Hello all, I have some new and exciting things going on in my life. I will be putting in ‘Guest Posts’, which are content from other sources that I am authorized to put here.  This will help you keep up to date with information.  As for the new and exciting things, one of these is a book I am writing that I am very excited about.  Here is an exerpt from the introduction to it:

 

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The storm thundered and the rain poured.  At the edge of a large wall with an iron portcullis, a figure with a dark cloak spoke in a deafening tone.  “You will not disrupt my plans again.  The beasts of this land will make sure no trace of you is ever found!”

 

Many men, armed with very sharp spears marched behind the dark cloaked figure.  They wore light armor and escorted a man, hands tied behind his back, and dressed in rags.  The man kept a composed look on his face, despite his grim circumstance.  He confidently replied to the figure in the dark cloak.  “If you set me free now, I promise that the order will judge you fairly.”

 

Cackling laughs filled the air.  The figure with the dark cloak responded.  “HA! You dare insult me with your pitiful attempts at escape.  Your death will be slow and painful at the hands of these beasts.  Men, rid me of the prisoner!”

 

The man with his hands tied responded, “You cannot say I did not give you a fair chance old friend.  Until our next meeting then.”

 

The man in the dark cloak snickered, “Fool!  Be gone with him, NOW!”.  With that, the men with spears rushed forward, opened up the gate, and kicked the man with his hands tied through.  The gate shut immediately behind him.  The man with his hands tied looked up at the sky, “and so it is, a new season is about to begin.”

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In addition to that, my wife and I are going to be focusing more on our web and design business at http://www.gazuka.com.  I am excited for these opportunities.  When time permits, I will happily be updating my blog and website, and appreciate your feedback.  You can contact me by emailing improvement@drjerm.com.  Thanks!

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Guest Post

 

Have you heard about free online education? Well, if you search the Internet, you can come across many online schools and institutes offering free online education. You can sit back in your comfy home and get a degree that you are looking for long. The most important part is that you do not have to spend hefty sum when you are going for online education.

 

Online Learning serves all your needs

 

Online education can be categorized in two categories. You can go for free online learning as a part of self study or may be as assistance to your regular course. This may be part of your assignment or a school project. Another facet of free online education is when you get yourself enrolled for a degree or a certificate course through an online institute. In every case, free online education is a great help for many people today.

 

Learning made easy with free online education

 

For those who cannot quit their jobs for studying further, online education is a great solution. And when it comes free of cost, it becomes all the more easily to get. There are number of good universities and colleges that let you get free online education. The education online has solved the problems of those who want to continue their education but cannot go for regular colleges due to restrictions of time and money. When you take up any course online you have full assistance of the teachers and professors. So you do not lack any kind of teaching help when you go for free education online. The online institutes have developed virtual class rooms that are great to help you learn fast. With the assistance of online aids like e books, audio video tutorials, you will not find it hard to grasp things. You can interact with other students who are studying the similar course via forums and question answer sections on the college web site. All this helps you to get the clear picture of the subject matter of the online course.

 

Free online education via universities

 

A great news for those who are looking for free online education is that many reputed universities such as the Boston University and the University of Massachusetts has a lot of free course materials over the Internet. These sources are reliable, so there is no harm in getting free online education through them. But one of the biggest problems with free online education is that there is no one who can evaluate you as such. You have to evaluate yourself to know how much you are gaining from the online education. If you have the ability to evaluate yourself then there is no harm in going for these online courses. Many people are not able to make it with the online education as they lack competition while learning which is there when you go for class room study.

 

Free online education is great for those who cannot afford to get education at good centres. You can get good education in the privacy of your home and without spending a good sum. With little caution, you can get advantage of these online learning programs.

 

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Budingest is an advocate to self improvement and personal development and believes that online learning is one great way of learning and excelling in the 21st century and onwards.

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Guest Post

 

I always dream of becoming a productive person and that is the reason why I constantly strive to upgrade my myself by learning new skills and knowledge. Because of this vision, I still want to enroll for personality development courses that may be available and applicable for me. And because some of particular institutions I want to be in are so far away– like on the other face of the planet– I decided to use the Internet and look for their personality development made available online.

