7 Effective Ways to Cope With Unemployment

The U.S. unemployment rate is at 8.1% with no clear sign of improvement. What do you do when you are suddenly retrenched from a well-paid job? You have been working in a company for more than 20 years and you are given a house and a car plus other benefits. Here are practical ways to face such a challenging situation:

1.      Spend only on what you need: Previously you were able to spend more than necessary and went on vacation overseas. Now you have to cut back and spend only on essential items.

2.      Live frugally: You have to live in your own small house and adjust your lifestyle. You will have to send your children to attend a school which is less expensive without suffering quality of education. It is also necessary not to buy more expensive clothing and to spend less on holidays.  

3.      Accept a lower-paying job: Accept an offer from your good friend who is willing to help you out.  The job may be paying so much less than what you used to earn and it involves a lot of traveling. It is just good enough to maintain your family‘s livelihood.    

4.      Be happy with what you have: Learn to appreciate what you have and be content with your present situation. Things could be worse. 

5.      An attitude of gratitude: Instead of a why-me attitude which leads to anger and resentment, be appreciative of people who lend you a hand in time of difficulties. Think about the new job which keeps you afloat.    

6.      Continuous learning: Continue to educate yourself and update your skills. Learning new things keeps your mind alert and sharp.

7.      Be prepared for opportunities: When you focus on upgrading yourself, you stand a better chance when an opportunity knocks on your door. The most important thing is to take care of your health, look at the bright side of things and continue to look for a better job.   

Coping with trying time requires resilience, courage, resolve, and determination. Tough time will not last, tough people, do. 

Related post:

Effective Ways to Deal with Unemployment

Why You should be building a Part-Time Business Now

If you are thinking of a business of your own, it is time to think seriously about it. The economic situation is getting worse. You can work hard and smart but there is no guarantee that you will be able to keep your job. 

1.       Jobs are no longer secured: What do you hear every day about businesses? Downsizing, retrenchment, restructuring. Those who suffer are people like you and me. You may be a valued employee but that is no certainty that you will be able to work in the company as long as you wish. Take a smart and wise move, think of an idea and translate it into goods or services that you can offer to others, and do it part-time. 

2.       Skills to complement your current job: I like to write and writing is a skill because I am a part-time blogger and article writer. As I write every day I get my day job done more effectively like writing better reports, doing better presentations, and communicating more clearly and precisely. The more you know the more skillful you will be to get things done effectively and efficiently.

3.       Additional income: Are you thinking of getting additional income to combat the rising cost of living? Your part-time job is the answer. You need additional income to meet expenses,  clear your debt, and to save more.

4.        Do what you like and enjoying it: The most important thing is to do things you like so that you can sustain your effort. Treat the part-time job, such as taking photographs, as a hobby to release your daily stress and tension. 

5.       Self-confident: The ability to work your own way will boost your self-esteem. A part-time job is a safety net in case you are axed. You worry less and you focus more on your tasks at hand.

6.       Feeling good: You will wake and get up with a delightful feeling. You will be enthusiastic and hopeful because there is a direction in life for you.

7.       More knowledgeable: You will gain valuable experience in your part-time business. The more you learn and know and the more capable and resourceful you will be in your daily encounter with obstacles and problems.

Take action and change your life for the better. Start a part-time business now and build a more promising future.

Related articles:

7 Positive Ways to do Your Part-Time Business
7 Things to Consider Before You Start a Business of Your Own

7 Things to Consider Before You Start a Business of Your Own

Operating your own business is a great way to earn a living.  You are the boss and you can do it your way. There are a few things to look into in order to do it successfully:

     

1.       Business sense and plan: You have to come up with an idea and convert it into products or services.  You need a business plan to market your products or services. It has to be better than others to survive in this competitive world. Is your business viable? Will there be a demand for your goods or services?  Do things you are good at and enjoy doing. If you are good at cooking, do you want to start a restaurant business?

2.    Sufficient fund: Do an operating budget and forecast your revenue and estimate your expenses in relation to expected income. You need sufficient funds to carry out your business smoothly. How much capital do you need initially to equip your restaurant with furniture, kitchen equipment, and utensils?

3.     Positive ways to do your business:  On a day-to-day basis, do what is important.  Take action immediately as planned.  Think positive and be confident.  Be passionate about your business. Focus and avoid distractions.  Perseverance and persistence are important factors for a successful venture. Be alert to business trends and stay ahead by continuous learning. Work, make mistakes, and be wiser.  Be resourceful and creative to solve problems. Get help if necessary.

