9 Ways to Live Life on Purpose

The hustle and bustle of daily life can sweep us away from what really means the most to us. It’s up to each of us to figure out how to live a personally fulfilling life. Although much of your life is shared with others, you can still carve out your own space for a rich, meaningful life.

Take action now to live a life that you love:

1.      Clarify what matters to you. How you spend your time largely determines what’s important to you. If you say your family is at the top of your list, do you spend the bulk of your spare time with them? When you know for sure who and what matters most to you, then that’s where you want to focus your time and energy.

2.      Stay in the moment. If you’re planting flowers, think about packing the earth well and digging the hole deeply enough. Remind yourself to water them immediately afterward. Regardless of what you’re involved in, keep your mind focused.

·        Even when you’re washing the pots and pans, you can concentrate on having nice, hot water and shining the outside of the pans the way you like them.

3.      Say what you mean and mean what you say. Do your words carry importance and honesty, along with kindness and care? Avoid mincing words. Get to the point, but remember to take the other person’s feelings into consideration. When your discussions contain subjects of interest and heartfelt feelings, it’s meaningful for you and the listener.

4.      Find your passion. What gets you interested, excited, or fascinated? Has there ever been a topic that you think about all day long to the point where you can hardly stand it? If so, follow your passion. Make it an important part of your life as often as you can.

·        If it’s golf, play it as often as you can. If your passion is working with children, then pursue it, whether it’s through working at a nursery school, becoming a school teacher, or serving as the neighborhood babysitter. Make it happen.

5.      Worry less about what others think. Pay more attention to what you think. If someone isn’t a relevant player in your personal life, then what they believe about you is irrelevant. What you believe about yourself is what matters.

·        Use your emotional fortitude in ways that make your life better. Ensure that your opinion of yourself is great!

6.      Instead of complaining, accept the situation or take action. If what you’re upset about is out of your control, it might be time to just accept it. However, if it’s something that’s within your power to change, take action. Complaining is a waste of your precious time. Focus on problem-solving instead.

7.      Accept responsibility for your life. If you’re unhappy, there’s no reason to blame your parents, spouse, or boss. Step up and make some decisions to alter what troubles you.

·        You are the captain of your own ship. Figure out the course you want to take and then stay on it.

8.      Refuse to criticize. Focus on assessing your own life instead. Notice the good qualities in others. Making positive changes in yourself is where your power lies.

9.      “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi, a great man of peace, first said this quote. Make a difference in your own life and the lives of others. You’ll absolutely love yourself for it. Others will love what you’re doing, too. Volunteer. Join a club. Get involved!

An enriching life is here for the taking. When your focus is clear, you can then expend your energy on the people and things that matter in your life. Isn’t it time to begin the journey toward a life filled with positivity and meaning? You deserve it!

10 reasons why diets fail

1. .       Too many crash diets—a crash diet or fad diet is eating too little calories for a period of time. Most people do this for special occasions. They can’t be sustained for very long. Then when it’s over and we resume eating the way we are used to.
   
   
   2.       Skipping breakfast—they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Skipping meals in general is not good. It’s too easy to over eat at the next meal because we are too hungry. Eating some breakfast is good. It wakes up your metabolism, and charges your brain for the day.
   
   
   3.       Too many snacks—constant snacking and not keeping up with the calories can lead to weight gain. Also most snack foods are loaded with fat, sugar, salt, are just plain over processed.
   
   
   4.       Getting too hungry—on the other hand,  if you’re getting too hungry between meals you may have a tendency to over eat at the next meal, or eat too fast, which is also not good.
   
   
   5.       Too many “fat free-sugar free” foods – foods labeled sugar free and fat free tend to claim lower calories. The problem is when something is labeled low fat we think we can eat more of it. The other problem is that these foods are so over processed. Watch your labels, fat free tend to have more sugar and foods labeled sugar free tends to have more salt and fat, not to mention a whole host of other chemicals your body does not need.
   
