The Five C's of Decision Making

In his book "How to be a better Decision Maker" Alan Barker mentions that one of the managerial skills is to make good decisions. The 5 C's of decision making is a basic decision-making process among many managers:

Factors that Affect Your Decision Making

1. Considering: Identifying, exploring, and eliminating the alternatives.
2. Consulting: Getting those people who are affected to be involved. Consulting is part of considering.
3. Committing: Taking responsibility for the decision.
4. Communicating: Explaining your decision and implementing the decision by committing others to it.
5. Checking: Following through to make sure the decision actually works

Immune System and Multivitamins

Immune system

According to various clinical studies nutrients work best in combination with each other rather than singly to allow your immune system to operate at an optimum level. 

Other clinical studies also showed that there was an increase in the number of immunity cells in their body when they consumed supplements with combined nutrients. 

In the USA one particular study revealed that elderly people who consumed multivitamins continuously for six to twelve months showed substantial improvements in cellular immunity. 

Taking a supplement on a regular basis will also boost our nutrient intake from sub-optimal to optimal levels.

Image source:https://reverehealth.com/live-better/brief-overview-immune-system/

Reward Yourself for Studying

Reward Yourself

During the weekdays you wake up early and go to school. You come back from school to do revision and in the evening you do your homework and prepare yourself for the next school day. At the weekend, according to Reevany Bustami and Ellisha Nasruddin, you should "renew yourself with rewards that uplift your spirits and sharpen your mind." 

What do you do so that you are recharged, uplifted, and relaxed? To renew your spirits you can do something that interests you such as: Go to the beach to look at the rising sun or the setting sun, Read an interesting and motivating book. Enjoy a game of Scrabble with your friends. Go for an uplifting movie. Visit your friends or relatives. Go to the zoo. Play computer games. Visit the orphanage or the old folk's home. 

Image source:https://theproductiveengineer.net/a-guide-to-how-to-stop-procrastinating-in-college/

Home Remedies for Vaginal Dryness

Home Remedies for Vaginal Dryness

As you know olive oil is good for the heart. But do you know it may be good for the vagina? According to a couple using it says that it is the best sexual lubricant and it's natural and not greasy. However, oil-based lubricants and latex condoms do not mix. 

Vaginal Dryness

Another couple suggests a product made from an extract of kiwifruit vine. They say it is the best personal lubricant of all. It lubricates and relieves pain associated with vaginal dryness during relations. 

Image source: https://www.womanlog.com/sex/vaginal-dryness

Protect Your Child Alone at Home

Protect Your Child Alone at Home

Take the following precautionary measures for the safety of your child when he is alone at home:

7 Smart Ways to Protect Your Children
 

1. Inform your child not to tell anyone or someone on the phone that he is alone at home.
2. Teach your child to tell the person at the door or on the phone like, "My father is having a nap."
3. Teach your child the right number to call in case of emergency. Tell your child that he should call your handphone or your office whenever necessary. Keep a list of the emergency telephone numbers by the side of the telephone.
4. Make sure that your child is able to lock and unlock all windows and doors.

Image source:https://www.wikihow.com/Be-Safe-When-Home-Alone-(Kids)

Help Your Children Manage Money

Help Your Children Manage Money

Image source:https://www.irishnews.com/lifestyle/2018/06/12/news/how-to-teach-your-kids-to-manage-their-money-1351667/

According to financial planners, children should get an early start to know financial management. They recommend the following:

1. Fix a day every month to give allowance to your children. This is to allow them to plan their spending for the month.
2. Keep a record of their expenditure. Children should be taught to record their monthly expenses.
3. When the children are old enough, open bank accounts of their own. This is to allow them to learn and understand banking procedures.
4. Permit your children to spend the money independently. However, parents should explain to them what kind of expenses is considered extravagant and what kind of expenses is considered investment
5. As soon as appropriate, introduce tools for financial management to them. Inculcate in their minds the importance of these tools.

What are the Abilities the Bosses are Looking for When They Promote Someone?