4.       Focus on the business, not the money: Pay attention to your business, your products, or services and how you can serve the customers better and the money will take care of itself.  Give what your customers want and you will get what you want eventually.

5.    Hardworking: Working smart is not enough, you have to operate your business on a regular basis and gain the trust of your customers over time.

6.    Be flexible: Review your business performance from month to month. Be sensitive to business conditions and adjust accordingly. 

7.       Location: Look for a place with a heavy flow of traffic. As in a food business, a corner shop lot is always good as a catering outlet. 

Get your business started, start small, learn and expand.


Related article:

7 Positive Ways to do Your Part-Time Business

7 Positive Ways to do Your Part-Time Business

Are you doing business part-time and working full-time? Do you enjoy doing it? I am a part-time blogger and article writer. I like what I do and I have been doing it since 2007. I knew nothing about the Internet when I started.  The only thing I enjoy doing is writing. Here are 7 positive steps to take and manage your part-time business effectively: 

1.      Do what you like: To sustain your part-time business, you must choose to do things you like and enjoy. Discover your strengths. What do you do better than others, write, draw, sing, create, negotiate or capture images?

2.      Do what is important: When you work part-time, time is limited. You have to decide one important thing that you must do.  As for me, the most important thing is to write an article a day.

3.      Do it your way: Whatever you do, there are many others who are doing the same thing.  You have to be creative, unique, and be different. Writing is the same; you cannot take a shortcut and be a copycat.  You have to use your own words and write in your own style to stand out.  

4.      Positive mental attitude: Be confident in what you do. Avoid negative people pouring cold water on you.  Believe in yourself that you will be successful. Be prepared to face obstacles along the way and be determined to overcome them. Ask for help when you need to. Keep reading and learning every day, search on the Net to get the information you want.

5.      Focus: Develop a productive habit to do your work with focus and without distractions. Find a convenient time and a place to get things done.

6.      Passionate:  Work with your heart and soul. You can only do quality work if you are deeply interested in what you do.   A part-time job is challenging. To preserve is to be passionate about your business day in and day out. 

7.      Start early every day: I start my day early at around 6. Before I go to work I have time to check my email, my stats and work on a new article. I sleep early too at around 10. Before I go to bed I try to come up with an idea for the following day. When you work part-time you have to find the time. Becoming an early riser is the best thing you can do.    There is time to work on your project, have your breakfast, and go to work on time without rushing about.

How do you manage your part-time business and keep up with a full-time job?

Top 15 Business Quotes

You may not be doing business, it is like friendship, it has to nurture relationships, build trust and focus on fair dealing. Learn from the wisdom of doing business and apply it to your day to day dealing with others: 

1.      I have found no greater satisfaction than achieving success through honest dealing and strict adherence to the view that, for you to gain, those you deal with should gain as well.

~ Alan Greenspan

2.      The absolute fundamental aim is to make money out of satisfying customers.

~ John Egan

3.      Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.

~– Bill Gates

4.      All lasting business is built on friendship.

~Alfred A. Montapert

5.      If you don't drive your business, you will be driven out of business.

~B. C. Forbes

6.      Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them.

~W. Edwards Deming

7.      Success or failure in business is caused more by the mental attitude even than by mental capacities.

~Walter Scott

8.      There are two kinds of companies, those that work to try to charge more and those that work to charge less. We will be the second.
~Jeff Bezos

9.      There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.

~Sam Walton

10.  The golden rule for every business man is this: “Put yourself in your customer’s place.

~ Orison Swett Marden

11.  A man should never neglect his family for business.

~ Walt Disney

12.  Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.

~ Zig Ziglar

13.  People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. It doesn’t make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps.

~ Mary Kay Ash

14.   If you work just for money, you’ll never make it, but if you love what you’re doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.

~ Ray Kroc

15.  To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart

~Thomas Watson, Sr.

Do More to Earn More

It is possible for you to earn more in whatever you do in making a living. The most important thing is to help others to get what they want so that you will eventually get what you want. You can earn more in full-time employment, running your own business, or doing freelance work.   