   
   6.       Drinking calories—some people just don’t realize how many calories are in soda, juice, and cocktails, or how alcohol affects them. It’s OK to enjoy your beverages just be sure to calculate them in daily totals.
   
   
   7.        Not drinking enough water— drink water is so important. It flushes the toxins out of our body, and so many other benefits. Did you know just being a little dehydrated; can affect your mind, heart, eyes, sleep mood, skin, and body temp? Not to mention some will confuse thirst with hunger and eat when thirst.
   
   
   8.       Not getting enough calcium—calcium is important for healthy bones, hair, teeth, and unfortunately, like vitamin C, it is not something our bodies make. Good sources of calcium include low fat dairy products, dark leafy greens like spinach and kale,  tofu, salmon and believe it or not , molasses.
   
   
   9.       Too much fast food—it is so easy to go through the drive through on the way somewhere. But fast food is so high in calories and fat. Some fast food sandwiches have so many calories, that they equal ½ your daily intake. Then add fries, soft drinks, they are also loaded with salt  and fat. Portion out  healthy snacks with you, dried fruit, nuts seeds,
   
   
   10.   Setting better goals—Finally goal setting—healthy goal setting means you know how much you need to lose. What your goal is, why you want to lose weight.(hopefully for a healthy reason). You also plan what to eat, how much to eat, when to eat, and set a health rate of lose. Think of setting S.M.A.R.T goals. Another aspect of planning is keep healthy food with you, so you’re not surprised or too hungry if it is going to be awhile between meals. Like when you’re traveling.

8 Motivational Quoted To Get Though The Day

Best Dry Skin Cure

Summer is upon us. In summer our skin can get really dry so today I am going to introduce you to Benefits of Cod Liver Oil for Dry Skin

As a child, you may remember receiving a spoonful of cod liver oil from your grandmother.  While this “spoonful of sugar” didn’t necessarily help the “medicine go down”, it nonetheless was a remedy that was popular at that time.  Today, the benefits of cod liver oil for dry skin are still considered worthwhile.

Cod liver oil contains vitamin A, D, and E which are derived from the liver of the cod.  However, there are some manufacturers of cod liver oil who add Vitamin E in a synthetic form, while others use the original source of these vitamins contained in the liver of the cod.

Vitamin E helps in promoting healthy skin, while Vitamin A can prevent such skin conditions as acne and the like.  Vitamin D helps to lower the toxicity found in Vitamin A.  Since dry skin can results from a deficiency of Vitamin A, these three vitamins found in cod liver oil work in tandem to address the problem effectively. 

Cod liver oil can be used as a topical agent or taken in capsule form.  What are the benefits?  When used topically, cod liver oil allows for the acceleration of healing and overall good skin.  Taken orally, cod liver oil actually maintains the supple soft skin and may prevent aging skin signs such as “liver spots”. This oil also has been known to reduce the number of wrinkles on the skin as well.

While it is evident that the benefits of cod liver oil for dry skin are numerous, it should be noted that because this oil contains Vitamin A and D, that additional supplementation of these vitamins may cause side effects.  

Thus, pregnant women should consult their doctors before taking cod liver oil.

In addition, there has been recent news regarding high amounts of mercury found in fish.  However, cod liver oil is tested for over 30 contaminants before it is made available to consumers.  Further, cod liver oil does not contain mercury, which can only be found in fish and not the oil itself.

Finally, choosing the right cod liver oil may take a bit of research on your part as some companies utilize synthetic vitamins in the processing of this oil.  There are well known brands of cod liver oil which you can find online or via your pharmacist that contain the appropriate amount of Vitamin A, D, and E.

With the crazy weather we have been having lately, most of which has probably contributed to dry skin, it is clear that cod liver oil not only helps prevent this condition but has been used for other ailments as well.  Just ask grandma!

