“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.” -Benjamin Spock

Recently I’ve been grappling with some major decisions about what to do professionally going forward. There are a number of roads that I can take, as there generally are for all of us. I’ve been looking for every possible reason to find an answer outside myself.

I’ve considered what people want from me. I’ve considered what’s the path of least resistance. I’ve considered what would be the most immediately lucrative. But what I didn’t ask myself until recently is what I really want.

This is the question we need to answer at any given time, and then we need to trust that what we’re feeling pulled to do is what’s actually right for us. We need to believe that we know the best course, even if we don’t yet know the way, and then give ourselves permission to take it.

If you also need to make a major decision, take a little time today to peel away the layers of what you think you should do. Let go of everything that’s suffocating what you know inside to be true. And then allow yourself to access it, without fears or judgments.

Simply sit with what you know. Then take that into the world and follow it. Miraculous things can happen when we decide to trust ourselves.

Perception

THE SITUATION

In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 60 minutes.

During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing.

He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.

The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time.

This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.

About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world.

He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world,

playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . ..

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Enjoy life NOW .. it has an expiry date!

Comedy  - Comedy - Comedy !

8 great questions to answer before starting a web design project

Without question, a new website is a big investment in effort and money. If you want to kick the project off in the best way, here are eight questions you should already be able to answer at the initial meeting with your web designer.

1. Why are you building this website?

All too often a web redesign is planned because the site “just feels old” or “it’s not working as well it should for us.” But what do you mean by that? Why are you really going to all this effort? How does your web strategy align with your overall business goals?

Possible answers might include:

• We want to grow advertising revenue, so we need to increase our page views.
• As a not-for-profit, we rely on donations. We want to increase the number and size of donations we receive online.
• The site should become a “lead generation machine” for our business, and should also help convert leads into customers.
• Our mission is to raise awareness about the issues that are important to us, so our primary online goal is to increase the influence and reach of our organization.

Your answer(s) will directly affect your website’s design strategy.

2. Who will use the website?

Your web designer will likely spend time reviewing the kinds of people who come to your site, so as to better understand your visitors’ needs and habits. It’s very important to structure your website to entice your visitors to take the specific actions you want them to take.

One method is to create user personas, which represent the types of people you’ve identified as having some specific interest in your organization. Before your web design kickoff meeting, segment your site visitors into representative “types”:

• What are their goals and aspirations? Their key issues?
• What media do they read, watch and listen to (magazines, TV, music, books, websites, blogs)?
• Is it possible to segment your site visitors by gender? Age? Income? Geography? Education level?
• Are your visitors technologically sophisticated? Are they early adopters?
• Are they on social networks like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn? Are there other more targeted communities (online or offline) where your visitors can be found?
• What words or phrases (lingo) do they tend to use? What sorts of imagery or language appeals to them?

Think about what you want each user persona to believe or learn about your organization. What actions do you want them to take?

3. Where is the content?

As web standards maven Jeffrey Zeldman quipped, “Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it’s decoration.”

Is your content ready? In part? If not, who will create it? How quickly and frequently can new content be developed?

Do you have a “content matrix”, which can simply be a spreadsheet that lists every piece of potential content on your site, along with where it will be located and who will be its owner?

You may consider developing content specific for each of your user personas.

Beyond just text, do you also have photos or video you want to include? Are there “non-web page” elements you might think to include, like white papers, e-books or webinars?

In their best-selling book “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die“, Chip and Dan Heath describe six attributes that make for great (online) content:

• Simplicity — Prioritize what ideas you want to get across. By trying to prioritize everything, nothing is a priority.
• Unexpectedness — Use surprise to grab people’s attention.
• Concreteness — Avoid speaking in abstractions.
• Credibility — Is your content believable?
• Emotions — Tap into emotion rather than just intellect.
• Stories — We get people to act on our ideas by telling stories.

