Students Of Success

Not long ago, I traveled back east to Ohio and Chicago. While I was there, I was amazed that the friends I made along my journey seemed to have completely different observations of the state in which they lived.

For example, when I asked what the winters were like in their town, I got completely opposite answers from people, depending on where they originally lived. When I asked the question of a former Californian, she talked as if she’d landed in Siberia, recounting the snowfall and treacherous conditions meant for only the wildest of beasts. When I asked the same question of a native resident, he painted a beautiful picture of the changing seasons, each more spectacular than the last, and recounted wonderful memories of having the fortune to grow up in such a picturesque land.

What’s the difference here?

Their perception dictated their experience.

It’s like the old stories about a bank robbery. The event could take place in broad daylight, with 30 eyewitnesses, yet each gives a completely different account of what he or she saw happen. It’s like when someone in your office or home says something to you, and you receive a different message than the person intended.

Why does this happen?

I believe it’s because

Our perception determines our experience.

It works like this. I bet at one time or another we’ve all gone into a grocery store and noticed that everyone seemed happy, helpful, and cheery that day. Even the people in the checkout line were full of good spirits. Yet, when we’ve gone another day, we’ve had a completely different experience. We found people to be grumpy and in a bad mood—every one of them.

I believe we view our outside world the same way we see ourselves in our inside world. That’s why many people continually attract drama into their lives while others do not, or why some people get into fights all the time while others refuse to let the same situation get the best of them.

If this is true, it explains a lot. It could be why, when we feel out of place and chaotic on the inside, we tend to attract more chaos and drama to our outside self. If we feel anger and resentment on the inside, we will, in turn, attract it to our outer world as well.

With that said, let me ask you the following question:

How’s your outside world looking lately? Are the people around you happy and productive? Are they full of life and passion, or do you find yourself in your own little tornado that seems to constantly bring nothing but negative energy your way? In other words, does it seem like everyone around you has problems and can never catch a so-called break?

Remember, in life you have choices. You have the choice to work on your inner self, to create a brighter outer self. Have you ever seen someone who’s lost some weight and noticed that they seem to have a new glow? Or looked into someone’s eyes just after their first child was born? There’s a spark there, right?

Well, here’s the good news. You have the ability to re-spark yourself.

Here’s this month’s challenge: Take notice.

That’s it. I’m not asking you to do anything but become aware of how you’re viewing things around you.

By doing so, you’ll find that when you’re at your happiest, everyone else around you will be as well. On the flip side, if you want to know why the world seems to be crashing in on you, look inside and see what’s out of place, and then take action to repair it.

It’s that simple.

Because when it’s all said and done,

Our perception determines our experience.

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You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated - send to: GregReid@AlwaysGood.com

About The Author

Gregory Scott Reid
Speaker and two-time #1 best-selling author, The Millionaire Mentor and Wake Up: Live the Life You Love www.AlwaysGood.com

When you exercise for a long time, your muscles start to burn and feel sore. This forces you to slow down, because keeping up the pace will make your muscles burn and hurt even more. You call this fatigue and tiredness, but a recent study from Japan shows that muscle fatigue is caused by damage to the muscle itself (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, July 2005). This also explains why exercising long and hard enough to feel the burn for an extended period leaves your muscles sore for one or more days afterwards. Athletes call this Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) and they learn that they have to have this next day soreness to improve for competition.

That’s why running is so much more fatiguing than cycling. When you run, your heel hits the ground and stops your leg from moving. This sudden stopping with each foot strike stretches your contracting muscles and tears them to cause a lot of muscle damage. It’s called eccentric contractions of muscle and occurs with far less force in cycling. You pedal with a smooth rotary motion and do not stop suddenly. The eccentric contractions during running cause a high degree of muscle injuries, limit how far person can run fast, and require far more rest days or easy days than cyclists use in their training programs.

Since muscle fatigue during endurance competitions is caused by muscle damage, anything that strengthens muscles will improve performance in endurance events. The only way to make a muscle stronger is to damage the muscle with hard exercise, feel sore on the next day, exercise more easily on as many days as it takes for the soreness to go away, and then exercise vigorously again. Athletes in competitive sports must exercise on the days that their muscles feel sore. This makes muscles more fibrous and resistant to injury so that muscles can withstand greater forces when athletes exercise on their hard days. Since muscle fatigue during vigorous exercise in endurance sports causes fatigue and slows them down, athletes in endurance sports have to train for their sports by making their muscles stronger by following a stress and recover program.