·         Employment: Your working hours are fixed, but the amount you can earn varies widely. It does not matter, you can  improve your earnings by:

o   Adjusting (do your research to show that you are underpaid)

o   Asking  for a raise

o   Getting  annual pay increment

o   Getting  a promotion

The point is that you will be able to earn more but the working hours remain the same. To earn more you need to demonstrate and observe the following:

1.       Be productive and exceed expectations

2.       A positive working attitude

3.       Ask when the time is right

4.       Be noticed by your boss about your performance

5.       Ask for it and not demand

·         Business: Doing business is for the long term. Building trust, getting customer satisfaction, and creating the right products or services takes time. The most important thing is to serve the needs of others and profit is just the by-product of your business. The more you do for your customers, the more business and the more earnings you will get in the long run.

·         Freelance: What are your interests and passion? Be productive, you can always do what you enjoy during your free time and at the same time make some money. I think blogging is a good example. You can do it part-time or full-time. When you are interested to write, you can turn your writing habit into a source of passive income. It does not take long, just one or two hours’ work, to write an article, post an article and do some social networking activities every day.  You just need to paste some AdSense ads on your blog to start making money by itself. You can even earn more by selling your own products or be an affiliate. To attract more readers to your blog, you have to write for them, answering their questions and solving their problems.   

To earn more, you have to do more and provide more value to others. It is important to enjoy what you do so that you will be able to do more and maximize your earning potential.

Be productive, do more for others and get more.

10 Positive Attitudes to Get Things Done Productively

The key to get things done is to adopt the right mental attitude. When your thinking is right, you will act accordingly and do what is right.

1. Quality: Doing quality work is the main aim and the right attitude to get things done. It is not necessary to be perfect but go for excellence by doing the best you can. Provide value and substance in what you do.

 2. Integrity: Be honest and do what is right. Do not succumb to bribery or threats to do otherwise. You walk tall when your conscience is clear.

3. Be focused: You work with concentration when you like what you do and you enjoy the process of doing it. Develop an interest in what you do.

4. Learning: You may be competent, but you have to do continuous learning to stay up-to-date. To learn new ways of doing things is to be more effective and productive. It is the only way to stay ahead.

5. Innovation: Challenge yourself to do the usual things differently. To change is to seek improvement. It is an ongoing process.

6. Pride: Be confident of yourself and be proud of what you do. Feel good about your talents and expertise.

7. Avoid small staff and distractions: Stay organized and do what is important. Avoiding distractions and ignoring minor issues is an effective way to get things done productively.

8. Enthusiasm: Are you passionate about what you do? Are you interested in your work? Do you wake up in the morning and eager to get things done? You work with your heart and soul when you are enthusiastic about what you do.

 9. Be energetic: To work with energy and zest is to be fit and healthy. Regular exercise is the way to promote energy, alertness, and calm.

10. Create trust and authority: When you work diligently and get the right things done, you will, over time, gain trust and authority from others.

The secret of getting things done is to act! ~ Dante Alighieri

5 Ways to Achieve Greatness

Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. ~William Shakespeare

Successful and famous people are remembered for what they do for mankind. Here are some of them: Thomas Edison, Mother Teresa, Bill Gates, Helen Keller, Shakespeare, Beethoven, Alexander Graham Bell, Napoleon, George Washington, Columbus, Albert Einstein, Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, and Louis Pasteur.

Do not worry about what you can do. You can do something in your own way to attain greatness. Here are the ways to do it:

1. Think possible: You are limited by what you think you can do. You never know what you can do until you do it. Don’t give excuses to yourself. Be positive and go ahead and do it.

2. Think big and aim high: Be ambitious and break out of your comfort zone. Go to uncharted territory. Go beyond what you can do to achieve greatness. Set a big goal and go for it.

3. Be clear: What can you do to contribute to society? What do you want others to remember you by? Think of something you want to do and it is meaningful to you and useful to others.

4. Be passionate be enthusiastic: Enjoy what you do and respond to events positively. Accept setbacks and failures as challenges. Be Focused. Do you work every day and be down-to-earth. Do what you should do and do not think of what you can get. When you give your best, the rest will take care of itself.

5. Perseverance: Achieving greatness is a continuous journey in life. There is no destination. Working consistently and persistently is the way to go. It is about working hard and working smart over a long period of time.

To achieve greatness is to reach your highest potential.

10 Productive Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Blog

TRAFFIC

According to Blogpulse, there are more than 165 million blogs on the Net. To attract readers to your blog, you need to do things productively and market your blog and content vigorously.