What are the Abilities the Bosses are Looking for When They Promote Someone?

Here are a few important skills you must polish up if you want to be promoted. These are the factors that bosses are considering:

10 Things You Should Not Say To Your Boss
 

1. The ability to communicate well in writing, speaking, listening, and reading.
2. The ability to make decisions.
3. A team player.
4. Being involved in volunteer activities. Your involvement projects a good image for you and the company.

Image source:https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashiraprossack1/2018/06/29/how-managers-choose-the-employees-they-promote/?sh=13495c95388a

Masturbation and your Children

Masturbation and your Children

Parents should not be disturbed by their children masturbating. They are going through a very natural stage of development. A child's masturbation is often used as a short-cut to pleasure himself and no one else. However, too much masturbation will keep your child away from his friends and is not healthy. Parents can reduce their children's masturbation by helping them to have alternative interests to release their extra energy. Activities like regular exercise, sports, outings, and picnics are definitely beneficial for them. Slowly they will reduce their excessive masturbation.

Image source:https://www.todaysparent.com/family/parenting/tips-for-talking-to-your-kid-about-masturbation/

Effective Study Methods

Effective Study methods

There was a student, now he is a doctor, who scored only A's right from primary education up to pre-university level. He offers the following effective study techniques: 

The Ten Secrets of Passing your Examination with Flying Colours

 1. Do the exercises first: Instead of doing the study first you do the questions and come back to master the relevant section. Exercises will not ask irrelevant questions. 

2. Ask questions: Ask the lecturer a few pertinent questions. He will give you the gist of the subject. It's better than to read a few books. 

3. Memory: According to him you can divide your memory into five parts. It is the maximum that you can remember. Let's say you have 20 points, just group them into five parts.

Image source: https://www.emergingedtech.com/2020/02/6-research-backed-study-techniques/

Networking

Networking

Networking is a win/win situation whereby those involved sharing information and supporting each other's business activities for mutual benefit. Here are some networking tips: 

Networking - 5 Effective Tips

 1. Meet as many people as you can. 

2. When you meet someone, tell the other person what you do. 

3. Act like a host, not a guest. You introduce yourself and you don't wait to be introduced. 

4. While you are networking, don't do business. 

5. You give and you receive. 

6. Follow up to foster a relationship. 

7. Keep in touch regularly. 

8. Update your contacts and discard those unproductive ones.

Image source: https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/5-tips-on-effective-networking/

Protect your Children

How to Protect Your Kids from Predators

In Taiwan the children are informed of the following "4 No's": 

7 Smart Ways to Protect Your Children

 Do not accept gifts from strangers. 

Do not allow others to touch your body. 

Do not be cheated easily. 

Do not do anything alone.

Image source: https://funwithkids.com/body-safety-and-how-to-protect-your-child-from-predators/

You and Your Will

A will is a person's last instructions for his property to be distributed according to his wishes plus other instructions to be carried out. The person who makes the will is a testator.

Why do you need a will?

1. Look after your assets and your family: A will will allow you to take care of your family and your assets in the future the way you want them to be.
2. It's lawful to make a will: You are exercising your right to write a will. By doing so you are able to appoint an executor of your choice to handle your affairs after death. You can also engage a guardian of your choice for your children who are still below the full legal age.
3. Fewer hassles: With a will, you can be sure that your assets will be distributed smoothly and quickly.
4. Flexibility and control: While you are alive you are in control of your assets. You can dispose of part of it or sell all of them or draw up a new will to replace the previous one. The will is only effective upon your death.

The Right Way to Resign

How to Resign from a Job

According to industry experts, you should leave the company without burning your bridges: 

 1. Make known your next move: Talk to your boss honestly about your future whereabouts. If you don't he will find out sooner or later. 

2. Serve enough notice: Give sufficient notice as spelt out in your contract. Leave the company in a nice way. 

3. Do your job as usual: Continue to work your normal way until the last day. You don't want to have a last bad impression. Do you? 

