Students Of Success

Work-related stress is on the rise and according to Statistics Canada, the repercussions are numerous. Increasingly, individuals are finding that their job demands more of them- more hours, more flexibility, and more qualifications. The end result of such demands is more stress, and people are having a hard time coping with it.

Many individuals respond to workplace stress by working more. Attaining a sense of security in your job or receiving the praise that you deserve often requires that you exert more energy in order to differentiate yourself from the rest. Consequently, longer hours at work leaves less time for family and social responsibilities, thus adding to the list of stressful factors. For some, it may begin to feel like a vicious cycle that they are powerless to stop.

Enduring the difficulties of workplace stress can be more destructive than we may think. According to Statistics Canada, people suffering from high stress tend to develop chronic conditions such as arthritis and back problems. People’s minds and bodies do have a breaking point. As a result, thousands of Canadian workers are seeking help from specialized doctors and other non-conventional medical practitioners whose fees can become a financial burden.

Provincial health plans vary according to one’s province of residence, and not all plans are equal when it comes to coverage. Spending time talking to a trained psychologist can be beneficial, but can cost $120 and up for one 45-minute session. Unfortunately, regardless of the emotional benefit, a psychologist’s services are not covered by the Canadian government health plan. Many Canadians are avoiding these costs and easing their level of stress by purchasing supplemental health insurance to cover these extra services. Psychiatrists, physiotherapists, registered massage therapists, Osteopath, Naturopath, Chiropractors, podiatrist and other types of therapists all have coverage in many supplemental health insurance plans.

Plans vary and can be customized to fit individual needs. For example, the extended health care benefits of Flexcare would include coverage for the fees of a psychologist or an approved social worker. The benefits would cover an $80 maximum for your first visit and a $65 maximum for subsequent visits, with a limit of 10 visits per anniversary year.

An unhealthy work environment, competition and extraordinary long hours at work are worrisome factors that rarely go away on their own. In order to alleviate workplace stress, some people will consult a naturopath or visit a massage therapist whose costly charges can be covered by supplemental health insurance. The purchase of supplemental health insurance provides individuals with a variety of options, a sense of ease and a decrease in overall stress.

Whenever new regulations regarding the auto industry are imposed, it reminds me
of two parents arguing about their child. One parent wants to make an unpopular
decision that will better their son or daughter in the long run. The other doesn’t see
any long-term gains just short-term pain. The child usually takes the side with no
short-term pain. Last week the Bush Administration announced new Corporate
Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) guidelines to automakers that now include large
SUV’s. Under the new rules, light trucks and SUV’s must average 24 miles per gallon
by 2011, up from 21.6 mpg, an increase of more than 10% in 5 years. Automakers
say these new regulations pose serious challenges and prices will rise a few hundred
dollars per vehicle, hurting consumers. The Bush Administration said the new
regulations will help reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil over the next few
years.

Like before, an automaker can use vehicles that get above the requirement to offset
those that get below. However, in order to achieve the higher average, automakers
will need to introduce new technologies to make fuel efficient vehicles even more
fuel efficient, and make gas guzzling SUV’s drink fuel at a slower pace. Today many
new technologies improve power and reduce fuel consumption. Improved
aerodynamics, reduced weight and more efficient drive trains will help achieve these
gains. As automakers point out, there is a price to pay for all of these impending
improvements.

Although these are the biggest changes to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy
guidelines we’ve seen in a long time, they are long overdue. Over the last 10 years
we’ve seen a dramatic rise in large SUV sales like the Cadillac Escalade, Lincoln
Navigator and Hummer H2. As these vehicles have become more commonplace, it’s
time that they meet more strict regulations.

We’ve come a long way since the 1970’s when the government made their first big
push to increase fuel economy. Today, our cars are cleaner, more fuel efficient and
more powerful. But we wouldn’t have any of these improvements unless the
Government took the action it took. Whenever there is a challenge, automakers can
turn to there best and brightest for the solutions.

As it stands right now, large SUV’s don’t make much sense. Hopefully these new
guidelines will force automakers to downsize their offerings and push customers
into more sensible vehicles. And it’s best to get this done before the next spike in
fuel prices. When prices spike due to a supply issue, vehicles like the Hummer H2
will become the hot potato that nobody will want to be caught with. Who’s side will
you be on then?

Peter Johnson is the chief writer for http://www.all-about-car-selection.com

Spirit in the work place?