1. Blog about what you know: Write about things that you are interested in and passionate about. Write on subjects that you are knowledgeable about and good at. This is to develop and build your authority and trust over time as you write more and more articles.

2. Be productive and get ready articles in advance: How many articles do you have right now ready to be posted: one, two or seven? The more articles you have in hand the better it is. The most important thing is that you want to avoid interruption in your posting schedule. When you, as an example, post an article a day, you have to keep to your schedule even when you are not writing when you are on holiday or unwell. Another thing is that you do not want to meet a posting deadline and write your article in a hurry and under stress at the expense of quality. An article needs to be written in a few sessions from gathering ideas, writing the actual article and proofreading it.

3. Use Scoop.it to notify major social networking sites: An effective way to promote your article as soon as it is posted is to use scoop.it to notify major social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. According to Alexa, more than 46% of my traffic source is from Facebook (upstream site).

4. Join blog carnivals to get inbound links: When you have a new article posted, another productive thing to do is to submit your post and participate in relevant blog carnivals. You will gain new visitors to your site. Incidentally the more links you get from blog carnivals the higher will be your Technorati Authority Rank.

5. Submit original articles to article directories and do guest posting for more inbound link: There are two more ways to get more traffic to your site. Send you original articles to Ezinearticles with a link in each article to your site. Readers will read your articles and then follow the link and land on your site. The other effective way is to do guest posting on other sites and attract readers who have never been to your site.

6. Comments on other blogs and participate in forums: Constructive comments on other sites are a good way to attract the blog owners’ attention to visit your site. Taking part in forums to offer solutions to problems is also an effective way to get others to notice you and visit your site.

7. Post consistently and regularly to your site: To sustain blog traffic, you need to post articles consistently and regularly like operating a retail outlet. Business must go on in order to keep your customers.

8. Keep on learning about blogging tips: There are always new things to learn in the blogosphere. Keep learning to stay ahead and be ahead. Learn and employ methods that are effective to attract visitors to your sites.

9. Display your Traffic Rank and PageRank widgets: Your Traffic Rank and PageRank are good measurements of your popularity, authority and trust. The higher the ranking of your site, the more influential will be your site and the easier it is to attract visitors.

10. Blog directories: submit your blog to blog directories. It is another way to promote your blogs and get other bloggers to visit your site.

To stay productive, focus on activities that bring you the results.

Are You Writing Effectively at Work?

The first goal of writing is to have one's words read successfully. ~Robert Brault

To write effectively is to inform, persuade and convince others to take action. As you move up the corporate ladder, it is all the more necessary for you to write effectively and productively. Here are the tips that you can use and hone your writing skills to get noticed and be ahead. You, too, can be an effective writer:


1. Be confident: Do not doubt yourself. It is important to have a positive mindset that you will be able to write effectively. Bear in mind that the more you write, the better you will be able to write. It is a matter of constant practice.

2. Write consistently: Like doing everything else, to be effective, it is necessary to write regularly and frequently. The most effective method is to start a blog and write stuff that you are good at and interested in. The other advantage is that, by writing constantly, you will be able to develop and build a trusted brand for the things that you are knowledgeable about.

3. Do research: It is also necessary to get the right information to support your writing. Search the Net, read books, and be sure of what you write because you want to gain the trust of others in you.

4. Read and learn: Read widely and learn more from experts, like Copyblogger, about effective writing. Extensive reading also expands your word power.

5. Be clear, concise, and focus: You should be very precise about what you want to write and be brief and focus. Go straight to the point and avoid padding.

6. Write logically, sequentially, and cohesively: The purpose of your written work should be stated clearly in your opening paragraph. Subsequent paragraphs should provide details to support your main message. You will call for action in the final paragraph of your writing.

7. Write with care: Check your work and avoid mistakes in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Your effectiveness and credibility will be discounted when you cannot write in proper English.


8. Write to be read easily and quickly: At the workplace, people are impatient and they are working under stress. Write in bullet points or number your points so that your message can be digested easily and quickly. Use short sentences with short paragraphs and simple words.

9. Write with energy: Write when you are relaxed and your mind is fresh. Write when there are no distractions so that your train of thought is not interrupted unnecessarily.