Read my Good Food Book FREE, with 100 healthful recipes.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com

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An informative textbook confirming a newly established field: Sleep Psychiatry

Book Review by Nikos M. Linardakis, M.D.

The fascinating world of sleep has achieved more clinical research inquiries over the past few decades. However, Sleep Psychiatry has become a newly established subspecialty in sleep medicine. It affords a need for a much-awaited textbook on sleep psychiatry. Every physician has been exposed to patients with a chief complaint of sleep deprivation or a sleep disorder of another kind. This is the first textbook in the field of sleep psychiatry, and presents a comprehensive coverage of topics that will undoubtedly introduce and expand on new discoveries in the near future. This peer-reviewed textbook is a masterful and detailed presentation of sleep psychiatry.

Dr. Alexander Golbin’s editorial presentation of important concepts and the scientific exploration into the world of sleep psychiatry is an example of a skilled educator, and a leading research and clinical physician. My favorite chapters are those that cover the sleep-wake cycles and the effect on daytime alertness and behavior. The most important of all discoveries about sleep was the recognition that sleep is not a passive state of rest, but a complicated and active cyclic process. Of equal importance, normal sleep was recognized as the foundation for normal alertness, and abnormal sleep as the foundation for abnormal alertness and psychiatric problems. This probability is evaluated and confirmed in research papers showing significant advantage to sleep-alertness relationships.

The new book Sleep Psychiatry, written by an international team of experts and published in England by Taylor & Francis /CRC Group, for the first time, categorizes and reviews published and original research data. Sleep Psychiatry presents this information and forms comprehensive concepts of physiological origin and discusses the basis of psychiatric problems, establishing a new field of sleep medicine-Sleep Psychiatry.

Twenty-eight chapters of the book, although written for specialists, are clear and simple, in reader-friendly style, and present multiple facts from internationally recognized researchers. It is a highly informative and useful resource. Among other topics, the authors convincingly present, review and confirm major conclusions:

1. Sleep is a physiological basis for normal daytime mental and emotional functions.

2. During the early development in infancy, the brain mechanism of sleep developed first and became a foundation for the development of normal alertness, attention and productive wakefulness.

3. If sleep mechanisms are deviated in early childhood, it may lead to attention, alertness and emotional problems later on in life.

4. Sleep is a healing, compensatory and recovery state.

5. Sleep, if abnormal, may trigger sickness and even death.

6. Treatment of sleep pathology may help in the treatment of some medical and psychiatric disorders.

Sleep Psychiatry was written as a global collaboration, with chapter authors from several university and research institutions. Among many interesting concepts, presented in this book are: the “search activity” by Dr. Vadim Rotenberg from Israel, an evolutionary approach to human sleep development by Dr. Alexander Shepovalnikov from Russia, an adaptive theory of parasomnias and sleep origin of daytime habits by Dr. Alexander Golbin from the USA, and the dangerous and forensic aspects of sleep by USA-Canadian research teams.

The quality of print in the book also leverages the ability for a clinician, doctorate candidate or sleep researcher to enjoy the multitude of graphic presentations and important charts and tables.

The earlier chapters in the book are somewhat broad; however, they introduce the reader to this new field. At times the text was missing some additional information that would clarify some voids and unknowns; though, later on in the book, each area was thoroughly covered and the reader is left with a feeling that the book was written to increase the appetite to read and learn more-unlike most textbooks; I was intrigued by every new chapter that brought with it a new understanding of a pioneering field. The last few decades and millions of dollars in research funding have produced an overwhelming amount of evidence to support the significant findings in sleep psychiatry. The book carefully presents these findings in a comprehensive and peer-reviewed format.

Sleep Psychiatry is a fascinating and monumental work which will definitely elicit active discussions and further research to prove or disprove these interesting and fresh approaches for the discovery and understanding of the biologic, physiologic, and psychiatric benefits for millions of patients with sleep and psychiatric problems.