 

I really did not an idea on what site to go but some gave me a hint that I could use search engines to find those sites which are offering distance learning program. So, I used google and yahoo search engines.

 

personal development

 

The first thing that I did was to try to look for personality development program so I inputted keyword phrases such as “self improvement” in search engines. Fortunately, I found some useful information with link– like below:

 

“Person to Person coaching is obviously meant to toughen the confidence of folks in an establishment by centering attention on their really powerful performance steadily and touching on individual strengths as well as faults to improve folks to do better. It is an important catalyst for personal development.There is the necessity to elevate optimism if you are curious about self improvement for the reason that it is connected to fine morale in addition to optimistic thinking which are substantial for long life, perfect physical vigor and advancement.”

 

where can i study for an online degree in the uk

 

Since I wanted to upgrade my learning, I have typed keywords like “online accredited degrees”. It gave lots of information about online degrees with links which allowed me to go to sites about this topic. I retrieved the following information:

 

“The rise in the availability of online universities?are really a great thing when you consider that someone could be living in somewhere such as India could be working towards studying a degree from a university in a place such a California. It is the rise in the availability of distance learning facilities that have made this at all possible. Largely we can thank the widespread use of the internet that has been a major enabler as for that the internet is a great thing for people the world all over.”

 

online education

 

I wanted to know more about distance learning courses offered by universities like Oxford and Harvard so I have inputted key phrased like “distance education program” and prompted with lots of information about it like the following:

 

“We all know that to earn more we must learn more and one of the ways that we can improve our knowledge is to take advantage of some of the many Free Online Classes?which are available to us all. This is one of the great things that the widespread use of the internet has brought to us all, it means that we can the information we need whenever we need it. If you want to improve your career prospects you are advised to take some of the many free online classes which are open to us all.”

 

Indeed, I was able to acquire relevant information for personality development. These will surely be always helpful for me.

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Guest Post

 

Motivation posters are cute little printed pictures that work towards motivating you as soon as you see them. These days, you will find all kinds of motivation posters available widely at almost all possible places. All you require to do is to get them, stick them and look at them several times a day, in order to motivate yourself.

 

Motivation posters work great to inspire you to accomplish your task and reach your target. You won’t believe but it’s true that the driving force to most people across the globe who have been successful in their respective field was motivation. Yes! Motivation is required to take an individual to places.

 

Remember that words and visual objects can be extremely powerful in influencing your life. In fact, there are many areas, in life where one looks for motivation. Be it love, career, academics, relationships, sales, business or more coming out of trouble. One requires some amount of motivation to make things work.

 

Motivational posters will do a lot good to you when it comes to inspiring you for a special purpose or just making your day! Motivational posters often consist of a three-part template such as the following:

 

a) A Photograph

 

This is often stock photography centered in a rectangular frame.

 

b) A Title

 

The poster will have a title such as ‘success’, ‘fame’ or ‘courage’ in large and attractive

 

c) A Description

 

The description of a motivational quote is usually in smaller text. It is displayed beneath the title.

 

You can keep motivational poster in your office and home. This will create a positive impact in your attitude and behavior. In office you will feel more charged up and get motivated to keep up the good work.

 

At home these posters will create a positive ambience. It will add to the liveliness of your doctor and keep you inspired to do what you want.

 

Another important thing to take care is to consider certain things when purchasing motivation posters. Here are tips to follow when purchasing motivation posters via the World Wide Web.

 

a) Make sure that the website is offering quality stuff.

 

b) Compare the prices and sizes of poster on different websites prior to setting on one.

 

c) Read through the sample of quotes and make sure that these really motivate and inspire you to achieve what you want in life.

 

d) Make sure that the website is authorized to sell motivation posters.

 

You can have more than one motivation poster in your room. In fact, you can have as many as you want. The artwork and quotes on the poster will definitely influence you and your mood deeply.

 

You should find a motivational poster that serves as an office décor. Try not to embellish your wall with bare poster.

 

You can terminate your artwork or even frame it for an added effect. The placement of the artwork should be strategic.

 

In a nut shell, motivation posters would do a great lot to help you get inspired. Stick them around you and notices the difference in some time.