Absurd, you say? After all why should it be there? We’re here to work and earn our daily wage.

On the weekends and in the evening many of us watch some amazing sporting feats. Some of us may even participate in some great events. What spirit those athletes have! How they throw everything they have to gain an extra yard, drive an extra foot or shave off an extra millisecond.

Then there’s Monday morning. What happens? People come to work and shuffle paper, see prospects, perhaps they make a sale, deal with customer complaints, speak to suppliers, arrange meetings, hold meetings, read e-mail, mail, send mail, e-mail. Are they challenged? Do they really want to be there? What would they be doing if they weren’t there?

You as manager or owner wonder why the quarterly results aren’t what you predicted. Even with a good spin they still suck like a bad dream. So what’s the problem? Motivation? You sent the sales guys to Zig Ziglar last year and that didn’t help. Sales training is not going to help the finance department get with the program. They don’t take any ownership of the results because they merely pulled them from the system.

So what could it take to have your team or your business working like a Pro sports team?

Involvement, accountability, understanding of the vision, learning more about the business, learning more about the function they perform and even about their team.

Now ole Fred Taylor really killed spirit when he decided to break work down into its constituent parts. In the Taylorist days no one had ownership of the end product. People were not doing their best and nobody really cared. Mediocrity ruled the day. They clocked their hours and were paid. They did what was asked of them and nothing more, mere factors of production, that’s it. They didn’t care for their labors and hence quality products were a dream. Consultants leaped on this and found ways of improving quality, reducing waste, saving time, working smarter not harder. Still, however the worker was not really engaged, just worked harder in the name of productivity.

Total Quality Management (TQM), however, in a weird way actually brings spirit back into the place of work! Things slowly began to change. The Japanese approach where anybody can shut down a line at any time brings ownership of the final product back to the workers. The workers thus had a return of their integrity; they could have a mission in life, a value, a purpose. Amazing, they could swear they had made the best gosh darn car there was. And mean it!

So could it be that by not doing your best and saying that you were is a lie? We know how we hate liars! Just ask a recent ex US President! They say lying corrupts the soul; it sure has corrupted our business world. From poor quality products to ENRON scale corruption. Can we turn over a new leaf? Can we take pride in our activities? Youbetcha!

Now if TQM’s philosophy is about getting things right the first time and doing better tomorrow than you did today. It could be seen as pretty close to a religious tenant. In this day and age where we are seeing the return of religious morals back to the work place, TQM and its resulting focus on excellence is a way in which we are doing it. Perhaps not striving for excellence could be contrived as heresy. If Monty Python were a manager he’d have his staff stoned, with rocks not pot!

What does this mean for us as CEO’s, managers or even supervisors?

We have to focus on what we are being and let our staff or our teams be the best they can be. It’s about ‘being’, not doing. We’re human beings, after all. We need to be.

We make small changes in the way we do things. Kaizen is an example of that. Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing and the resulting process improvement are all about how we do things. Doing things in an improved manner leads to incremental changes not to huge changes, just marginal change. Which for many industries and business is good enough. It affects what, and how, we are doing our jobs and producing results.

If an industry is in transformation making process changes isn’t going to do much. It’s like Nero fiddling while Rome burnt to the ground. If we want to make huge transformations in our business we’ll have to focus on what we are ‘being’, in order to achieve the results we are focused on. In order to counter the threat of Apple IBM had to transform it’s business model. It had to be in the PC market. While it was in the Computer market generally it wasn’t at that point in the PC market. It had to cahnge the way it operated to counter Apple’s strategy and success. Or go away like many older businesses that could not transform themselves. No small changes there! IBM did and it survived to compete, and it’s still in the game growing stronger every day. COuld your organization do the same?

We as managers, business owners and staff, need to create something that is not possible in our current reality. This means we have to be involved in developing our strategies for going forward. The we have to ensure they are implemented. Implementation and execution of the strategies is of paramount importance. Stepping boldly where we have not stepped before. Who really believed man would walk on the moon less than ten years after JFK made his promise? So who believes your business can be something it currently isn’t? Can we strive for 100 percent improvement, as opposed to 10 percent? Why not? What’s holding you back? What’s not feasible? Or is that only true because you don’t know that there is a new technology that will change everything, overnight? What are you going to ‘be’all o when you grow up?

Let the spirit return to the workplace. No, I am not talking about having a religious session in the lunchroom. Let people be all of what they are capable of. Let your business transform. Not a slow change or death, but an amazing transformation. Let it fly and your team along with it!