4. Take the initiative to get replacements for the company: You know better than anyone else about your job scope. Your boss will appreciate it.

 5. Keep your network up-to-date: Inform your current boss and colleagues of your new posting. You never know you may want to return to your former company. 

6. Do the exit interview tactfully: Do not complain about your boss or anyone in the office. Give constructive criticism by providing positive and negative feedback about the company.

Image source: https://careersidekick.com/how-to-resign/

How to Keep Healthy While Enjoying Yourself

How to Keep Healthy While Enjoying Yourself

When it is time to celebrate, it is time for fun and a feast. But according to the research, during festive seasons, there are many more incidents of heart attack and serious digestive problems. How to keep yourself healthy while enjoying the joyous festival? 

 1. First and foremost, exercise your self-control so that you will not be tempted to overindulge in high-calorie food. 

2. The best way to avoid overeating is not to go to a party with an empty stomach. 

3. Avoid fried items. Opt for boiled, baked, and steamed food. 

4. Eat meat and dessert moderately 

5. Eat more vegetables and fruit. 

6. If you must drive, do not drink alcohol. Fruit juice and green tea are the best choices. 

7. If you overeat high-calorie meals, you have to exercise harder to get rid of the sin

image source: https://www.medtronicdiabetes.com/loop-blog/8-ways-master-holiday-eating-diabetes/

Eleven Things a University Student Must Do

Eleven Things a University Student Must Do

A prominent Chinese community leader mentions in one of the Chinese newspapers the following eleven things that a university student must do:

1. Cultivate a lifelong healthy living habit: One of the things he highlights is the habit of doing exercise regularly.
2. Establish your ambition early: What is your ambition? A lawyer? An Accountant? A doctor? When you know where you are heading you can focus on your studies and spend more time on them.
3. Study diligently.
4. When you study do not learn by rote, you must understand the subject thoroughly.
5. Learn to think independently. Do not accept fully what you have heard or read. Do the research and find out the truth.
6. Learn to be creative: Creativity is strongly linked to your ability to understand thoroughly, study diligently and think independently.
7. Study Chinese: Raise your ability to listen and speak.
8. Learn English: Learn to read, listen, write and speak.
9. "Learn" the world: He recommends students to read 'International Herald Tribune, 'The Economist' and 'Business Week'.
10. Learn to give speeches and debate.
11. According to him, this is the most important point: To be an honest and committed person. You must be honest not only to people you know but you must be honest at all times. Commitment means when you have decided to do something make sure that you are able to accomplish it at all costs.

Image source: https://www.thelawyerportal.com/blog/first-year-law-student/

Active Ageing -- Gracious Living

Active Ageing -- Gracious Living

Nowadays we often hear elderly parents complain about their loneliness. They complain that their married children, who live apart from them, neglect them and that they are ungrateful and unfilial. Loneliness breeds resentment. It is not helpful for a child-parent relationship nor good for health. They should change their mindset and live an active life. They should socialise with friends and relatives, take up hobbies or participate in various activities. Connecting with others will enrich and brighten their lives. It is good for health as well as good for the child-parent relationship.

Recently I visited a gracious old lady farmer. Although she is more than sixty years old, she is very active. Every day she has a full schedule. Besides tending her fruit farm, she still finds time to take up an English language course and takes part in other outdoor activities. She looks happy, healthy, and confident. On top of that, the relationship with her married children is harmonious.
She is indeed a living example for other elders.

Fitness and Your Children

Fitness and Your Children

There are four components of fitness. They are endurance, strength, flexibility, and body composition.

Endurance:-
There are two kinds of endurance:-
Cardiovascular Endurance: It means your heart and lung are able to sustain an activity such as jogging for an extended period. Other aerobic exercises like swimming and walking also improve cardiovascular endurance.
Muscular Endurance: You build strength by weight lifting, going up the stairs, and cycling.

Strength:-
It means your ability to exert a force. There is a difference between muscular endurance and muscular strength. You use your muscular strength to lift a heavy thing and you use your muscular endurance to carry a heavy object from one place to another.