 

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For more Articles, News, Information, Advice, and Resources about Motivation and Self Help please visit GET AND STAY MOTIVATED and MOTIVATION TIPS and MEDITATION ADVICE

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Guest Post

 

Denise had just won a big promotion. She was not someone who typically sought the limelight or ask for help. So Denise spent the first weeks working alone, avoiding presentations and even speaking up in meetings (unless directly spoken to). When asked to make a PowerPoint presentation, she panicked.

 

A crisis is not a good time to learn how to make an effective presentation. Denise quickly put together 20 slides, prepared some points, and practiced answering potential questions. After pulling an all-nighter Denise delivered an adequate speech while learning an invaluable lesson: You don’t have to be a perfect speaker to be successful, but you must be prepared.

 

This is the true distinction between success and failure in public speaking. To ensure that lack of preparation won’t be your downfall when you take to the podium, consider these most common mistakes budding public speakers often make.

 

Mistake #1: Underestimating the importance of public speaking to your career

 

A retail executive with a strong financial background and track record was promoted to CFO. In the first weeks, she uncovered problems in her operation and quietly went to work, never seeking the limelight nor help. While that approach may have worked in the past, it was about to backfire. Senior leaders expected to help each other by sharing information. Emails leaked out about her problematic situation and the senior team confronted her. The CEO scheduled a meeting and she was asked to make a PowerPoint presentation.

 

The new executive not only had to put together her slides and prepare her talk; she knew she had to get ready to face some tough questions. Fortunately she pulled a lot of people in to help. She practiced, prepared and delivered a decent presentation.

 

If you want to lead the company, you should never underestimate the importance of public speaking. You will be judged by the way you handle the hot seat. Judgment Day isn’t six months before they decide to make you CEO. Judgment days are all along the way. You have to be ready long before you have to be ready.

 

Mistake 2: “Winging” important speeches

 

Eric, a vice-president regarded as the candidate to succeed the CEO, was asked to deliver a presentation to the company’s leadership group. Buried under several other projects, Eric figured he could probably wing it. Bad idea!

 

What made matters worse was that the same day Eric was to speak, a colleague named Fred gave a great presentation. Fred had done his homework, organizing his thinking, and practicing the night before. In contrast to Eric, Fred appeared cool, well organized, polished and he answered questions with ease.

 

Even if you feel generally comfortable in front of an audience, winging your presentation will usually prove to be a huge mistake. Your talk must be organized and your points delivered crisply. Otherwise, the effect could be less than your audience expects, harming your competent, professional image.

 

Mistake 3: Leaving it all to a speechwriter

 

If you can hire a good speechwriter, you should. Every speaker can use someone to sketch out ideas, brainstorm and find ways to improve on what you have to say. But don’t let your speechwriter do it all.

 

In the end, you must be comfortable and familiar with what you’re going to say. Your speechwriter won’t be behind that podium when the big day comes… you will. Let your speechwriter give you some help but the presentation will be yours, so make it yours.

 

Mistake 4: Not answering the question

 

Be ready and willing to honestly answer the toughest questions head on. If you don’t know the answer, say so: “I’m sorry but I just do not know” or “I’ll have to look into that.” It may not be the ideal spot to be in, but getting caught later in a lie is much worse for your reputation. Your audience will appreciate the truth.

 

Mistake 5: Forgetting your audience

 

Those who attend your presentation are often leaving piles of work on their desks to come and hear you talk. You cannot give them that time back, you can only thank them for giving it to you and then do your best to make it worth their while.

 

Whether speaking to executive officers, your staff, or even job candidates, think first about who they are and what they want to know, even before you write down the opening words of your speech. If you’re not sure, interview a handful of people who will be in your audience. Find out what they need to learn. Remember your audience, and chances are they’ll remember you.

 

Mistake 6: Blowing the easy questions

 

In their frenzy to study up on the difficult questions, many speakers end up unprepared for the slam-dunk ones. Yet if they fumble these, they’ll look as unprepared as ever. Rather than seeming knowledgeable, they’ll convey the reverse. “How can he not know THAT?!” So don’t forget the potential softball questions as well as the hard.

 

Mistake 7: Not knowing when to fold ‘em

 

Ever had to sit through a wedding toast that just kept going and going and going? That’s because time flies when you are in the spotlight and what seems like only a few moments to a novice speaker is actually many minutes.