I look forward to your review and an increase in the establishment of the field of Sleep Psychiatry. Sleep Psychiatry is sure to become “required reading” for all professionals in sleep medicine and in psychiatry.
Nikos Linardakis, M.D. is a physician executive for Tharos Laboratories, Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the author of several medical books, and was Editor-in-Chief at McGraw-Hill Companies Health Sciences Division, New York.

You can e-mail your comments to Dr. Nikos Linardakis at Nikos@Tharoslabs.com

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Sleep Psychiatry
Alexander Golbin, M.D., Ph.D., et. al,
First Edition, Taylor & Francis Publishing/CRC Group,
London, England, 2004
ISBN Number: 1 - 842 14 -145 -

About Dr. Nikos…

o CEO of Tharos Laboratories, Inc. - a nutritional supplement company
o Published author of over a dozen books, including The World of Children’s Sleep
o Former Editor-in-Chief of McGraw-Hill Companies, Health Sciences Division in New York.
o Former Director of Clinical Research for The Natural Standard in Cambridge, MA
o Served as the author of clinical review monographs covering natural extracts
o Scientific Advisory Board Member of the Cranberry Institute
o Research Associate at the Sleep & Behavioral Institute in Chicago, IL
o Author of Ten Natural Ways to Healthy Sleep
o An active lecturer
o Monthly columnist for Sleep and Health News Journal

Dr. Nikos has extensive experience in the development and manufacturing of nutraceutical products, and has worked for both public as well as privately held companies in this market sector. He has a vast knowledge in FDA compliance, protocol design, and other physician-liaison functions.

Most people don’t want to mess with their digital camera’s settings. The rest of us may not understand what they are for and what they can do. Camera manufacturers realize this and are making it easier to take great photos. It is done through a feature called scene modes. Scene modes are mini-programs designed to automatically adjust your camera’s settings that are best suited for the situation. By merely twisting a knob or pushing a button a few times, you are able to quickly and easily adjust your camera to get a great shot nearly every time.

Here are some of the more common scene modes and what they do:

Backlight - eliminates dark shadows when light is coming from behind the subject or when the subject is in the shade.

Beach/Snow - this mode is used when photographing beach, snow and sunlight water scenes. Exposure times and white balance are set to help prevent the scene from becoming washed out looking.

Fireworks - shutter speed and exposure are set for shooting fireworks: pre-focusing and the use of a tripod is highly recommended.

Landscape - this mode is used to take photos of wide scenes. The camera automatically focuses on a distant object.

Macro - is used to take close-up shots of small objects, such as coin, flowers or insects. The lens can be moved closer to the object than in other modes. The use of a tripod is highly recommended.

Night Scene - is used when photographing night scenes - what else? Slow shutter speeds are used. You’ll need that tripod again.

Panning or Action - this mode will “freeze” the action of the subject while blurring the background to give the feel of motion or speed.

Panorama - is used to take a series of shots from one point and “stitch” them together with software to make a wide angle scene.

Party Mode - is used to take photos in a dim lit room. Exposure and shutter speeds are adjusted for room brightness. The camera must be held very steady in this mode.

Portrait - this mode automatically focuses on the subject and puts the background slightly out of focus.

Sports - is similar to action modes. Fast shutter speeds “freeze” the action. Best shots will result when taken in bright lighting conditions and when you are pre-focused on an area.

Sunset - is used to take photos of sunsets and sunrises. This mode helps keep the deep hues in the scene.

Some cameras have as many as 20 different scene modes. Some modes will automatically adjust the size of your photo for on-line auction. Some are supposed to take 10 pounds off the subject. Regardless of how many scense your camera has, always read the instruction manual. Each manufacturer has their own terminology. By understanding and using scene modes, you will get a great shot every time.

Electronic treadmills could just as easily be called treadmills with an attitude: they don’t go as fast as you do; you go as fast as they do.

An electronic treadmill is equipped with a motor to drive the treadbelt and another to raise and lower the deck at an angle.

Most powered treadmills will attain speeds of up to 10 or 12 MPH and will raise to an angle of 10-12%. Commercial grade treadmills,those used in fitness clubs, training facilities, and weight loss salons, like Star Trac and Smooth Fitness models, will go even faster and steeper.