Seven Reasons to Write Articles

Top Seven Ways Writing Articles Can Explode Your Business

In today's highly competitive internet universe, the importance of attracting highly targeted traffic to your website cannot be overemphasized. Routing web traffic to your site can be your only means of survival, especially in the cutthroat world of ecommerce. Getting a high search engine ranking can be very difficult. Fortunately, there is plethora of website promotion strategies you can use to drive traffic to your website.

There is a wide variety of strategies you can adapt, from paid advertising to affiliate marketing. However, most of these techniques require payment. Nevertheless, there are ways to promote your website and increase your web traffic without spending anything. Writing articles is one of the best web site promotion strategies you can use, and they can be very effective. How, you may ask, can writing articles help improve your web traffic? Here are the top seven ways in which it can help explode your business.

1.Reach more people

When you write good articles, it would be a shame not to share them with other people. You can post your articles in your website or you can submit them to other sites such as e-zines and online publishers. By submitting your articles to these sites, you give exposure not only to your ideas but also to your website. Simply include a link back to your site or include your information in the resource box. With this, you get exposure and free advertising as well. Submit your articles to popular e-zines and take advantage of their popularity. Other sites who find your article relevant may also link back to you. Thus, you increase your link popularity, which is one of the most important strategies in the internet world. Remember that most people are looking for information online and by filling this need with your quality article; you may reap the benefit of more exposure and higher web traffic.

2.Free Advertising

Submitting your articles to other websites presents an opportunity to advertise your website without paying exorbitant fees. Although you should avoid marketing language in your articles and make it informative and useful to your readers, you can always include your site's link in the resource box. In addition, by making your article relevant and helpful to your readers, you are making a good impression for your website, which could ultimately lead to a visit and hopefully a purchase. Good quality content in an article is far better and more effective than a few lines of ad space. You have a very special opportunity to presell your product or service to your prospective customer.

3.Gain High Search Engine Ranking

Create a new web page for your article in your website. Optimize your article to make it search-engine friendly. Use top-ranked keywords and Meta tags that can give your website a high search engine ranking. As soon as you upload your new webpage to your server, search engines will spider through it and you can gain an increase in search engine ranking. Remember that search engine optimized content is a very effective strategy to gain a high ranking in search results.

4.Increases Link Popularity

Instead of looking for other sites who would want to establish reciprocal links with your site, you can simply submit an article to other sites. Just do not forget to include a link to your site in your resource box. When these websites pick up and publishes your article, you automatically get a link partner. Try to get as many link partners as you can. Link popularity is one of the factors used by search engines in determining search engine rankings. Make your article especially useful and appealing, so that more websites will be encouraged to publish it.

5.Optimizes your site for improved search engine ranking

By making your site keyword rich, you can greatly improve the search engine ranking of your site. Remember that keyword density is one of the most important factors that search engines use when determining the search engine ranking of site. However, you should always provide relevant, useful and pertinent information. Avoid the temptation of overusing keywords just to gain a high ranking as this may turn off most web surfers. Relevance and quality is still the most important things to consider when writing articles and it will be doubly useful to your site if you make these articles search-engine optimized.

6.Establishes a Good Impression and Reputation

By writing excellent, original and relevant articles, you not only give your site exposure, you are also creating a good impression on your prospects. Encourage more people to visit your site and do business with you by establishing an impressive reputation through your articles. Be seen as an expert in the field and your will ultimately gain more customers eager to do business with you.

7.Enhances your credibility through references and testimonies

Certainly, your articles are going to receive feedbacks and testimonies when you publish them in e-zines and free article sites. Record these positive feedbacks and comments and use them as promotional material in your website or in any of your advertising efforts. Your credibility will be greatly enhanced by these feedbacks, as it will create a good impression on your prospects as well as your existing customers. In this highly competitive world, excellent credibility and trust may be the only things you need to attract new customers or make loyal patrons out of your existing customers. Original, relevant, useful and pertinent articles are important tools you should utilize to improve and explode your business

How to Use Link Share

What's LinkShare, And Do I Need To Use It?