 

To be sure you don’t make this mistake, time your speech by standing up as you mock-deliver it. Do not time it by sitting and reading it because this takes less time. Speak out loud.

 

And be ready to improvise by tuning into your crowd. Sometimes things are running behind schedule and an audience may be getting restless for a break, signaling you to cut your talk even shorter. Lincoln’s Gettysburg address was less than two minutes long. Remember, few are ever criticized for giving a speech that was too brief.

 

Mistake 8: Not having fun

 

Humor helps connect you to your audience. You don’t have to be David Letterman. Just try to have a little fun. Tell a quick story that’s amusing, make a light-hearted remark about the commute in or the weather. Humor will warm up your audience.

 

Everyone makes mistakes in public speaking. The key is to identify a lesson learned and try to correct it your next time out. If these eight common mistakes help you better avoid such gaffes, all the better. Keep speaking, keep practicing, keep preparing and before long, mistakes like these will be a thing of the past.

 

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Suzanne Bates is an award-winning television news anchor, reporter and president of Bates Communication, a presentation skills consulting firm that helps business leaders and executives project an authentic voice of leadership, and get a competitive edge in business. This article is adapted from Speak Like a CEO: Secrets for Commanding Attention and Getting Results (McGraw-Hill) which has been translated into Russian and Chinese. Suzanne can be reached by phone at 800-908-8239 or by visiting www.bates-communications.com.

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In the movie trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings” (LOTR), there is a gruesome and pitiful creature known as ‘Smeagol’.  He also goes by the name ‘Gollum’.  A main storyline in LOTR is the sad story of Smeagol and his desperate quest to find the One Ring of Power.

 

Smeagol once possessed this ring and became addicted to the power it brought him.  Having lost the ring before the LOTR series, Smeagol became obsessed in finding it.  Everything he did was based on his need for the ring.  He was addicted to it.  In the end, it was the catalyst for the fate he suffered.

 

There are many things in life that one should never be desperate for. By desperate I mean where your whole purpose for existing revolves around trying to fill the void of desperation you have. There are three desperations in particular that I would like to talk about.

 

Desperate for love

 

Throughout life, I’ve seen the desperation and need for love drive people to do some pretty crazy things.  And this desperation for love has come from people who are single, divorced, married – it does not matter your current relationship status.  It is ok to desire companionship from another person.  But think about how much you are thinking about it.  If all of your actions and time is solely spent on finding love, this should be a warning sign to you that you are way too desperate.

 

Especially if you are married and you find yourself looking to other men/women for love, take a step back.  You are likely not spending nearly the amount of time on your marriage that you should be.  If your marriage is not meant to be, take the steps to end it by communicating with your spouse.  But don’t go waltzing around behind your partners back looking for love and think it’s okay.  If you are not happy, communicate with your partner.

 

If your desire for love from another is the driving force in your life, I encourage you to take a second look at yourself.  I created drjerm.com to help people who struggle and face challenges in life.  This challenge is a big one.  If you take the time to go through my site and start working on creating a better you, you will then start spending less time on finding love and more time on doing the things you are passionate and talented about.  When you are happy, confident, and energetic, you will attract those who are the same.  You will then find the right kind of love, instead of in desperation, taking the first person that pays attention to you and smiles, and annointing that person as your true love.

 

Desperate for money

 

The recent news of mortgage companies facing serious financial troubles raises several issues.  One of the main ones is greed.  It is ok to want to have a lot of money.  But when that desire for money is at the forefront of all your decisions and you have no regard for your friends, co-workers, or family, then you are in serious trouble.  You become a slave to money and the many other areas of life will evade you.  Yes, you may get rich and be well to do with money.  But you will also likely be a chaotic spender of that money and get yourself into serious financial trouble.

 

With no back bone of living sound principals, including finance, even with large sums of money, you can bet that your greed will cause you to spend that money on things you probably don’t need.  And the more you spend, the more money you will want and a vicious spiral will form.  You will have no regard for people.  You will lie to people to get what you want.  Please, I’ve seen what greed for money can do to people.  Don’t let yourself get caught up with money being your primary focus to the point you will become cut throat and betray people.  Manage your money responsibly of course, but don’t let money be your driving force.