Flexibility:-
Stretching improves flexibility. It also helps to reduce stress and tension. Many experts believe that stretching reduces the risk of developing an injury while taking part in sports.

Body Composition:-
To determine how fit your child is, body composition is more important than body weight. It means the body fat should not exceed a certain percentage:

Boys
Age Good Bad
7 15-20% >20%
10 15-21% >21%
13 17-23% >23%
16 19-25% >25%

Girls
Age Good Bad
7 16-22% >22%
10 17-24% >24%
13 18-25% >25%
16 18-25% >25%

Help your child to develop total fitness.

Your Investment-linked Insurance Policy

Investment-Linked Insurance Policy

Do you know part of your premium payment is invested in one of the following instruments?

1. Shares in the stock exchange: To maximize returns over the medium to long term. The risk and the return are high.
2. Fixed interest securities, corporate bonds, and fixed deposits: For medium to long term accumulation of capital. The risk and the return are low to moderate.
3. A mixture of the above two: It is for medium to long term accumulation of capital. The risk and the return are moderate to high.

Image source: https://www.flymalaysia.org/investment-linked-insurance-policy/

Getting Ahead at Work

Getting Ahead at Work

Note the following points for your career advancement:

Getting Your Job Done in the Workplace - 3 Top Tips

1. Get along well with people and able to deal with them in a tactful manner.
2. Know the right people from whom you can get support to get your work done.
3. Know your company well so that your goals meet its needs.
4. Identify additional skills required for you to get ahead and know where to get them.
5. Utilize your strength and also the right people you know to reach your goals.
6. Find out the working style of your superiors and act accordingly.
7. Go beyond your boss's expectations.

Image source: https://www.amazon.com/21st-Century-Lifeskills-Handbook-Getting/dp/1616516925

Nutrients for your Eyes: Vitamins, Mineral and Herbs

Eye Health

While you have taken proactive action to look after your eyesight, here are some supplements that you can take to fortify your vision:

Herbs For Your Eyes

Vitamins

Vitamin C: It helps to reduce the risk of cataracts and AMD (age-related macular degeneration). It also helps to alleviate glaucoma by reducing the pressure in the eyes.

Vitamin E: It inhibits excessive glucose cross-linking that affects eyesight.

Beta-carotene: It is converted by the body into vitamin A, as and when required. A mild lack of vitamin A may cause rapid tiring of the eyes. You may be also sensitive to bright lights.

Mineral

Zinc: It is essential for maintaining of good eyesight.

Herbs

Eyebright: Eyebright herbs are used to reduce redness and swelling.

Bilberry: It is used to improve dark adaptation in people with poor night vision.

Marigold: It contains naturally high levels of lutein and zeaxanthin which prevent macular degeneration.

Image source: https://www.allaboutvision.com/nutrition/nutrition_summary.htm

How do Parents Assist their Children in the Learning Process?

How do Parents Assist their Children in the Learning Process?

There are three important things to remember:

1. Maintain the momentum of your child's curiosity in learning. Encourage him to ask. To learn you must ask. When you ask there is an answer.
2. Make sure that your child is in a peaceful and quiet environment conducive to learning and he is always happy to accept new knowledge and to explore new things.
3. Elevate his interest in learning. Assist your child to overcome difficulties during the learning process. Share with him the joy of completing a stage in learning and praise your child about his results in learning.

Image source: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/9-reasons-why-parents-choose-online-learning-programs-for-their-kids/

RELATIONSHIPS - The 5 C's of Customer Care

Customer Service

According to Janelle Barlow of Time Manager International, USA you can instil empathy among service staff by practicing the "5 C's of Intimacy Theory".

1. Communication: It involves proactive questioning and the ability to repeat information accurately.
2. Caring: It means valuing the customer for who he is and not who you would like the person to be.
3. Commitment: It means you take the responsibility to be reliable and committed to customers.
4. Comfort: Go all the way to help customers and also provide supportive comments.
5. Conflict Resolution: Create trust in the relationships so that conflicts can be resolved easily.