4. Which keywords are important for search engine optimization?

We all want to show up #1 in Google search results for relevant search terms. Before you start writing your content, it’s critical to identify the keywords you want to optimize your site for.

Good search engine optimization starts by putting yourself in the shoes of somebody actually looking for the kinds of products or services you are selling. Brainstorm the keywords that you think would bring you the best traffic, not necessarily the most traffic. If you are an attorney, trying to optimize on the keyword “lawyer” is pretty pointless. Currently, that keyword brings back 404,000,000 results. Anybody who promises you they can get you a first page ranking for such a generic term is going to have some trouble delivering without resorting to black magic and legal grey areas.

It’s much more relevant to optimize for something like “real estate attorney new york city” (assuming you are a real estate attorney in New York City). Also, any traffic you get on that term is much more likely to actually become a paying client, since clearly this was a visitor searching for something quite specific.

Your web designer should be able to help you create a more robust keyword plan, but it’s enormously helpful to start the process having already brainstormed a dozen or so relevant keyword phrases.

5. Do you have an established brand identity?

Some organizations have done a tremendous job of creating a brand identity and visual identity system. A website design for such organizations is a relatively straightforward process.

However, without a strong grounding in an established brand identity, web design becomes more ad hoc, frequently resulting in extra guesswork, increased cost, and poorer results.

Sometimes when we’re first starting with a new client, they tell us that they are going to be a fantastic client because “the sky’s the limit.” They tell us that they have no preconceived notions about how the design might go. There are few constraints.

We quickly explain that, while exciting, this provides a larger challenge. First, before we start doing any actual web design, we first have to engage in, at the very least, a short branding exercise to develop a design palette. Without the constraints of an agreed-upon design palette there is just too much uncertainty, and getting to any kind of consensus on the final design becomes much more difficult. In addition, creating a “Brand Book” (a document that defines the guidelines for all design work for the organization) enforces a design consistency throughout all marketing materials.

If you don’t have an established Brand Book, Creative Brief, or similar document, at the very least it’s helpful to walk into the kickoff meeting knowing your:

• Logo and tagline – Do you have a final one that you’re happy with? Does it need any change?
• Color palette – What is your primary color? Do you know its Pantone or hex value? What are your secondary or accent colors?
• Fonts – Do you have a set of standard fonts? There are best practices for web fonts that are not always entirely in sync with standard corporate fonts (for example, conventional wisdom would suggest that body text is preferably sans-serif). Will this be a big problem?

Your web designer will walk you through all of this, plus a number of more advanced design issues. However, your project will get off to a smoother start if you already have some of these answers ready.

6. Are you prepared to invest in the site post-launch?

Even as you first get started, it’s important to understand that there will be lots to do post-launch, including:

• Create and post new content
• Analyze what’s working and not working
• Testing (A/B)
• Optimize the site based on what you learn
• Add new features
• Participate in social media
• Build inbound links
• Support promotions and offers
• Distribute email newsletters
• Etc., etc., etc.

We addressed this in a former blog post, “A Website Is a Process, Not a Project“:

“It’s fine for a company to fund an initial web build-out in a capital budget, but companies are really sabotaging their web investments if they don’t put together significant operational budgets for the constant changes and improvements that a compelling and effective website requires.”

7. What is your competition doing?

Make a list of your competition, or others that do something similar to you. Check out their websites.

What do you like about them? Hate?

What features would you like to mimic?

Does every single one of your competitors use some shade of blue as a primary color? Do you want to do the same? Or would you prefer to differentiate yourself?

If you’re a bit more technologically inclined, it’s also useful to create a spreadsheet of your competition, tracking metrics such as their Alexa ranking, their blog URL, the number of pages in Google’s index, the keywords they’ve optimized for (if any), and the number of inbound links to their websites.

If you’re unsure how to do this, your web designer should be able to get this information for you.