 

Desperate for acceptance

 

While growing up and going through schooling, up through high school, I was witness to many people who were desperate to fit in.  This caused them to act in a very irrational way that ended up ostracizing them from people even more.  Some kids in high school wanted to fit in so they got drunk, or smoked weed, or did other harmful drugs.  Or they would go through haneous initiations into groups that left them bruised and battered.  People focused on manipulation of others was common in high school and is indeed prevalent in all age groups.

 

My advice for those of you who are looking for acceptance is to stop trying to get accepted first and foremost and take a step back and examine yourself.  Yes look at yourself, nobody else.  Start spending time working on yourself, what you can do to be a little kinder, less of a back-biter, more of a friend.  Look to help people.  Don’t always ask people what they think of you.  This is a bad sign.  First be accepting of yourself.  When you reach that point, you will no longer need to ask people if you are doing the right thing, look ok, etc…

 

In the end, what matters most is where you are at in life and your acceptance of yourself.  If you are not happy with where you are, make the changes necessary to find happiness.  This involves hard work, kindness, and a slew of other things you can read about on drjerm.com.  I know that if you put time and effort, along with a little faith, into bettering yourself, you will no longer be desperate for anything, and find a true happiness that will transcend this life and carry you forward for the rest of your existence.

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It is with much focus and desire that I write this article. Of all the articles I have written, I believe this to be one of the most important up to this point.  I say this because I’ve seen in the world today a problem that seems to go un-noticed.  It seems to not be talked about very much.  It seems to not have much public attention.  Perhaps with a loud voice and some time I can help bring it to light.

 

I am talking about people and companies and how to tell the legitimacy of them.  This means seeing if the person or the company is really genuine and really has the interest of other people at its heart.  Sadly, my experience with some people and companies has been that the person or the company is solely focused on their own personal and financial gain, and that person or company will say and do anything to get people to side with them.  I consider this a slap in the face and seek to educate people in determining if they should deal with a person or company.

Now I recently posted a blog entry about judging other people and I of course advocate spending much time gathering facts and information before making a decision about a person or company.  However, there are people and companies in my life that I have had bad experiences with – and I’ve spent quite some time around these people and companies.  I now have a list of criteria that must be satisfied before I will do business with a company or another person.  As each of you live each day, in order to achieve true success, being educated about a variety of things is important.  In this case, I seek to save you from making a bad decision with the people and companies you do business with.

 

Online Companies

 

I talked a while back, and with much anger and frustration, about an online company I worked for and helped start.  I can’t believe how angry I was.  But I know there were real and correct reasons for my anger.  I do not seek to slander that company or any other companies.  However, my eyes are opened to some not so honest practices that companies seem to be using to get customers to purchase their products.  This is the first thing I would like to focus on.

 

The first thing to check on an online website is not for how cool or professional the website looks.  I have a background in website development.  I know what it takes to get a website to look cutting edge and professional.  The reality is, you can pay a graphic designer a few hundred dollars, or find a website template already made and pay someone to make a few changes.  The cost is not very much to develop a professional looking website.  Getting it online is even cheaper.  Now, there is nothing wrong with a professional looking website.  However, there are several key things that must be found on the website, or there is a good chance that the website is not telling you the whole truth, but instead just trying to get you excited so you will spend a lot of money.

 

Super Long Page of Information

 

When a web page goes on and on and on about how much money people are making and shows yellow and red highlights on text and the page just keeps scrolling down and down, you can bet that the page is trying to get you hooked and in a state where you believe that you must further investigate what’s on the page and buy it.  All I can say is, be very cautious of web pages that scroll down and down with hype, ‘testimonials’ of ‘real’ people who’ve made x amount of dollars.  Don’t be fooled, be smart and stay away :)

 

Detailed About Us Page

 

A website can state that it was created by experienced professionals with many years experience in whatever they feel like saying they have experience in.  This does nothing.  My 16 month old daughter can almost type that on the computer.  Don’t believe everything you read, in fact, always question what you read first.  In this case, companies that don’t descriptively say who their owners are, or top management are, are hiding something.  The company must do much more than mention names.  They must show profile pictures, and a few paragraphs at least on the top tier people explaining who they are and why they are qualified to be owners for that company.  Even then, make an educated decision.  It takes just minutes to type up a web page of lies.  If detailed about us nformation is not present, question the company you are doing business with.

