The Articles Collection

Cause And Effect

2006-08-30T14:07:00.000+08:00

By Kenneth MacLean

Actions inevitably have consequences. In the material world, this principle is expressed as Newtons Third Law of motion: For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. We throw a stone into the air, and it falls to earth every time. We learn in science classes that there are immutable laws of matter; the entire subject of engineering is based on this cause and effect relationship. Pushing one of a row of dominoes causes the entire row to be knocked over, seeming to demonstrate the validity and inflexibility of action reaction.

Unquestioning acceptance of this idea, however, can lead to difficulty. Of course it is obvious that cause and effect operates in our lives and the lives of others, but a little thought shows that this principle has deeper roots.

When people say that an action has consequences, they mean that a certain counter-reaction will inevitably follow. When a scientist says that action A causes result B, he means B inevitably follows from A. When B always follows A, given the same experimental conditions, science says that the statement "B follows A" is a law. There is the law of gravity, which we all know so intimately. Science uses observation of an action and the consequent reactions of matter and energy to discover laws about the behavior of the universe. As mere mortals, all of us do the same in our daily lives. In our scientific culture, however, the laws of science are unthinkingly applied to the actions of human beings. But as conscious beings we get into trouble when we model our own conduct on scientific laws which, after all, only describe the behavior of matter and energy. Behaviorism, materialism, and pragmatism are all modeled on the idea that objective reality is paramount. These philosophies, in my opinion, place human beings at effect point. Behavioral scientists attempt to describe the actions of human beings as if they were so many billiard balls, banging into each other and going off in predictable directions.

A conscious being has the freedom of independent choice; therefore, he or she may consciously alter the pattern of his or her life.

When we speak of an action having consequences, we must factor consciousness itself into the picture, and through the design of consciousness, the Law of Attraction. Therefore, no action A can inevitably produce a result B, unless the consciousness of the observer, or initiator, of the action is taken into account. The creative will of a conscious being will have an effect on the outcome of any action, and, in fact, the Law of Attraction guarantees that the outcome of action A will be affected by the vibratory pattern of the observer or initiator of the action.

Let's take an example from life. Marge Smith is known in the office as "that bitch." It has been the experience of everyone that when one interacts with Marge, one will experience a set-down. This pattern of action has become so well established that it could be said to be law. Deal with Marge, and you will get snapped at sooner or later. Now, say, a new hire comes into the office one day. When Joe sees Marge he gives her a pleasant smile, holds out his hand and says "hello, I'm Joe." Marge is taken aback at first by this unusual behavior, but to be polite, shakes Joe's hand. They get to talking, just pleasantries, but because Joe doesn't realize that marge is a bitch, no negative outcome is forthcoming. So B, a negative experience, does not follow from A, an encounter with Marge, even though this has been firmly established by observation in the past. We can see this in the world of matter as well, where an experimenter can affect the outcome of the experiment. The work of Dr. Masaru Emoto is a graphic demonstration of the effect consciousness has on matter, energy, and other life forms. (See Messages from Water.)

Therefore we can say that no matter what is concluded to be true by observation, no matter how many times it has been observed that B follows A, a different outcome can be produced in the presence of creative will! Therefore the inevitable character of cause and effect is an illusion. In fact, what seems to be an unbreakable law by observation is just the Law of Attraction at work. In the office, all are a vibrational match to the frequencies of "conflict with Marge" and so it is observed to be an inflexible pattern of conduct. But it is a "law" only because all consciously hold the same pattern of thought and action relative to each other.

How does the idea of cause and effect apply in daily life? In this way: as Esther Hicks points out, we create our lives almost 100% from observation, rather than from use of our creative will. We observe the (illusory) rigid inflexibility of cause and effect in the physical world and translate to our actions. We never think to deliberately alter our thoughts, and therefore our vibrational pattern, to invite a different, more pleasant set of circumstances into our experience. We say "that's the way it's always been with me. I just don't seem to have any luck with money." Or, "every time I get into a good relationship, it always falls apart." Or, "they always pass over me for promotions. I must be doing something wrong." These are declarative statements which are based solely upon observation. In these statements there is an assumption: what has been must be. B must follow A. There is no allowance for the deliberate creation of another vibration, which will attract a different result! This is a shame, for it means that we do not exercise the free will that is inherent in all conscious beings. We consider ourselves to be mere ciphers, pawns in a game where others can apparently move us around on the board of life; victims of the inevitability of cause - effect.

