Sunday, August 16, 2009

Did you know?

 
 

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via The Coarse Hair Diary by Belle Cheveux on 8/15/09

For Relaxed Ladies: Because of the high pH of relaxer or hair straightening systems, most quaternized (conditioning) ingredients are unstable and slowly break down to release ammonia over time, having no conditioning effects by the time the consumers use them. (Source)

It's best to add oils and conditioners to your relaxer right before applying it.

 
 

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Monday, August 10, 2009

Andrew Carnegie’s Top 4 Tips for Massive Success

 
 

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"Aim for the highest."

"You cannot push anyone up the ladder unless he is willing to climb."

In the late 1800s there lived a very rich man. In fact, he was so rich that he is now considered the second richest man in history. And, at least as I remember it, he became an inspiration for Scrooge McDuck.

His name was Andrew Carnegie. You may have heard this name before if you have read the classic personal development book "Think and Grow Rich". It was Carnegie that gave the author Napoleon Hill the assignment to interview hundreds of wealthy people about success. And those interviews became the foundation for the book.

Here are four of Carnegie's own top tips for massive success.

1. Pay attention to the more important things.

"As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do."

This is one of my favourite quotes at the moment. And I have to agree, I pay less and less attention to what people say. Because in the end, what someone does is the most important thing. Talking is easy, but walking your talk is harder. And walking it consistently even though you fall, slip back into old habits and make mistakes is a huge part of success.

Now, talking and discussing what you want to do can be very helpful. But at some point you also follow that up and take action.

And this not just a good way to see people in a clear way. It's also a good way to look at yourself more clearly. Because you can tell yourself and others all kinds of things all day. But what you are actually getting done shows a lot about who you are right now and how you future will look.

2. Make it fun, make it light.

"There is little success where there is little laughter."

If your life and striving for success becomes just a big struggle then it will be very hard to keep it up.

If you want something bad then it it's very easy to overread or overthink that thing. It seems more complicated in your mind and it also becomes "heavier". What may have been pretty straightforward in real life becomes this huge struggle, where you are Rocky Balboa taking slow painstaking steps uphill against horrific odds. Yep, it's a real inspiring thing as you struggle as the heroic underdog.

It's also a great way to make things so much harder for yourself. It's you putting up imaginary obstacles in your own mind that aren't even there in reality. The Rocky way of thinking about these things is very seductive. But life becomes so much lighter and more fun when you just let that stuff go.

Sure, things may be vary in difficulty. But I believe we often make things more difficult and heavier than they really are.

So simplify it, don't overread or overthink it. This makes it a lot easier to relax and have fun while still working towards what you want.

Also, create a habit of simply making it fun. Keep a positive and fun attitude with the friends you are working with. Don't take things too serious. Learn to laugh about them a bit more. This does not only make it easier to consistently keep up the good work. It also makes it easier to handle what would previously be "huge setbacks/problems".

3. Be persistent. Don't spread yourself too thin.

"The men who have succeeded are men who have chosen one line and stuck to it."

How do you never get much done? Well, one good way is to try everything at once and spread yourself too thin. You get super enthusiastic for month and then you get deflated. You may even get an emotional backlash and start to feel negatively towards what you were so pumped up about since you aren't seeing the results you'd like as you quickly as you'd like to.

But on the other hand you have to get started and take action. Things can seem a certain way in your head when you think about doing them. But you have to actually do them for a while to gain understanding of how they really are. So to find one line that you want to stick with in some area of your life you may have to try a few of them and experiment to find what you love most to do.

I don't have many more tips really on how to find your line. I think you just have to think about some options and then try them to find out for yourself what you like and where there is opportunity.

I have for example been writing on this website for almost three years now. And I still find it fun and fascinating to write about these things. It's fun to be able to share my thoughts and what I have done and perhaps not only gain a clearer understanding for myself but also help out someone out there. I enjoy tinkering with the design and improving that. I enjoy learning more about how to spread the articles on this website to an even wider audience (and taking action on what I learn).

I think those are some good reasons to stick with what you are doing. And so I continue doing this.

4. Motivate yourself. It's your choice.

"People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents."