 

Also, someone who is not willing to share details about themself, and what makes them who they are may be covering something up.  Look for people to show evidence of what makes them qualified for what they are doing.  If this evidence is not readily apparent, you can bet you are dealing with someone who is just looking to benefit while they themself aren’t providing much of value.

 

Upfront and Honest About Prices

 

Some companies like to cover up their prices with information that tries to get you excited.  There is nothing wrong with getting a potential customer excited.  But if this is done to try and ‘hide’ the cost of the product, you can bet the company is one you don’t want to deal with.  A company should very clearly and in detail explain what the prices of their products are.  And this should be explained on the home page, or on a products page.  If the information is not available or apparent upon visiting the website, you can bet that the company is likely not offering something of value and you should stay away.

 

Clear Description of Product/Service

 

A company should be very clear what they are offering.  On the home page or a products page, the exact details of their products should be shown.  Not only that, a clear description of the costs associated with those products should be shown, along with the terms of the cost.  Is it upfront, monthly, yearly, etc…  The company should also very clearly be able to explain why their product is of value.  And this shouldn’t be explained with rhetoric to try and get you excited.  It should be simple and plain and understandable, backed up with facts and evidence from reliable sources.

 

Be cautious of vague details.  Be cautious of promises that the companies product will make you thousands of dollars.  Vague promises should be a warning sign to you that the company is not offering something of real value.

 

Free Demo

 

A company offering a product/service – especially a service, should provide the means to see the product/service in action via a free demo section of the website.  A customer should be able to evaluate the product, try it out, and then be able to make a decision from there if they are interested.  Companies who do not provide this service, and make promises that they can’t keep or are not true, can easily be spotted by the covering up of their products with rhetoric and talk of excitement, without the ability to try hands on.

 

Clear Detail and Not Vague

 

When speaking about a product with a company, if you ask the cost of the product and they do not immediately tell you what the cost is, you can be assured that they are using a trained sales tactic.  They will likely move immediately onto something like how much is something similar but more expensive worth.  Companies who sell internet, real estate, and other 1 on 1 coaching services may call your many thousands of dollars you will be asked to spend a ‘tuition’.  Don’t be fooled.  The information they are giving you is not worth thousands of dollars.  See through the smoke of these kinds of companies.

 

Above all, educate yourself.  Never do business or have a relationship with someone who is hazy and not clear/upfront in what they are saying.  Avoid people who continuously make promises, but fail to deliver.  These kinds of people and companies are just trying to get what they want for their own gain.  The key is to evaluate people and companies, see if what they are saying is understandable, and see if there is anything unclear about them.  If there is, this is a sign that potentially something is wrong.

 

The Legitimacy of People

 

A final note about people.  Good, honest people will rarely ask you for anything.  Those who ask you for something and say you will benefit are likely just wanting something themselves and see that you can help.  Good people will welcome your help and participation and be realistic about the promises they make.  Be very cautious about promises from people that if you help them, you will make a lot of money, when the person making the promise is un-educated, and not skilled in what they are trying to make happen.  You can be assured that those who really care about you will talk to you while not always asking something from you.  I’ve experienced in my life, believing that things would work out with a business partner when in reality, the whole time, that person wasn’t really concerned with my benefit.

 

I know that with effort and faith, you will educate yourself, and avoid some of the mistakes that happen when dealing with companies who are not upfront and honest.  You will also be guarded against people who will attempt to use you for their own agenda.  Armed with this knowledge, you will further be on the path to discover your destiny and create your legacy!

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I have new news to report.  I am now working at Ancestry.com (part of The Generations Network) as a software engineer for their search development team.  As time has passed, I am realizing that I need to support my wife and child and I am not in a position to earn a full time living from home yet.  Today was my first day and though it will be tough to sit doing full time work again, I am thankful to Ancestry.com (TGN) for hiring me and giving me a pretty decent salary and benefits to support my family.