8. Have you reviewed your analytics?

Google Analytics is a free website analytics package that seems to be ubiquitous. Most of our clients use it as a way to track important information about their website traffic. As a starting point for your web design kickoff meeting, at the very least you should know:

• Where is current traffic coming from? (Social Media? Ads? Google? Blogs?)
• Which content is the most popular?
• Are your site visitors sophisticated technologically? You can get a sense of this by looking at metrics such as browser version and screen resolution. For example, if a significant percentage of your website audience is still using Internet Explorer 6.0, you do not have a technologically sophisticated audience.

Learn from ignorance

Joy and sorrow, day and night are inevitable. Sorrow or sadness is the offspring of ignorance. 


Ignorance is symbolised by darkness. Darkness has its own importance, without darkness, without night, the circadian rhythm of life will go for a toss. Biological systems will lose their balance; so to make your life perfect, to maintain complete equilibrium, night or darkness is essential. Therefore, if sadness comes, it's there for a purpose. When night comes, it has a purpose and the purpose is to strike a balance. If you don't sleep for two or three days nothing would work properly in your system. Ignorance is there and it is a very important part of the game. Ignorance exists because of Divine will. 


You have to change your attitude towards happiness and sadness; try not to see sadness with a negative attitude and don't see happiness in an extremely positive light. When you are sad, it only proves that there is a lack of understanding of something. With your misunderstanding you are creating that atmosphere of sadness; you are attaching too much importance to a situation or too little, so you are creating sadness with your lack of understanding. 


How to get rid of sadness? Get rid of that attitude which creates divisions and says, "This is very good and that is very bad; this is day, this is night". In reality, day and night are not two, they are one, sadness and happiness are not two; they are one. Death and life are not two they are one, but we have to evolve to perceive that. 


Cultivate understanding, consciousness, knowledge and awareness of life, and these can awaken in you a healthy system to help you learn to deal with every situation with perfect balance. We are enslaved by our senses; we tend to lead an impulsive life. Use the senses, but don't let them overwhelm you. 


When you experience sadness, it could help you to look within, take you deeper inside, it sharpens your perception. Sorrow comes to give you possibilities of betterment in life. Sometimes you see people become happy and they lose their balance, or become too sad and lose their balance. Such situations bring with them joy or sorrow, we have to learn how to treat them, how to deal with them. They come to help us evolve; they have a purpose. It is time to progress and with that learning attitude, deal with both situations; then joy and sorrow will both help you and give you something constructive. 

Go on, be positive!

The state of your mental health says a lot about your life. Experts say that people who focus more on positive thinking and have positive attitudes not only enjoy life more but also lead healthier lives. Optimists are said to deal with pain and hardship better than their pessimistic counterparts. Remember your body reacts to your thoughts, feelings and actions. So if you're in a bad mood, your body will respond in a similar manner. While keeping yourself fit by eating right and managing stress is alright, positive thinking goes a long way in ensuring good health. 

If you're feeling unwell and tell yourself that you're coming down with a bug, chances are that it will come true. Your mind is more powerful than you think. Stop thinking that you are going to fall sick or will take time to recover from a sickness. Experts call this the placebo effect - a placebo is treatment that provides whatsoever no medical gain except making the patient believe that it is helping them get better. Several patients report relief from their problems although they haven't actually received any medicine. 


Thinking positive may not come naturally to everyone. To make that change you need to make a conscious effort. Whenever you find yourself getting negative thoughts, stop them. Start thinking of a happy event or memory that will cheer you. 


Make positive statements. Instead of thinking or saying, "I can't do this or this is impossible", state positive affirmations - I will give this my best shot or I have so many things to be grateful about," sends out positive vibes. 


Down in the dumps or feeling out of sorts with an illness? Visualisation is a great technique that will actually help you feel better. Imagine yourself healthy and happy. When you visualise your thoughts, they send out positive signals to your brain making you feel better. 


Positive emotions like humour, friendship and love are known to supercharge your health. Experts have long since asserted that laughter is great for you. Life is full of humour if you stop and experience it. Watch funny movies or TV shows, read books and jokes that make you smile, meet people who make you laugh. Laughter increases creativity, reduces pain, and even accelerates healing. 