Cause and effect is the apparency of B always following A, based upon observation of what has occurred in the past. The apparent inflexibility of ingrained, habitual thought and conduct can be transcended by the use of creative will. It is only for us to realize the powerful creative nature of our own consciousness, to effect positive change. An understanding of the Law of Attraction provides the necessary basis for this understanding.

Kenneth James Michael MacLean has written 6 books and dozens of articles.
For more information, go to http://www.kjmaclean.com/Products/MainProductPage.html
For free eBooks, go to http://www.kjmaclean.com/Products/Freeebooks.html

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Build Your Self-Esteem, A Start To Self-Improvement

2006-08-29T16:14:00.000+08:00

By Morris Wren

In life, it's hard to stay tough specially when things and people around you keep pulling you down. When we get to the battle field, we should choose the right armors to use, and pick those that are bullet proof. Life's options give us arrays of more options. Along the battle, we will get hit and bruised. And wearing bullet proof armor ideally means self change'. The kind of change which comes from within.

Sometimes, you may wonder if some people are born leaders or positive thinkers. NO. Being positive, and staying positive is a choice. Building self esteem and drawing lines for self improvement is a choice, not a rule or a talent.

So how do you stay calm, composed and maintain self esteem in a tough environment? Here are some tips you may to consider as a starter guide to self improvement.

Negative Work Environment

Beware of "dog eat dog" theory where everyone else is fighting just to get ahead. This is where non appreciative people usually thrive. No one will appreciate your contributions even if you miss lunch and dinner, and stay up late. Stay out of this. It will ruin your self esteem. Competition is at stake anywhere. Be healthy enough to compete, but in a healthy competition that is.

Other People's Behavior

Bulldozers, gossip mongers, whiners, back stabbers, snipers, people walking wounded, controllers, naggers, complainers, exploders, patronizes . . . all these kinds of people will pose bad vibes for your self esteem, as well as to your self improvement scheme.

Changing Environment

Changes challenge our paradigms. It tests our flexibility, adaptability and alters the way we think. Changes will make life difficult for awhile, it may cause stress but it will help us find ways to improve our selves. Change will be there forever. We must be susceptible to it.

Past Experience

It's okay to cry and say ouch, when we experience pain. But don't let pain transform itself into fear. It might grab you by the tail and swing you around. Treat each failure and mistake as a life lesson and building block.

Negative World View

Look at what you're looking at. Don't wrap yourself up with all the negative elements of the world. In building self esteem, we must learn how to make the best out of worst situations.

Determination Theory

The way you are and your behavioral traits are said to be a mixed end product of your inherited traits (genetics), your upbringing (psychic), and your environmental surroundings such as your spouse, the company, the economy or your circle of friends. You have your own identity. If your father is a failure, it doesn't mean you have to be a failure too. Learn from other people's experience, so you'll never have to encounter the same mistakes.

Self esteem brings about self improvement, true assessment, and determination. So how do you start putting up the building blocks of self esteem? Be positive. Be contented and happy. Be appreciative. Never miss an opportunity to compliment. Being positive in life will help you build self esteem, and be a starter guide to self improvement.

Morris Wren is the founder of ShopHealthandFitness.com This site offers information and tips on self-improvement, relationships, family and how to get the most out of life by looking and feeling your best. For more details visit us online today at: http://www.shophealthandfitness.com

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Blogging for Money

2006-08-28T14:28:00.000+08:00

By Scott Lindsay

While most of the bloggers dont care about money, but about exposure, there are some making pretty decent earnings with blogs. The question is: how much? Well, that depends on the method used by the blogger, the traffic he or she can attract to the blog, the value of the post and so on. If you are willing to win some money with a blog, there are a few possibilities.