10. An effective writing method: Write in three separate sessions. In the first sessions, you try to get as many ideas on the subject that you are writing about. In another session, you do the actual writing by using the ideas generated. In the last session, you look at your own work critically. You want to make sure that what you have written is relevant with no spelling or grammar mistakes.

Start writing today and every day to be an effective writer.

Image source: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/practice-english-skills/

Be Effective in Time Management

Until we can manage TIME, we can manage nothing else. ~ Peter F. Drucker


The meaning of time management


Time management is self-management. It is to fill the time and do the things that matter the most to you. The most important thing is to enjoy what you do. Life is challenging and yet it is satisfying. When you like what you do every day, you will look forward to each new day hopefully and enthusiastically.



The way to manage time

If you want to make good use of your time, you've got to know what's most important and then give it all you've got. ~ Lee Iacocca



In order to spend time wisely, usefully, and productively, you have to organize and plan ahead and get things done promptly as planned. When you delay or procrastinate, it will take you a long time to reach your goals or get things done.



What do you want to accomplish?

Many people seem to think that success in one area can compensate for failure in other areas. But can it really?… True effectiveness requires balance. ~ Stephen Covey



The ultimate aim of time management is to achieve a balanced life. It means you are able to allocate your time to take care of many indispensable areas of your life. You cannot overlook the importance of each one. Your success in time management is to show how capable you are in spending your time to cover these areas and live a balanced life. Do you think you have spent enough time in the following areas?



• Work: When you enjoy what you do to earn a living, it is no longer work. If you don’t, you have to find happiness at work because you are going to spend more than 8 hours a day at the workplace. It is essential to like what you do while you spend time at work. To work is to earn an income to support your family and do everything else.



• Play: You work hard and you also need to play hard. To play is to exercise and to regain your balance after a stressful day at work.

Investing time to be physically fit is an important part of time management.



• Rest: To rest is to take breaks while at work. Your performance diminishes when you work non-stop. You are not wasting time when you take a break.



• Family: This is a crucial area to invest your time. Your family is at the centre of your life. You have to spend time to communicate, interact and have fun together.



• Reading and learning: It may not be urgent, but you still need to allocate time to read, learn and update yourself in order to stay ahead in this competitive world.



• Thinking: Spending some time in the evening to review your performance is time well-spent. Are you happy with what you have done for the day? Did you manage to complete the tasks on your to-do list? It is also a good time to plan ahead and get organized for the following day.



• Relationship building: We are all connected. We share, exchange, give and we receive in return. It is mutually beneficial to spend time and be connected with those we care for.



• Personal finance: If you don’t spend time to work out a budget and live within your means, you will regret later with unmanageable debt. You have to spend time and review your spending and save for your children’s education and your retirement.

At the end of the day, you will be happy that you have spent time doing what is worthwhile and fulfilling. When you do, you have, effectively, lived a day with contentment.

We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. ~ Nelson Mandela

There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing. ~ Brian Tracy

10 Effective Ways to Create a Positive First Impression of your Blog

According to BlogPulse, there are more than 164 million blogs in the blogosphere. Therefore, a visitor only spends a few seconds to look at your blog and decide to stay or move on. In order to create a good first impression in such a short time and attract the attention of your readers, here are the most important things to create a positive first impression quickly:

1. Know your niche at a glance: A visitor must know at a glance what your blog is all about without thinking. Tell in just a few words what you are blogging about.

2. White background: Avoid dark background to turn people off. Your blog should be aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and use fonts that are easy to read.

3. Allow a visitor to get what he or she wants easily and immediately: Don’t make a visitor think what to do next in order to read one of your posts. It has to be there right in front of the visitor. It is also important that your articles are written in bullets points and with keywords highlighted. Avoid putting ads inside an article. Don’t make a reader scroll to many pages to read one post just for your own purposes. Readers come first.

4. Your “About” and “Contact” pages: It should be above the fold so that a visitor can get to know more about you easily and contact you if necessary. Your photo should be in the “About” page.

5. Fewer ads: When you put ads everywhere, It is an indication that you are more interested in yourself to make money rather than looking after the interest of the readers. In the end, you don’t get what you want because you don’t give the readers what they want.

6. Easy to navigate: Make it very easy for visitors to go about your blog and attract them to stay longer.

7. No pop-ups: Do not interrupt and distract a visitor reading your article by trying to get their e-mail address with a pop-up. Readers will willingly subscribe to your RSS feed or give you their email addresses when they find your site interesting.