How does Alcohol Affect Driving?

How does Alcohol affect a driver?

We are often told that alcohol and driving do not mix. But how bad is the effect of alcohol on driving? According to experts, a drunk driver is affected by the following ways: 

 

Psychomotor Skills:: Coordination and balance abilities are impaired. 

Vision: The brain's control of the eyes is affected adversely by alcohol. A drunk driver tends to look longer at the centre of his driving scene and ignore the important events at the side. 

Perception: A drunk driver is unable to interpret complex sensory information on the road. 

Tracking: Steering a vehicle becomes a difficult task for a drunk driver.

 Information Processing: The processing of information becomes slower as the brain is affected by alcohol. 

Attention: A drunk driver is unable to divide attention to two or more sources of visual information simultaneously. 

 Think of your family and don't drink and drive. If you do they will miss you forever.

Image source: https://www.hardywolf.com/news/maine-drunk-driving-accidents/

Fight Rising Fuel Prices the Wise Way

Fight Rising Fuel Prices the Wise Way

Fast-rising fuel prices have hurt motorists badly. They have to change their routines and habits. To save dollars and cents, here are a few tips for them: 

 1. Avoid making unnecessary car trips. 

2. Shift to lower-grade petrol. 

3. If you can't give up driving altogether, alternate driving with taking public transport. 

4. If it is a short distance, take a walk instead of driving. It is also good for your health. 

5. Schedule several car trips to one round at the same time. 

6. Plan your route to shorten the distance. 

7. When you are waiting for someone, turn off the engine.

Image source: https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/energy/petrol-crosses-rs-87-per-litre-in-delhi-for-first-time-taxes-account-for-61-percent-of-price/story/430740.htmle.

The Truths About Your Job (For Those who Have Just Joined the Workforce)

New Job

Congratulations! You have just landed on the job. When you start working tune your mindset to the following facts: 

 You will not find your job interesting and keep changing all the time. You will do the same thing day in and day out. To find happiness in your job you will have to make it meaningful. You will not find it an easy job. Your job will be full of deadlines and pressure. However, it will help you to grow. Do not think that when you have done your work you are OK. Bear in mind that you have to work as a team. What you do will affect the work of others. Do not think that the job is not suitable for you just because you cannot apply what you have learnt. When you are new to a company you have to adjust yourself and learn. Be patient.

Image source: https://www.pertemps.co.uk/candidates/career-advice/life-at-work/work-life-top-tips-for-settling-into-your-new-job/

Fats: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Fats: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The good fat: Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids lower our risk of heart diseases. You can get polyunsaturated fatty acids from vegetable oil, fatty fish, fish oils, and some nuts. While olive oil, canola oil, and nuts like cashews and peanuts contain a high quantity of monounsaturated fatty acids. 

 The bad fat: Saturated fat raises the blood levels of bad cholesterol (LDL). However, it also raises the blood levels of good cholesterol (HDL) at the same time. It is mostly found in coconut, palm, and palm kernel oils, animal fats, butter, cheese, and other dairy products. 

A Balanced Diet - The 6 vital substances

 The ugly fat: Trans fatty acids or trans fat raises LDL and lowers HDL at the same time. It increases the risk of a heart attack. It quickens the rate of aging and increases the risk of birth defects in newborn babies. It is also linked to certain forms of cancer and diabetes. 

How do you know a product contains trans fat? Look at the label. If it includes 'shortening', 'partially hydrogenated vegetable oil' or 'hydrogenated vegetable oil', the food contains trans fat. Major sources of trans fat are: 1% Breakfast cereal and sweets 3% Salad and topping, potato chips, corn chips, and popcorn 4% Household shortenings 8% Fried potatoes 17% Margarine 21% Animal products 40% Cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, and pizzas Food labeled as 'free of trans fat' should not contain more than 0.1g per 100g (solids) or not more than 0.1ml per 100ml (liquids).

Image source: https://www.winstonmedical.org/fats-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/