Control Freaks

What gives powered treadmills their attitude, though, is electronic workout programming.

Most machines have several preset workout programs that automatically adjust speed and angle to mimic a run over differing terrain or a specific technique like interval training or power walking.

Some include programs that are designed for optimum calorie loss in weight loss programs, and others have heart rate monitors that keep your workout in an optimum zone for fitness conditioning and cardiovascular health.

In other words, you do what the machine wants you to do, and for many people, that’s a good thing.

Powered treadmills vary in capabilities and features, of course. Those who just want an exercise machine for light training, walking, or power walking can get by with less expensive models with smaller running surfaces and a more limited amount of programming.

Depending on your size, plan on spending around $1000, give or take a couple hundred.

Heavy individuals and those interested in running and sports training will want a treadmill allowing a longer stride, more power, a stronger deck with greater cushioning and stability, and more variations in the electronic programs and workouts available.

They can plan on spending well over a thousand and on up to several thousand dollars.

Steve Ecclestone is webmaster at Best Treadmill Guide

If you’re the “outdoorsy” type, prefer to work on a team, have a positive attitude and are a confirmed “people-person,” you may fit right in as part of a yacht crew. Though jobs on most yachts are seasonal or part-time (depending on when someone rents it for a cruise), you will gain an incredible amount of experience while sailing your work days away.

A few yacht crew jobs include the following:

Chef/Cook
Diesel Mechanic
Flotilla Skipper
Host/Hostess
Sailing Instructor

You can apply for positions with private yachts; exploration ships that travel far and wide; commercial vessels; or megayachts and superyachts, liners or tankers. But, where do you find these jobs, anyway?

There are several yacht crew-finder services for vessel owners and employers around the world. Remember, this is a global industry, and though you’ll have full decision-making authority on things like what kind of vessel you’d like to sail on and when you’re available to crew, things like salaries or whether you will work a working holiday yacht cruise or as a voluntary crew member are largely non-negotiable, particularly for entry-level jobs.

You can also work on shore-based jobs related to the yachting industry, such as outfitters or suppliers for deck and overall yacht needs like linen services or glassware.

And think about this: You pretty much get to decide ahead of time whether you’d prefer to work on Carver yachts, Catalina yachts, Seaward Yachts, Pershing Yachts, or pal up with a few friends on the ship of your choice. The other good thing about yacht employment is that, because it is seasonal work, for the most part, there is a lot of turnover, so you won’t have to “paddle the waters” very long while looking for a job!

Another good tip to know is that vessel owners are usually very generous and pay their crew very good (tax-free) wages, along with job “perks” such as the obvious, like travel expenses and great accommodations, plus a free vacation!!

David Dunlap is the owner and founder of Only For Yachts, an online resource for everything related to yachts. Visit http://onlyforyachts.com to get information on yacht charters, yachts for sale and also sign up for the free yachting newsletter.

Don’t Be A Reciprocal Linking Turkey!

I had an email exchange with an SEO client today after his
webmaster called him pushing reciprocal linking software (when
all this web designer was after was to generate some extra work
from a client that hasn’t needed him for awhile). Then that
client called me after he received my email de- nouncing the
software, fully convinced by a follow-up phone call from his web
designer that the reciprocal linking soft- ware WAS valuable.

He had been assured that the spamming, er - I mean, linking
software, would increase his visiblity for an inside page on a
hot topic currently in the news. He didn’t want to hear my
unpopular opinion that reciprocal linking is DEAD! Halloween is
over people! We don’t need the mummies of yesterdays’ linking
schemes haunting our Thanksgiving too! Oh, it must be a
Thanksgiving TURKEY! A reciprocal Linking Turkey! Can reciprocal
linking Santa’s be far behind? OK, I’ll drop the holiday
metaphors.