 

I look forward to continuing work on drjerm.  My focus is to provide information and resources that will help people having trouble in their lives.  I seek to share advice from my heart.  I also share lessons I am learning in my life.  Sometimes those lessons are very painful.  But I know that with continued effort and faith, that good results will eventually come.

 

Thank you to all of you who participate and read my blog (and website) entries.  As time goes on day to day, I get excited about the prospect of being a full time life coach one day.  But for now, it will just have to be part time, though I never really stop being a life coach, even when I’m at work doing development.  Life coaching is all about people and I now work with people whose lives I hope I can impact for the better.  I am also excited and hopeful to meet The Rock, Dwayne Johnson someday, and show that with effort and faith, big things can be set in motion.  Thanks again!

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There have been disputes about any number of things since recorded history. In the world today, one way to settle disputes is with a judge. Judges provide a mechanism for interpreting and understanding events. In addition, a jury of individual people makes a decision on whether a person is innocent or guilty in a case where that person has been accused of doing something wrong or harmful that possibly warrants reciprocity.  Let’s call this scenario a ‘judgement’, a situation where someone has one or more people draw a conclusion about someone, based on evidence presented by multiple persons.

 

I had the opportunity to hear an individual speak a little bit about judging a couple weeks ago on Sunday.  I was so impressed by what this person had to say and would like to relay a little bit of what they had to offer, as well as some insights of my own.  The end result, I hope will be each of you reading taking a step back and at least giving consideration to the words you read, which relate to judging people.  I would like to talk about our own spheres of life we live in, the spheres of life of others, the intersecting of those spheres, and the importance of understanding our own lack of knowledge.

 

Our Own Spheres of Life

 

First and foremost, I am not the expert on judging.  It is something I have to work on each and every day.  But the insights I have to share on it I believe are worth looking into.  I hope you will read, give consideration, and apply what I have to say about judging people.

 

Each of us individually have lived up to a certain point in our lives.  We have experienced events, come in contact with other people, and formulated our own idea of what existence really is.  We may even be so sure of ourselves that we start to get over-confident.  Perhaps we find faults with people whose view of existence does not match what we have.  I can say for myself that a weakness I have had to overcome was seeing people who did not match my idea of existence and drawing conclusions about those people that I had no business doing.

 

Let’s take a circle and put each of us in that circle.  That circle represents the accumulation of our life experiences and our view of what reality is.  Take a moment and think about what your view of life is.  What do you think about religion, science, sports, politics, money, the environment, health, food, and so on?  Really think about what your view of existence really is.  This is only part of it.  To really understand your views, you have to come in contact with people who don’t have the same views as you.  These people should immediately stand out to you and you can recognize the difference right away.

 

The Spheres of Life of Others

 

Guess what?  Other people have lived up to a certain point in their lives too.  They too have a certain picture of what existence is.  They have their own ideas about a lot of the things you have ideas about.  Chances are, not all of their ideas are going to be the same as yours.  Picture everyone you meet with a sphere surrounding them.  Try to understand that each and every person has life experiences that have molded them into the person they are.  When this is done, understanding people becomes easier.

 

To know the sphere of life of another individual takes time and spending time with that person.  If you truly want to get to know someone, talk about their life experiences and the things they are interested in.  By understanding the nature of someone, it becomes easier to see why they do the things they do.  Can’t understand why someone is spending so much time at work?  Maybe that person had to work when they were young to help support the family.  Maybe they have an idea that working extra hard is necessary.  Don’t be so quick to formulate a negative opinion about people just because their behavior seems to be out of your sphere of reasonability.

 

The Intersecting of Spheres of Life

 

Many of the problems in the world today stem from the intersecting of spheres of life of individuals and the lack of understanding and cooperation therein.  These problems stem from minor conflicts, to full scale wars in the world today.  I am convinced that one of the problems is a jumping to conclusions about someone before getting all the facts straight.  There are plenty of people placing blame and backbiting that it really takes someone doing a full investigation over a lengthy period of time before an even close to accurate decision can be made.  Let me give a list of things to help iterate this:

 

• Just because someone says something that rubs you the wrong way does not mean that person is intentionally trying to make you mad.
• Because someone does not talk to you does not necessarily mean they don’t like you.
• If you are angry, it does not mean that your anger is a correct response.
• There is almost always a reason that someone does something, even if that reason is hidden to you.
• Each and every person is growing and learning through life.  People will make mistakes, yourself included.