There are various ways to make money from a blog: advertising, including the famous ads by Google (AdSense), affiliate marketing, the controversial pay-per-post current, the actual blogging job and donations:

1. While AdSense is not so difficult to master all you need to do is insert a code provided by Google into the HTML of your blog and Google will display on it ads related to the content. Each click on the ads will bring you a few cents. High value keywords may even bring you larger amounts. Google is not the only pay-per-click program provider. Even Yahoo! has a similar plan. Its up to you what you choose.

2 To win money trough affiliate programs requires more efforts: you need to place links to merchants. These links should be appealing to determine visitors to take action. And writing sales links is not such an easy task.

3. The third method is known as pay-per-post. Many advertisers are willing to pay bloggers to post advertisements or news on their blogs. The purpose is to build traffic and gain back links that will boost their search engine rankings. There are plenty of online firms offering such an opportunity to bloggers. Some examples of sites where bloggers could make money blogging are: http://www.weblogsinc.com/, http://www.soulcast.com/, or http://payperpost.com/.

4. Firms are looking to hire professional bloggers. There are already job portals for bloggers on the Internet and job postings for bloggers on many websites. If you are looking for a blogging job check out Problogger: http://www.problogger.net/ and the blogger jobs board you find onsite.

5. A less popular method is used by bloggers who ask their readers to donate some money to help them keep the blog going. It may come as a surprise, but many visitors do act on such requests, especially when they find something really interesting and they enjoy reading the blog

These four methods are what bloggers call making money with a blog. Professional bloggers know a more effective method: making money as a result of a blog. This is the case for many writers, SEO experts, web gurus and online entrepreneurs. If we think about it, even big corporations understand the importance of a having a blog and what huge revenues they could get as a result of having a blog. Thats great news for passionate bloggers looking to make a living online (remember the forth method of making money with a blog?)

As a conclusion, blogs are great to share knowledge, but, with some skills and experience plus a touch of really valuable content, they could generate some fine profits for their owners.

Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. HighPowerSites is the easiest do-it-yourself website builder on the web. No programming or design skill required. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites.com at: http://www.highpowersites.com

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Internet Presence and Resume Writing - Skills and Strategy to Help Your Job Search

2006-08-24T11:16:00.001+08:00

By Ron Bates

Your resume writing ability and your personal Internet presence are critical to reducing the amount of time it takes to land a career opportunity. Some say it takes on average 1-month for every $10,000 of annual income you earn to find your next job when you are out of work. I'm not so sure I agree with the correlation, but I do agree that as you move up the corporate food chain it can take longer to land that next assignment. For some executives it can take longer than they can financially stand to wait.

What's worse is to a certain degree hiring is also somewhat seasonal. It probably won't shock anyone to learn summer is typically the slowest hiring season of the year. This can be extremely tough on a job seeker's moral - especially if they aren't aware of the seasonality associated with hiring. If you aren't landing that next opportunity during the summer months, it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with your employability.

A better question is: How can I shorten the time it takes to find a job?

Do you find yourself (or know someone) in a situation where you need or want to conduct a proactive job search campaign?

Regardless of your reasons, need, or desire to engage in a proactive job search, conducting a proactive job search can be one of the most frustrating challenges for anyone at any level and at any point in their career. Why? Because the outcome is often a function of timing, and has nothing to do with how marketable you are. That said, increasing your marketability and exposure to opportunity only improves your ability to capitalize on being in the right place at the right time to take that next step in your career.

With the right strategy and approach not only can your increase your exposure to more opportunity, you can also increase your exposure to better opportunities.

It isn't complicated, but it can be a lot of hard work and it's critical you have access to the right tools to get the job done.

The first thing to realize when embarking on a proactive job search campaign is that it all starts with your resume writing skills if you are going outside of your immediate "friends & family" business contact network.

Most executives fall into the trap of trivializing the importance of having the best possible resume by saying, "I communicate my value and the substance of my career best in an interview."