I tried in vain to convince this client that he didn’t need that
software for his review of the new Myriad Pictures flm, “Kinsey”
about early sex educator Professor Alfred Kinsey.
<http://www.doctorg.com/kinseyfilm.htm> We had just that morning
distributed a press release online
<http://www.ereleases.com/pr/20041111001.html> which is now
posted on over 100 high visibility news sites and Yahoo news
picked it up! <http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041111/phth014_1.html>

These are hugely valuable ONE WAY inbound links that will vastly
improve his search engine ranking immediately due to the topical
nature and excellent timing of the release. This client is a sex
educator and runs an educational web site about sex and love.
His press release put down the idea of the use of the new
Intrinsa© testosterone patch to cure the low sexual desire of
post-menopausal women and praised the new film Kinsey. He’ll be
top ranked for two highly desirable and valuable (to him and his
web site) keyword phrases within the week.

By the way, I HIGHLY recommend this approach for those with
newsworthy issues they want to promote to the press.
<http://www.eReleases.com> will send your newsworthy press
release to over 100 top news sites, hundreds more radio,
television and newspaper reporters, and tons of journalists who
have signed up to receive them. Ereleases.com is syndicated by
major news organizations and you can gain hundreds of links
while generating interviews and even television appearances, all
for only $400! Some people will pay that much for worthless
reciprocal linking software and installation by webmasters
having a slow week. Back to our story…

I re-affirmed my opposition to the use of the software as we
ended our call and he hung up disappointed because he wanted my
support and assurance that the sales pitch he got from his web
designer on the reciprocal linking software was accurate and
that it would do more for him than this press release.

Unfortunately, we’ll never know because he bought the sales
pitch from the web designer, installed the software and
immediately sent out a sp*m - AHEM, er, I meant to say - email
to his newsletter mailing list announcing the availability of
reciprocal links and asking them for links to his newsworthy new
pages.

When will this linking insanity end?
<http://website101.com/arch/archive153.html>

Following is my reasoned - and decidedly calmer than I am now -
email response to him.

Dear Gary,

This link generation scheme is standard for reciprocal link
software. The value of “Reciprocal links” is far lower than the
value of the ONE WAY links you already have from that press
release distribution and the posting of the press release on
your site which, by the way, includes linking instructions at
the bottom of the relevant pages.

I’ve written an article call “Linking Psychosis is Treatable”
<http://website101.com/arch/archive153.html> which discusses the
foolishness of links pointing all over the web.

It doesn’t address reciprocal linking so much as the insanity
with which webmasters persue them. Your press release has
ALREADY generated a huge number of inbound ONE WAY links that
will increase the visibility and rank of both Kinsey Film Review
<http://www.doctorg.com/kinseyfilm.htm> and
<http://www.doctorg.com/intrinsa.htm> Intrinsa© Testosterone
Patch pages.

Doing the reciprocal page will initially LOWER your rank because
it is RECIPROCAL. There is a concept called “Authority Site”
that search engines use where ONE WAY inbound links are ranked
VERY highly and reciprocal links are devalued BECAUSE of
software like that being promoted by link-crazy folks not
willing to do the hard work of generating the more valuable
one-way links.

The search engines know about the software available from
linking fanatics and DEVALUE pages that use it. Ultimately it
can increase your visibility, sometimes, over the long run, but
it just isn’t that helpful in most cases.

I’ve taken a hard line about this and get a lot of flack about
it from those without SEO experience or knowledge. But smart
professional SEO’s agree that reciprocal linking schemes - AND
ESPECIALLY SOFTWARE GENERATED PAGES - are not worth much in
search engine rank. The search engines are reducing the
importance of those type of pages daily because it is too easy
and too commonly used by scores of webmasters looking for an
easy ranking.

I have written in the past that “Reciprocal Linking is Dead!”
<http://searchengineoptimism.com/reciprocal-linking-dead.html>
in which I outline my linking policy and encourage all
reciprocal links requests to submit articles to be used on my
site and that I’ll link to them through the resource box of
their articles - IF I decide to publish them - but that I just
don’t do reciprocal linking - period. I don’t even require them
to link to me, but I point out that I have over a hundred fifty
articles on my web site available for use on their site if they
use my resource box, provide author credit and link to me
through my resource box.

That’s my story and I’m sticking with it. No matter how
unpopular it makes me with software vendors selling programs or
link fanatic webmasters looking for extra income and easy
solutions.

Don’t be a linking turkey! Happy Thanksgiving!