags and let them take aim. Try different distances to increase the difficulty.

“Water Grenade War” Begin by constructing two barricades for the children to hide behind (these can be made out of cardboard and spray painted for effect). Give the kids the balloons and watch the fun unfold before your eyes. Just remember, you can’t have too many grenades!

“Obstacle Course” I would suggest placing this game last in your order of Birthday Party Games. This will be the most challenging and exciting. Here are few ideas on different obstacles you could incorporate into your Ultimate Course. Use a board as a plank to run across a water obstacle or between to cement blocks. Get some tires for the soldiers to step or run through. Use 5 gallon buckets with poles taped across for the soldiers to crawl under. Make some obstacles the soldiers can run and weave around, such as, garbage cans or buckets. Throw in some physical exercises like jumping jacks and pushups. While the soldiers are running through the obstacle, make sure you are acting just like a Drill Sergeant. There should be lots of yelling and encouragement. You could also be shooting a water gun at them or throwing water grenades. This should be the Ultimate game, so take your time designing the course and have fun!

Don’t forget to check out the Ultimate Kid Birthday Parties website and submit your Kid Birthday Party ideas for a chance to win over $500 worth of prizes. The Grand Prize is a Sony Cybershot DSC-P93 Camera. Don’t forget, because the contest ends 31 May 2005. Good Luck!!!

Geoff Schurman is a proud parent of two toddler boys. He enjoys throwing Ultimate Parties for his kids and wants to give you the resources to help plan an Ultimate Party. He is the webmaster and owner of http://www.ultimate-kid-birthday-parties.com which is an excellent resource to learn about every party detail for a themed birthday party. There are many themes already available for viewing and new ones released every week. To track his experience and new web content, he makes daily entries into his blog at http://www.ultimate-kid-birthday-parties.blogspot.com. Both websites are a great start on fulfilling your child’s dream in having an Ultimate Kid Birthday Party this year!

Marketing, that is the one thing that stands between many gifted people and entrepreneurial success. The question we will explore is why and what can be done about it. So let’s start with a simple question that sets the stage for this discussion - if you are not naturally gifted in the art of sales & marketing does marketing have to hurt?

The answer is, of course it does when it’s treated like some unfathomable form of torture that precludes your success. If you thrive on pain, struggling, and striving, this is fine … but if you are like most people, just the thought of activating emotional pain is daunting enough to actually keep you from excavating your own potential to succeed. In fact, thinking about it and drowning in the dread of it can cause you to fail or to abandon your dreams altogether. Now I can’t promise you that after reading this article, you’ll make a 180-degree turnaround, but I can offer a 2-step solution that will help. You can use this solution to make a shift that can give you enough breathing room to start getting this marketing phobia handled, once and for all.

Are you ready?

The beginning of all success and all failure is a seed thought that takes root and then proceeds to lock in a viewpoint that is very powerful while its presence remains transparent to us. It occurs to us like it’s the undisputable truth because it’s in the background, acting as an invisible filter that continuously attracts the means to validate itself. It unconsciously controls our inner monologues and feelings, and then it flows outward into the world as what we say, what we do, and how we do it.

Most of us have been programmed from a very early age to be invisible, to exalt other’s opinion of us more than our own opinion so that the fear of rejection seems like a threat to life itself. We learn to withdraw in the face of the challenges and back away from actions that take us out of our comfort zone. Can you see how this program is one that gives rise to experiences of failure? Your mind convinces you that you are damned if you try to move forward and the truth is you are damned if you don’t. So imagine trying to market yourself and your business offer with this enemy running rampant in the recesses of your mind.

In our free teleclass, Learn How To Set Yourself Up For Success, we go into more details about this very topic but right now I’d like to describe a simple 2-step solution that can help ease the stress that is sometimes associated with marketing.

1. Become the Observer of what gets in the way you.

2. Reframe your definition of marketing so that it inspires you.

Step 1 - Become the Observers and observe how it feels when you think about moving forward, observe how it feels when you take a step forward, observe how it feels when the results are not as you’d hoped. Our feelings are the way we validate our experiences as true or untrue and so when we have negative feelings and don’t do anything to neutralize them, we unknowingly reinforce the failure experience with thoughts like this: I knew this wasn’t going to work, I’m no good at this, They were right, I don’t know why I keep wasting my time, etc.

That thing you are observing that triggers those feelings of defeat is not you. IT’S NOT YOU. It sounds like you, it looks like you, it feels like you but IT’S NOT YOU. You are so much bigger than that, you are so much more resilient than that, you are so much more brilliant than that. You, YOU, learned to walk, to run, to read and write, to drive and so much more because you thrive on challenges. Moving outside of your comfort zone and taking on something new is how YOU grow.

Start separating your identity from the little frightened entity called EGO (Everybody’s Got One) that shrinks back from life and wants to stay small, comfortable, and unaccomplished. The EGO, by design, will challenge you to soar like an eagle, or walk like a chicken. YOU get to decide which!