 

Take a minute and digest what these points are saying.  The end result is that if we really understand that the world if a large place filled with people of different types, then we can safely say that nothing is ever as simple as saying that someone is who you think they appear to be.  By taking time to gather true evidence, show a little kindness to people, you will help bring out the best in people and make the world a better place.

 

Understanding Our Own Lack of Knowledge

 

If we took the billions of people and looked at them, each with their own spheres, then the realization is one of many different views on life.  And even the combining of everyone’s spheres of life here on earth, that total knowledge of exact existence and correctness of all events is still relatively small.  With that realization, an approach of first, I do not have all knowledge and power, therefore, I must leave room for error on my part.  And second, I must take time to gather knowledge and evidence, and if I must form a conclusion, do it with as much love and kindness as possible.  I believe that most people here on earth are good people that just make mistakes.

 

I would suggest a kindness approach.  When you look at people and realize they are just trying to understand and get through life just like you, then you can be much more accepting of them.  Even if you think someone has made a mistake, that does not mean you are correct in that they made a mistake.  It is just your interpretation of their behavior.  Show some love and kindess and help build other people up.  You will find a lot of tension going out the window and situations becoming better.

 

I hope I’ve been able to offer some insight into juding others.  If nothing else, adopt a kindness and understanding approach before even gathering evidence to draw a conclusion about another individual.  By doing this, I know you will become wiser and have a happier life.

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The olympics have recently finished and I’ve been following the United States men’s basketball team for the last few years. The team won the gold medal in the Olympics this year (2008) by beating Spain.  The team has done pretty well with a couple challenges in the past. Being a basketball fan, there is much interest for me in this team – they are a team of all NBA basketball players. I would like to share some things about this team that I believe are of note and may possibly be of benefit to those reading.

 

A Little History

 

Back in 1992, the Olympics began to allow NBA players to play.  This led to the U.S. easily capturing the gold medal that year.  In 1996 the same thing happened.  In 2000, the U.S. did pretty well, but had some close calls.  They only beat Lithuania by 2 points, but won the gold medal again beating France.  In 2002, the U.S. began losing basketball games in international competition.  In 2004, the U.S. won the bronze medal in the Olympics after losing to Argentina in the semi-finals (final four teams).  The U.S. team faced much scrutiny with losing in international competition and some would say that the loosely throwing a team together of ‘NBA stars’ was no longer working.

 

2006 – 2008

 

One thing I really like is that the coach of Duke University, Mike Krzyzewski, was put in place to lead the U.S. team.  If you do not know who this man is, please read about him here.  He is an amazing man and a terrific basketball coach.  Not only that, a team was put together with some NBA stars, and other players who filled specific roles like shooting specialists.  I believe in 2006, that a team chemistry began that started to propel the U.S. forward.  Even though the U.S. lost to Greece in the 2006 world championships (their only loss), I could tell that things were turning around.

 

Hard Work, Dedication, and Lessons Learned

 

You can find a series of videos entitled, ‘Road to Redemption’ about the U.S. basketball team here.  I recommend watching all of them, they are very interesting.  The things that stand out to me are the immense amount of time that the team is spending preparing for the Olympics.  And the Oympics were just a month long or so.  The players on the team all make millions of dollars and have more money than most of us could ever dream of.  It would be very easy for them to not want to participate in the Olympics.  Just by watching the videos, you can see the tremendous effort that the team, coaches, and other managers are putting in.  How many of us, if we had millions of dollars, would still be working this hard?

 

I believe the U.S. learned some valuable lessons from losing in international competition for basketball.  They realized that being complacent and not giving maximum effort will not yield the best results.  They are realizing that hard work and dedication pays off.  These are lessons that we can all learn from.  Are you frustrated that things are not happening in your life?  Start by getting dedicated and putting in hard work.  See if things don’t start turning around eventually.

 

This journey of the U.S. basketball team has influenced my life.  I truly am amazed by their hard work and dedication, and it is an example to me for what I should be doing in my life.  Though I may never meet any of the players on the U.S. team, they have inspired me and are an example that helps me in my life.

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