8. Provide a list of your popular posts: This is the way to attract a visitor to stay longer with more interesting posts to read.

9. Interact: It is essential to accept comments from visitors so that you can get ideas from them and build rapport.

10. Social media: Are there links to allow readers to connect and communicate with you easily at your Facebook and Twitter pages?

What are the other effective ways to create a positive first impression of your blog to visitors?

7 Positive Ways to Deal with Failures

Success is ninety-nine percent failure. ~Soichiro Honda

Failures in life are inevitable. We can’t always make the right move. What can you do when you encounter failures? Deal with them positively:

1. Don’t blame others: Accept a failure as your own doing. If you blame others, you will not look at yourself critically and identify your own mistakes. Be courageous to accept it; people will respect you for your truthfulness and sincerity.

2. Analyze: Do a post mortem and find out what actually has gone wrong. Is it possible to avoid it? Find out how you can work smarter to avoid making the same mistakes.

3. Learn valuable lessons: React to every failure as a valuable lesson to be learnt. Meeting failures are better than inaction. There is no progress without trying.

Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes. ~John Dewey

4. Do it another way: You will be a lot wiser and avoid making mistakes that you have made in the past. You will do things differently and the chances are that you will be more likely to be successful.

Remember the two benefits of failure. First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn't work; and second, the failure gives you the opportunity to try a new approach. ~Roger Von Oech

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. ~Henry Ford


5. Be Optimistic: Do not allow failures to dampen your spirits and avoid negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, anger, anguish, and disappointment. Failures are not the end of the world. Bounce back and be hopeful that things will eventually work out alright.


Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. ~Winston Churchill

6. Failures are the stepping stones to success: To fail is to learn and improve. To succeed is to keep trying.

You always pass failure on the way to success. ~Mickey Rooney

7. Don’t dwell on failures: Don’t allow failures to hold you back. Start a new day with a new beginning. Go ahead in life confidently.

There is no failure except in no longer trying. ~Elbert Hubbard


It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure. ~Bill Gates

7 Advantages to Continue Working When You Retire

According to an article, As First Baby Boomers Retire, Many Facing Personal Finance Disasters, more than 10,000 baby boomers a day have turned 65 since January 2011, a pattern that will continue for the next 19 years. However, 60% of baby boomers don’t have enough for retirement. What can you do to fortify your financial independence and make ends meet? The only viable solution is to continue working. There are several benefits when you delay your retirement:

1. Work longer, less time to retire: When you continue to work, you trade off your retirement years. It means you will need less money to spend when you finally retire.

2. A Source of income: There is a source of income when you work. It means you can continue to live the usual lifestyle without dipping into your retirement fund.

3. More savings: When you work, part of your income will go to save as budgeted. The longer you work, the more you will save and the more interest you will be able to earn and accumulate. This will be a new source of a fund when you do retire.

4. Less retirement fund is required: Since you have shortened your retirement years, you will need fewer funds for your retirement and you also have additional funds to cushion future inflation.

5. Meaningful life: Work gives you meaning in life when you enjoy what you do. You are confident of yourself and look at life with a brighter perspective.

6. Happiness: You feel good about yourself because you are leading useful life-giving useful services and at the same time you are self-supporting.

7. Better health: A change in lifestyle may be bad for your health. There will be emptiness if you do not fill your time with useful things to do. When you work, your mind is working and alert. More likely than not, your working life will be good for your health mentally and physically.

It is a blessing when you have reached your retirement age and you still can hold on to a job that you like and enjoy because the unemployment rate in America is still very high today at 9.2 in June 2011

10 Positive Words to Motivate You (Part 5)

Here are 10 more words to inspire you to live life positively:

1. Joy: To get joy out of life is to live in the moment totally, do what you like, and enjoy what you do. Do not allow the past to come into the picture and do not think of the future. To be in the present is the greatest joy you can get.

There is joy in work. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something. ~Henry Ford

2. Kindness: When you are good to others, you feel good yourself. Look for the good in others and pay a compliment. Smile at people you meet. These small gestures light up the life of others and delight your life as well.

Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much. ~Blaise Pascal

A laugh, to be joyous, must flow from a joyous heart, for without kindness, there can be no true joy. Thomas Carlyle

3. Knowledge: It is essential to possess the knowledge, but it is more important to apply what you know to what you do. The aim is to be more productive.