As the US army says – Be all you can be.

By Graeme Nichol of Arcturus Advisors. Please visit their website at http://www.arcturusadvisors.com. Arcturus Advisors works with business leaders and their teams to close the gap between great strategies and mediocre results. We use the Best Year Yet process to get you to focus on a shared vision and agree on how to achieve it. We get team members to value and respect the individual members and achieve results that far exceed individual contribution.

For many it may just be one part of diet through desserts but, Honey is lot more than that. It is one of the oldest remedial components widely used in many homes. The best part about honey is that it can be found in any season and can be easily stored. It is also used as a healing agent due to its therapeutic value. It has saved many lives who suffered from burns, ulcers, and other wounds.

It has good amount of minerals and vitamins which are very essential for us. Honey has an attribute which kills the bacteria. Covering the wound with honey and then bandaging it, heals the wound quickly. It fights stomach related problems like diarrhea and dysentery. Raw honey is known to treat 90% of all allergies. Bearing in mind that honey is sweet it helps keep your teeth strong and sharp.

Simple Home Remedies

To reduce stomach ache take 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp lemon juice and mix it with warm water. This should be taken first thing in the morning.

Take 6 ounces of honey, 2 ounces of glycerin and lemon juice of 2 lemons. Mix all the ingredients, bottle it, and use it when you suffer from sore throat.

Honey is great for your digestive system as well as problems like constipation. To combat poor digestion mix 1 tsp honey with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar. Add good amount of water to get a proper taste. Drink it to get relief from digestion problems.

Other stomach problems can be helped by having 10 gms of honey on empty stomach in the morning avoid eating for next 1 hour. Continue this regularly to get relief.

Honey can be used as a substitute for sugar which would help control your intake of calories.

It can be used as a lotion to cure eye problems like conjunctivitis as well as boils in your eye. Make a mixture of equal amount of honey and warm water. Once cooled use it as an eye bath or a lotion.

Use honey to improve your appetite.

To prevent migraine have 2 tsp of honey at meals. If you are suffering from migraines take 1 dessert spoon of honey mixed with 1/2 glass of warm. Drink this liquid. If required, repeat this in next 20 minutes.

You can use honey as mouthwash by mixing 1 tbsp. of honey in a cup of warm water. This mouthwash kills germs and bacteria present in the mouth.

In ratio of 1:2 take honey and luke warm water respectively. In this add cinnamon powder and make a paste. Massage it to the itchy area; you will notice the difference in a short period. Very good treatment for allergies.

Mix 2 tsp. honey and one tsp. cinnamon powder in 1 cup of hot water. This mix could be taken by arthritis patients every morning and evening to cure arthritis.

To remove bladder infections take 2 tbsp cinnamon powder and 1 tsp honey in a glass of lukewarm water. Drink it to destroy germs in the bladder.

Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article. Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.

Sharon Hopkins is the webmaster of sites, which provides home based remedial measures for all times. Natural Cure By Using Honey. With its useful properties it has done wonders to cure illnesses.

There are several types of real Christmas trees, all of which are a cheap choice over artificial. The most common types of Christmas trees are the six-foot Scotch pines, which fit nicely into the average home living room.

One type of Christmas tree is the deodora cedar, which has blue-green short needles with pendulous needle tips. Another cedar, the Eastern red, has shiny dark green leaves and gives off a great scent, though it’s sticky to the touch and will only last 2-3 weeks. As this tree dries out quickly it is best used in a humid climate.

One of the most popular of Christmas trees in the southeast part of the U.S. is the Leland Cypress, with dark green or gray foliage. Its branches are feathery and its scent is pleasant but light. This tree is ideal in the home of allergen-troubled folks.

The Douglas fir is a popular type of Christmas tree, and easily flocked. It has a great fragrance and lives longer than a lot of other trees. Its leaves are either dark green or blue. Its sister fir, the Fraser, has needles that are flatter and dark green. It holds its needles well and gives off a pleasant aroma. For a more citrus aroma from your Christmas tree you should choose the grand fir, with dark green shiny needles. If you want a more durable tree that can hold your heavy ornaments the noble fir is a great choice. It lives longer and healthier as a Christmas tree and makes an attractive, strong and durable wreath as well.

Pine and spruce are too other commonly used types of Christmas trees. The pine has a great fragrance. The spruce however, dries quickly and its needles drop rapidly.