Catch up with friends. With the hectic lives we lead, we often forget how relaxing and calming meeting a friend can be. Good friendships are important so make sure you surround yourself with genuine ones. Having close buddies help you recuperate faster from sickness. 


Social service and volunteering boosts feelings of compassion, which in turn make you a better person. When you help someone, you also help yourself. There are several orphanages, old age homes, mentally and physically challenged centres and animal shelters that need you to spend time with people and animals living there. You don't need to go there every week. Go once in a while and notice the difference. 


When you spend a certain amount of time in prayer, and spiritual beliefs, you send positive vibrations your side. Have faith and it will go a long way in being a faithful companion. Prayer and meditation are good ways to connect to your spiritual side. 

‘I have a dream’ – Martin Luther King, Jr

“So do the 270 million uneducated children in our country. They dream of standing on their own feet and touching the sky. However, they are chained down by poverty and their dreams remain a distant mirage. Education is every child’s fundamental right. Yet, for want of monetary backing, these children are deprived of the most basic necessity. Poverty is the river that separates them from their dreams, and we want to open up the bridge of knowledge. Education is the most precious gift anyone can give or receive, and that the children deserve to be more than mere thumb impressions.“ 

Educate & Emancipate is a non-governmental and not-for-profit organization that is working to provide quality education to under privileged children in India. Educate & Emancipate was founded in 2007 to provide education for the extremely under-privileged and deserving youngsters in the city of Bangalore and Chennai. Since then the organization has grown in scope. 
Educate & Emancipate’s team consists of a group of spirited youngsters from a wide range of backgrounds such as professionals, students, corporates, social activists and media personnel.

Our efforts are focused on the following:
1. Students should not opt out of education for the want of money.
2. Proper mentorship and quality education should be made accessible to the poorest of poor.

http://educate-emancipate.com/

Vision - EDUCATE & EMANCIPATE CHARITABLE TRUST

Educate & Emancipate was founded on the firm belief that education is a fundamental right of every child in this country and that talent should not be wasted just because someone is born into unfortunate conditions. 

We also believe that it is the duty of every citizen of this country to look after each other and that it is only through that way we can uplift the millions of unfortunate people who were born into poverty and misery. 

Facilitation of a favorable environment for education and growth is the key to producing tomorrow’s world leaders. Educate & Emancipate believes that the desired changes in the lives of children will come only when more and more privileged people start participating proactively in finding a solution.

Therefore, our vision is to facilitate quality education for every deserving child in this country and in the process aid the growth and development of the country.

http://educate-emancipate.com/

IBN LIVE: News Goofs up !

எந்த துன்பம் கண்டும் அஞ்சாதே!

சின்னஞ்சிறு குழந்தையே! நீ எப்போதும் ஓடியாடி மகிழ்ச்சியோடு விளையாடி மகிழ்வாய். ஒரு பொழுதும் ஓய்ந்து சோம்பித் திரியாதே. மற்ற குழந்தைகளிடம் கூடி விளையாடிட கற்றுக் கொள். உன்னுடன் பழகிடும் எந்த நண்பரையும், தோழியையும் சுடுசொற்களால் திட்டும் பழக்கமிருந்தால் அதை அடியோடு விட்டு விடு.