Today knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement.
~Peter Drucker

4. Learning: To be ahead and to stay ahead, you have to learn continuously. Life is changing and you have to make changes with time or you will be left behind.

The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live. ~Mortimer Adler

Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back. ~Chinese Proverb

5. Life: You create your own life. First, you create the life you want in your mind and then you live the life you have conceived in your mind. The most important thing is to think positively so that you will live life with confidence and full of hope.

The purpose of life is a life of purpose. ~Robert Byrne

Life is the sum of all your choices. ~Albert Camus



6. Listening: To listen is to appreciate, show interest and respect the person speaking to you. The key is to listen carefully and avoid misunderstanding. Observe body language for additional clues.

We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak. ~Epictetus

The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said. ~Peter F. Drucker

7. Longevity: It is good to live longer, but it is even better to be fit, healthy, and financially independent to enjoy a long life.

If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress, and tension. And if you didn't ask me, I'd still have to say it. ~George Burns

8. Love: Love is positive emotion; it gives you peace of mind and a good feeling inside out with many health benefits.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage. ~Lao Tzu

Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.
~Mother Teresa

Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life. ~Leo Buscaglia

9. Luck: I must say that you create your own luck by how much you have prepared yourself to be lucky Work fervently on the things that you believe in and luck will follow you.

The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work. ~Harry Golden

10. Motivation: Be inspired and be motivated to work hard and smart. Success can only be attained by exerting great effort over a long period of time. You will not treasure things that you can get easily and without working for them. You will only enjoy the fruit of your labor.

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek. ~Mario Andretti

The words of truth are simple. ~Aeschylus

10 Positive words to Motivate You (Part 1)
10 Positive words to Motivate You (Part 2)
10 Positive words to Motivate You (Part 3)
10 Positive words to Motivate You (Part 4)
10 Positive Words to Motivate You (Part 6 and Final)

7 Effective Ways to be Successful

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.
~Abraham Lincoln

My son has just been admitted to a polytechnic in Singapore. I believe and I have confidence in him that he will graduate with flying colors because he has the 7 ingredients to achieve his main aim:

1. Know clearly what you want: My son is inspired by the world of IT. He is thrilled and excited by the rapid advancement of technologies. It is his passion. He is deeply interested and he aspires to achieve greatness in the field of computer science. Do you know what you want in life? Discover your inspiration and aspiration. Find out what you are good at and go for it.

Success is the progressive realization of predetermined, worthwhile, personal goals.
~Paul J. Meyer

2. Aim high: My son wants to be admitted to a prestigious university in Singapore after getting his diploma in IT. Aim high to achieve attainable goals with determination. A goal that can be gained without much effort is not worthwhile and meaningful. You will only treasure and appreciate success by working hard, excerpting great effort, encountering difficulties, and working for a long time.

3. Work on it every day: He attends classes, takes great pain to do his assignments, and works seriously because he is keeping his goal in view. Have you got the plan and are you working on it every day? It is the daily effort that leads to your weekly, monthly, and yearly goals.

Success is dependent on effort. ~Sophocles

Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time. ~Arnold H. Glasow

4. Making progress: He has obtained high grades in all his assignments and tests. He is getting the desired results. He is doing things right. In fact, he wants to be the top student in the course that he is pursuing. What you can conceive and believe, you can achieve. Do you measure your performance from time to time? Are you making progress? Do you need to make changes in order to be on the right track?

5. A healthy lifestyle: We have reminded him to eat healthily, avoid junk food and sugary drinks. He needs energy by eating nutritious food. He also needs to exercise more often, sleep early and sufficiently and take breaks during the day. A fit and healthy body are essential to study or work energetically with a calm mind and concentration.

6. A positive mindset: My son is cheerful and friendly. He takes responsibility for what he does. He makes mistakes, but he reacts positively. In life, the things that are happening to you are not important but it is imperative that you react with a positive mindset. Solving problems instead of dwelling on them is the right attitude.

7. Getting connected: He has a great social supporting system. He has a mentor, a university graduate, and a teacher, who supports and inspires him greatly. It is important to be connected to the right people to get ideas and to synergize and achieve greater success in life.

If you want to achieve things in life, you've just got to do them, and if you're talented and smart, you'll succeed. ~Juliana Hatfield

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