If your resume isn't -pin sharp- in its ability to concisely articulate your unique differentiated career value proposition by quantifying the scope and scale of responsibility you've held and the business impact your efforts have produced in a -measurable- way for each position you've held in your career, you are dead before you even start. You will simply get lost in the pile of resumes that end up in electronic or physical recycle bins without a second thought - let alone without an interview.

You really need to understand the quality, content and format of your resume (especially for an executive) is a strong reflection of your capabilities and focus.

Executives are given a -measurable- scope and scale of responsibility, and they are paid to produce -measurable- business impact. Nobody is paid to simply produce effort.

It is amazing how many executive resumes fail to articulate this -measurable- information. Most resumes contain nothing more than unquantified statements of effort that beg the question: "That's nice, so what did that effort produce in the form of any -measurable- business impact?"

Don't fall into the trap of poor resume writing that fails to articulate your -measurable- scope and scale of responsibility, and the -measurable- business impact you've driven in your resume.

Also give serious thought to abandoning the traditional 1-2 page resume format. Constraining yourself to a traditional 1-2 page resume format is the equivalent of committing job search suicide. Instead, focus on devoting enough physical space to adequately differentiate your career. Why? Because if you try to jam your career value proposition into a 1-2 page resume, you risk being lost in a sea of 1-2 page vanilla resumes.

Some may think this is heresy, but it is simply common sense.

If you are trying to differentiate yourself, it probably isn't a good idea to have a resume that looks like everybody else's.

Want to see how -everybody- else looks? Just look at the -AFTER- "Samples" that e-Resume (examples), Career-Resumes (examples), and even Monster's Resume Center (examples) touts as massively differentiating "Stellar" resumes to see how -EVERYBODY- looks when they constrain themselves to this 1-2 page criteria.

If your goal is to conform and look like EVERYBODY else - and as a result - compete head-to-head in today's job market, then by all means follow their advice. If you want to change the game in your favor and get interviews that others with the same vanilla resumes won't - then don't follow their advice. Simply ask yourself if you want to work for someone that believes the length of someone's resume is a valid hiring criterion, and make your own decision.

Be very careful in reacting to feedback that "Your resume is too long." Why? Because the -only- person you should listen to that comments on the length of your resume is someone that can actually benefit by hiring you. Any other feedback is coming from someone that does not need to hire you, and as such can't benefit from the information that is actually in your resume (i.e., the feedback is totally out of context).

Don't put your success in the hands of a "professional resume writer". Why? Just ask yourself, who knows better what the value of your career accomplishments are - you or someone else that hasn't even come close to having a career like yours? Would you leave the execution of your career responsibilities up to your secretary? Of course not. Then why would you consider depending on someone else's resume writing skills by letting someone else represent/articulate your career accomplishments and value proposition by letting them write your resume?

Resume Advice - If you're not landing a job in a timely manner it is for one of two reasons:

1. Your career isn't a strong fit for the roles you are exposed to.

2. Your resume isn't a strong fit for the roles you are exposed to.

Are you willing to bet it's because your career isn't a strong fit? Are you willing to bet your resume couldnt be improved?

The only thing standing between you and being able to write a -pin sharp- resume that differentiates your career value proposition - is having access to the right tools.

Where can you identify the tools and techniques?

I wrote an article about 3 years ago called: Conducting a Job Search Campaign That's a pretty good place to start. It discusses many things a job seeker can do to increase their coverage and exposure to possible employment opportunities.

Conducting a Job Search Campaign provides job search advice on topics such as resume writing, how to approach recruiters, to how to build a personal Internet presence so someone can actually find you in Google and much more.

After you're written the best possible resume, then the challenge shifts to your personal Internet presence. In other words, can you be found when someone does a search on your name in Google? Do you have an Internet presence? Execunet surveyed their executive recruiters and found 63% of them Google a candidate before reaching out to them and half make a determination whether or not to reach out to a candidate based on what they do or don't find. The easiest way to create an Internet presence is to join an on-line networking platform that gives you not only the ability to build a profile, but to also create other content such as blogs and articles. A networking site with high traffic combined with constantly changing content will rank high in search engines typically. LinkedIn his a site with high traffic, but all of the content is static. Ecademy is a site with reasonably high traffic, but most of the content is contently changing as a result of all of the blogging and article traffic that the members post. As such, a member profile on Ecademy will typically rank much higher than a corresponding member profile on LinkedIn when doing a search on the member's name in Google.