நீ பார்க்கும் ஒவ்வொன்றிலும் பாடம் கற்றுக் கொள். குருவியைப் போல் திரிந்து விளையாடு. வண்ணப் பறவைகளைக் கண்டு மனமகிழ்ச்சி கொள். கோழி, காகம் ஆகியவற்றுக்கு இரக்கத்துடன் உணவிட்டு அன்பு செய். பால் தரும் பசு நமக்காக தன் வாழ்வினைத் தருவதை உணர்வாய். நன்றியுள்ள நாய் நமக்கு உற்ற தோழனாகும். பொய் சொல்லுவதால் கேடு பல உண்டாகும். அந்த பழக்கத்தை விட்டு விடு. யார் ஒருவரையும் அவர் இல்லாத போது இழிவாகப் பேசாதே. இப்படி புறம் பேசுதல் நல்லவர்க்கு அடையாளமாகாது. எத்தகைய துன்பம் நேர்ந்தாலும் நீ அஞ்சாதே. நல்லவனுக்குத் தெய்வம் உறுதுணையாக இருக்கும். ஒரு நாளும் நமக்கு தீங்குண்டாகாது. எல்லா உயிர்களிடத்திலும் அன்பு செய்ய கற்றுக் கொள். உண்மையன்றி வேறு தெய்வமில்லை. நெஞ் சம் வைரம் போன்று உறுதியுடையதாக இருக்க வேண் டும். இதுவே வாழும் முறையாகும்.

10-Week Walking Regimen

WEEK 1

• Walk for 15 – 30 minutes at a comfortable pace, depending on your ability. Warm up for 5 minutes at an easy walking pace before doing a 5-minute easy stretching routine. Resume walking at a comfortable pace, then end up with another 5 minutes of gentle stretching routine. 

• Take a rest on the 7th day. Your body needs to rest and rebuild itself. 



WEEK 2

• Increase your walking time by 5 - 10 minutes for this week. Do the same routine. 

• Rest on the 7th day. 


WEEK 3 – WEEK 10

• Increase your walking time by 5 - 10 minutes every week until you are now capable of walking for an hour each time. The health benefits of walking can be maximized if you sustain a 30 – 60 minute walk a day. 

• Remember to rest on the 7th day of each week. 

7 Common Walking Mistakes You Should Avoid




Walking is one of the important milestones which come by the first birthday and since then various changes and modifications take place on the gait pattern (the way you walk). Other than being a means of locomotion, walking is also a good form of low impact, less intense aerobic exercise. Most of us make certain mistakes while walking, which can have an unwanted impact on our health. It is very important to opt for correct techniques of walking to get the maximum benefits without any injury.


Here are the most common walking mistakes to be avoided:


Over-striding: Stride length, in simple words, refers to the length of each step taken while walking, running or jogging. We all have our own characteristic stride length. When you try to walk faster than your standard speed, you might try to increase your stride length because of which you might develop poor posture and hurt your back. Therefore instead of taking bigger steps, go for shorter and quicker ones!


Wrong Foot Gear: Choosing the wrong footwear will not only make your walk uncomfortable, but it will also make you prone to injury. Your walking shoes should be lightweight and should have a flexible sole to allow good freedom of motion by permitting your foot to roll through each step from heel to toe. Choose those shoes that fit you! If you walk for 30 minutes or more, then choose shoes larger than your dress shoes as your feet may swell when you walk for a long period of time. Prolonged walking with tight shoes can cause pain and cramping while loose shoes can make "push-off" (application of pressure for the purpose of moving) difficult.


Wrong Clothing: Improper clothing can interfere with your thermoregulation (the ability of your body to keep its temperature within certain boundaries even if the temperature of the surrounding environment is pretty different) and can eventually affect your walking efficiency. Choose clothing according to environmental conditions. For example, in a hot climate, wear fabrics like climacool or coolmax which will allow the sweat to evaporate away from the body. Wearing dark clothing while walking at night can make you susceptible to accidents. For safety purpose, wear reflector stripes or night glow badges.


Foot Slap: Foot slap occurs when at heel strike (i.e., when the heel makes contact with the floor), the forefoot slaps the ground (which means that you land flat footed) instead of rolling through from heel to toe. This can lead to pain in your shins. Foot slap can be due to weak dorsiflexors i.e. weak shins, heavy shoes, stiff shoes (inflexible sole) etc. In order to avoid foot slap, wear lightweight shoes with a flexible sole and low heel. Strengthen your shin by performing toe raises. To perform toe raises, stand on the ledge of a step with your heels hanging over the edge. Now, dip the heels down, then raise them high. Repeat 10 times. This is a simple, yet an effective way of strengthening your shins. You can also do heel walking (walking slowing, with small stride length, on your heels with your toes raised as high as possible) for 20 to 30 seconds to strengthen your shins.