Online affiliate marketing is one of the most effective, cheapest and fastest ways to promote merchandise. With millions of people getting access to the Internet everyday, there’s a great chance for a merchant to introduce his products and services to a wider market, thereby, maximizing his revenue.

Likewise, affiliate marketing is an excellent way to generate full-time income for a home-based affiliate marketer. For someone who is jaded of going through a grueling eight-hour work routine, affiliate marketing offers a great opportunity to earn big without wearing himself out—physically, mentally and emotionally.

In affiliate marketing, both parties are benefited since as the merchant earns from each item sold, the marketer likewise earns a commission.

If you are interested in affiliate marketing but are finding it hard to look for affiliate programs, affiliates or merchants, you can start by checking sites of various affiliate networks. Many affiliate programs in the Internet are being offered through an affiliate program network, which acts as a link between the merchants and individual affiliates.

Among the most popular is LinkShare, it is through it that merchants and affiliates meet. LinkShare maintains and manages affiliate marketing programs for a great number of merchants with various kinds of businesses, products and services. It also has over 6,000 affiliate site members in its network. It gains profit from the set-up fees, monthly account maintenance fees and commissions.

Joining networks like LinkShare can be of great help in establishing your online marketing business. Whether you are a merchant or an affiliate marketer, you need to research well on your partners in order to choose the best for you.

LinkShare provides the facility of acquiring access to a large network of advertisers (merchants) who offer their affiliate programs to publishers (affiliates) who are willing to promote their products. In the same manner, it gives the merchants access to a large network of affiliates who are searching for affiliate marketing opportunities.

LinkShare is especially beneficial for an affiliate in choosing his partners since he can find his options all in one location. It would be easier for him to compare products, commission rates and other benefits given by the merchant. The merchant usually just waits for interested affiliates to sign up in his affiliate marketing program but being in the network increases his chance to promote his products to a larger market, thus, maximizing his potential to gain huge profit.

To help you decide whether to use large affiliate networks such as LinkShare or not, let us try to look deeper into its positive and negative sides. The primary advantage of LinkShare to you as an affiliate is convenience.

As earlier mentioned, you find different pieces of information about your choices simultaneously all in a single location, so you save time and effort looking for affiliate programs or merchants.

It’s also easier to track your business partner’s performance through monthly reports and statements, as well as its sales and commission rates, so you know whether the affiliate program is still worth continuing. If you have signed up for several affiliate programs, you can check all your statistics for each merchandiser you are affiliated with by logging in just once.

LinkShare helps you manage and maintain all records of your visitors’ click-throughs and sales transaction. It takes care of your commissions and gives it to you monthly in lump sum. Especially when you have more than one merchant partner, it would be easier for you to manage your accounts and track your earnings when you are affiliated through a marketing program network.
Furthermore, every information you get is accurate and secured, so you are protected from all the risk you might encounter. Above all, you can enjoy LinkShare’s benefits for free. You just have to go to their site and register your website. Instantly, you get access to a great variety of affiliate programs available for you.

So, what’s on the negative side? Although, it is indeed helpful to join affiliate marketing networks such as LinkShare, there are some disadvantages, too.

For one, merchants offer lower commissions to affiliates who partner with them through the third party program network. This because they still have to pay for the use of service and the technology provided by LinkShare.

Direct partnership with the merchant cuts costs of advertising through the network and so the affiliate has bigger potential to earn more. Moreover, it is possible that your payment may be delayed for a month or more since program networks would pay you only after the advertiser or the merchant has paid them.

Do you need to use LinkShare or other networks? It depends, actually. You can opt for direct partnership with the merchant, but this choice is not applicable all the time. There are a lot of merchandisers who offer their affiliate program only through affiliate program networks and thus, you have no choice other than joining the network to get into the affiliate marketing program.

So you are faced with “take it or leave it” situation. But LinkShare and other program networks are not that disadvantageous. After all, whether you join it or not, earning big would depend more on your promotional strategies and persistence.