Essentially, any content you create on an on-line networking site that combines reasonable traffic and more importantly contantly changing content will create a kind of preferential ranking scenario in search engines that you can use to your advantage to build a personal Internet presence.

By leveraging a "search engine" friendly networking platform you can quickly create a visible Internet presence. Combine this with other blogging and article publishing activity and your ready to be found by a recruiter.

So take control of the outcome by getting proactive with your job search.

Happy Networking.

Ron Bates is an expert in mission critical retained executive search. He is a Managing Principal with the retained executive search firm Executive Advantage Group, Inc. He has delivered personal executive coaching projects to former SAP, E&Y, Oracle, and WorldCom Exec's responsible for multi-billion dollar business units, and co-founded http://www.CV-Advantage.com, a self guided job search oriented executive coaching process.

With +27,000 direct contacts on on-line professional networking platforms, Ron has been referred to as "the most connected man on Earth". View Rons networking profile on Ecademy.

As a recognized expert in building an on-line personal Internet presence, Ron has been an invited speaker at venues such as the Marketing Executive Networking Group, British America Business Council, Expert Connections, and is a regular guest on Netshares Ask the Coach.

Ron's blog: Internet Presence Do you exist? can be found at http://www.search-advantage.com

For more information on Conducting a Job Search Campaign go to http://www.job-search-campaign.com

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Where Is Your Business Blog?

2006-08-24T11:16:00.000+08:00

A blog is defined as a type of website where entries are made (such as in a journal or diary). Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news. I agree with that definition but I also think blogs are involving into great business devices to inform and educate your customers.

Of course its fitting for me, as a writer, to have a blog (or two) but you may feel you dont need one for your own line of work. I couldnt disagree with you more. I truly believe any type of business can benefit from using a blog.

A blog is an inexpensive (I use Blogger.com and there is no charge) tool to keep in touch with your customers. I think the challenging part for most business owners is figuring out what to write about and continually maintaining the blog, which is extremely important. If your customer clicks on your blog link and there hasnt been a post since last Christmas, they will click off right away. You want to keep them engaged.

So what do you write about in your blog? First of all, dont make your blog all about your business and full of ads. The key is to incorporate the products and/or services you offer with information that YOUR customer is seeking. The first step is to think about who is your customer and what concerns/interests do they have?

For example, you are a veterinarian. Im a customer of a veterinarian and I want to know more about cat care. The vet could use case studies from real-life situations from the office and share that with their customers (via the blog). When a customer at the office asks them a question, for example We are expecting our first child, what can we do to help make Smelly the Cat adjust to this new arrival? Blog about it! I would love to hear about funny pet stories as well.

A blog is interactive as well. After you post your entry, your customer can leave a comment. Answer their question or comment as soon as you can. Keep that line of communication open.

The other challenge with blogging is maintaining it. Do you have enough time to write the posts and answer the comments? And does it matter? I think I have answered the second question. It does matter. Its a way to communicate with your customer and they can communicate right back. Its a way for your customer to get to know you and your business a little better.

If you personally dont have time to write your own blog entries, find someone who can write it for you. Remember your business blog is NOT about spilling out your personal feelings. Its about informing your target market of information, products and services you can provide. You are educating through the use of your blog. A business writer can help you generate ideas as well as write the entries and keep the blog updated. The writer does not necessary have to pretend they are you but simply provide content for your readers. And this content also helps with your website traffic. More traffic equals more customers.

Ellie McFadden is a business writer who specializes in helping businesses with their online marketing, such as blog writing. She writes and maintains two blogs:

http://writebridgeblog.blogspot.com/ http://ellie-writes.blogspot.com/

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