Lack of Arm Swing: Normally while walking, arm swinging occurs in order to counterbalance the leg motion. Arm swinging can also aid in gaining the momentum, thereby helping you to walk at a faster speed. Lack of arm swing can put a lot of stress on your back. So, make sure to swing your arms back and forth opposite to the direction of leg motion.


Incorrect Posture: Improper postures like head down, leaning forward etc. are very commonly observed and these can lead to problems like neck pain, back pain, shoulder pain and breathing difficulty. So whenever you intend to walk, stand straight and feel like being tall! Do not arch your back. Pull your stomach in, keep your buttocks tight and maintain the natural curves of the spine to prevent undue stress.


Over-training: The zeal to burn calories in order to lose weight makes many people to walk beyond their capacity. They soon begin to feel tired and irritable, and pains and aches start popping up their ugly heads. Under such a situation, it is better to take a break and to refresh yourself. You must listen to your body and wait for it to recover. This is the best possible way to get ready for the next walking session!


Walking is a fun and it is a form of recreation during moments of leisure. You might take a great deal of interest in this form of physical activity, but wrong postures and incorrect walking techniques can nullify your efforts. You might also suffer from injuries which can act as obstacles for your fitness routine. So, adopting the correct techniques of walking is very essential in order to continue with your regular walks!

How to Walk Properly?

It is very important in life to do things in the right manner. An ineffective attempt made, takes you nowhere, except for causing frustration, due to not having achieved the desired result. Health fitness cannot be achieved magically and this fact applies to every smallest aspect associated with fitness. Like, for weight loss, say if you choose walking as your main workout type, then it becomes vital to ensure that you are following a proper walking style.




Walking is one of the best things you can do for your health. It's good for your heart, blood pressure and weight management. When you're walking to get or stay fit, your form, pace, and breathing is especially important. Mastering a good walking technique takes some time. But with practice, it will become second nature and will help you increase and maintain your pace comfortably. Here are some tips to get you started:


Keep your eyes focused forward, not up or down. Don't look down when walking; look ahead (especially when walking up hills).


Chin should be pointed down and pulled in slightly to maintain a neutral neck position, which will prevent neck pain by properly supporting your head.


Keep your shoulders back, down and relaxed. Bend your arms at the elbow at a 90-degree angle and swing them toward the center of your body. Be careful not to cross the center line of your body or bend your arms at more than 90 degrees. Swinging your arms properly will give you a better aerobic workout, burn more calories, and engage more muscles throughout your torso.


The back should be straight as you walk, allowing for its natural curves. You shouldn't be leaning backwards or forwards. But, a slight forward lean on hill climbs is acceptable.


Your chest should be slightly lifted. Breathe deeply, expanding your stomach, and try to breathe in rhythm with your steps.


Keep your belly button gently sucked in toward your spine. This will keep your abdominal muscles activated, which is a great workout for your tummy and it helps to protect your lower back from injury.


Your heel should hit the ground first. Take shorter, rather than longer, steps. More frequent short steps will give you a better workout and be easier on your joints.


By closely following the technique and form described, you can significantly improve your performance. It can help enhance the benefits you receive from walking. These benefits are:

• Increased efficiency
• Better use of energy supplies
• Decreased risk of injury
• Increased comfort
• Faster times
• Increased calorie burn
• Increased muscle conditioning
• Body shaping

Following fitness walking tips goes a long way in ensuring that you'll not fall prey to chronic body pains, poor posture problem, beauty related issues like double chin and potbelly. When you'll be away from the clutches of the above-mentioned problems, you'll tend to feel more active and enthusiastic about carrying out your day-to-day routine activities.