Step 2 - Reframe your definition of marketing so that it inspires you. Consider that marketing is nothing more than a focused and intentional form of effective communication when there is something worth saying and someone worth saying it to. You know how we mostly talk off the cuff, not really saying anything important, just blabbing off at the mouth, making small talk to erase the silence with pointless words? Well, that’s not marketing. LOL.

Imagine there is something worth saying and there is someone who wants to or needs to hear that message and you take the time to mold the message in such a way that the receiver is more likely to receive it - that’s marketing. Imagine trying to sell your amazing product or service to a brick wall. Wouldn’t that make you feel incompetent, hopeless, like a failure? It’d make anyone with good sense feel that way; a brick wall is not interested in your amazing product or service. I just revealed a prime factor that can make marketing feel pointless.

You already know how to communicate effectively with intention and focus but because you have defined marketing with such a narrow scope, you feel like marketing is rocket science, it’s not. Your job is to start observing yourself when you are having focused, intentional, and effective communications with people and to engage in these kinds of communications more often. From there you can transfer this higher form of communication to your business, refine it, learn more about it and treat it just like when you first learned to drive.

Let’s summarize the 2-step process. By observing the EGO and consciously distinguishing it from yourself and then by redefining marketing so that it inspires you and builds on what you already do well, you will be able to experience your marketing activities as a part of your personal and professional development process. If you want more strategies to help you achieve your business aspirations, join us in one of our free teleclasses.

Copyright 2006 Robin Harris, DesignerLife

Robin Harris, The DesignerLife Coach, is a Certified Comprehensive Coach and Guerilla Marketing Coach, Instructional Designer, Prosperity Trainer, and founder of http://www.TheSuccessCafe.com, the virtual gathering place for Prosperity-Central, the free community of excellence that offers free training and coaching for Prosperity Seeking Entrepreneurs. For more help with marketing visit Robin’s Marketing site: http://www.Marketing-With-A-Story.com and learn how to set up a marketing system that works for you 24/7.

Today more than ever there is a real lack of good communication. We see it everywhere — in the conflict of war and aggression, we see it in big business where managers and workers alike are not heard, and we see it in our own relationships. Many of you can relate because you have felt the sting of being alienated by people unwilling to listen.

There are not many things that are quite as painful as being shut out, of not being heard, of not being understood — whether this action is done on purpose or through neglect or oversight. It is painfully true that people want more than anything else to be heard and to be understood.

In his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey tells us that most of us are preoccupied with being “understood” rather than seeking to “understand”. I believe that if we could change this one aspect of our behavior, we would see vast improvements in our world and in our relationships.

Communication after all is not about how well we articulate our thoughts, but it is about how well we listen. Contrary to popular belief it is not the speaker who controls the communication, it is the listener. Without a listener there is no communication! How well we listen is a reflection of the level of our communication skills.

Listening involves patience, openness and a desire to understand. It is about asking the question, behind the question. It is about trying to see the situation from the other’s perspective. It is not about problem solving or advice giving. It is not about reinterpreting the story to a time when you had a similar experience, nor is it about just being present. Although these are all appropriate at certain times, they are not appropriate unless you have first taken the time to understand.

To relate effectively with a partner, children, friends or work associates, we must learn to listen. This not only requires emotional strength, it also involves you choosing to become a more effective listener.

When we see relationships breakdown, in a marriage for example, we see partners who are unwilling to really hear, to acknowledge what is true for the other, to put themselves in the other’s shoes! The longer this goes on the more damage that occurs. Successful marriages like successful leaders or successful managers have one thing in common - they are in relationships where others feel heard, where others feel that their needs are taken into consideration.

The true art of communication is allowing the other’s truth to exist, without trying to change it. Everyone comes to their own truth through their life experiences and everyone feels justified in feeling as they do. No one ever changes another’s opinion through debate. Opinions are modified when there is a willingness to hear the truth of another. Understanding this truth creates respect. Positive dialogue is only created when we have respect for each other.

A coach can help you develop your competence in communication, listening skills, presenting your ideas, and understanding others. What you say and how you respond can be greatly enhanced by working with a coach.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Contact Barb to improve your work performance through better communication and leadership skills.

Barb McEwen, C.E.C.
Personal Executive Coach
20/20 Executive Coaching Inc.
http://www.2020Executivecoaching.com

Barb uses Enneagram Personality Theory in coaching her clients.

You are welcome to reprint these articles.

Should you do so please send a copy of the publication to us at the following address: 20/20 Executive Coaching, 405 Tudor Court, Thunder Bay, ON P7C 1R9

The following quotation must be printed at the conclusion of each reprinted article. “Copyright Barb McEwen and 20/20 Executive Coaching, Inc. Barb McEwen is a well known, thought-provoking and inspirational speaker. You can reach her at http://www.2020Executivecoaching.com.