I wrote about this just a couple of weeks ago. Like Carnegie, I believe you have to rely on yourself to be able to keep taking action patiently and persistently. Sure, help and motivation from others is always good. But they can not always be there to support you.

The only person who is always with you is you. So you have to choose to place the most importance for motivation on yourself and then add help and inspiration from blogs, books, friends and family when you can or feel the need.

Like anything, this takes time and you slip and fail along the way. But over time your can become better and better at motivating yourself (or skipping the need for motivation to get started and instead just springing yourself into action).

Without developing this habit then action and results will go up and down and be very inconsistent. And without consistency over a longer time period it does not matter so much what other talents or gifts you may have inside of you.

Check out the recent article How to Motivate Yourself: 4 Timeless Thoughts for more tips on how to motivate yourself.

If you enjoyed this article, please share it on Stumbleupon and Twitter. Thank you very much! =)

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Copyright 2006-2009 Henrik Edberg.


 
 

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Harnessing Your Competitive Spirit to Spur Your Goals

 
 

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In many situations in life – especially within a company or within a family – co-operation is a much more powerful principle than competition.

We all have a competitive instinct or drive, though, and many games make the most of this to ramp up the level of fun, excitement and involvement. (Sports, multi-player computer games, and board games all have "winners" and "losers".)

As well as enjoying being competitive in game and play situations, we can use our natural competitive bent to give ourselves an edge when we're trying to make gains in our personal life.

I'm going to give just three examples, but I'm sure you can come up with more areas of your life to apply this to (let's hear them in the comments!)

Eating More Healthily

Perhaps you and your partner, or you and your friend, have tried out various healthy eating or weight-loss plans in the past. More likely than not, these haven't lasted too long. One of you feels low on will-power, says "Forget it, I'm having a slice of cake!" – and the other person caves in too.

It could go very differently if you introduced an element of healthy competitiveness. I'd caution against competing on something like actual weight lost, as this is influenced by factors such as metabolism, gender and how overweight you were to begin with. Similarly, don't compete on how far you can both run, or how heavy the weights you can lift are.

Instead, set yourself some competitive goals to reach like:

  • Who can hit five portions of fruit-and-veg a day, every day, for a week?
  • Who can go for a week without chocolate (or alcohol/cheese/etc…)
  • Who can stick to their planned exercise sessions for a month?
  • …and so on.

You get the idea. Compete on things which are under your direct control. You'll be amazed how this can really boost your will-power: knowing that the other person is heading off for their gym session can get you up off the sofa and raring to go – you don't want to lose!

Saving Money

You might want to do this with a spouse, friend or colleague. The idea is to see who can spend the least or save the most over a period of time. As with eating healthily or losing weight, compete on things which involve meeting targets that you've agreed with one another (you don't necessarily need to have exactly the same targets).

For example:

  • Who can go for a week without buying any food out?
  • Who can last a whole weekend without spending money?
  • How long can you manage without spending a cent on entertainment?
  • Who can meet their savings goal for three months running?

As with healthy eating, this can turn something that might otherwise seem like hard work into something fun. Trent writes about this in Making Frugality a Game on The Simple Dollar (a personal finance blog), saying:

If you can turn frugality into a mutual challenge, you can turn something that you might otherwise view as drudgery into something quite fun.

Writing a Novel

There's an often-quoted adage that "everyone has at least one book in them" – and you may well feel that's true for yourself. A lot of people have a long-cherished ambition to write a novel, but they never manage to get around to it – or they get started and quickly run out of steam.

Back in 2007, I took part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), where participants take on the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in a month. You "win" simply by reaching the word count: it's an easy measure, and no-one's going to complain about the quality of your writing, or say that what you've written isn't very novel-shaped.

The desire to get your name on the winners' list may be enough for you, but if you want to take the competition to a new level, get your friends involved. I wrote alongside @NickMB and @pddluke, and there was a lot of friendly but determined (certainly on my part!) competition.

(I "won", by the way, pipping them both to the 50,000 word post ;-) )

Those are just three big goals which many people have: all of which could be achieved faster (and even more enjoyably!) with a bit of good-natured competition. What goals do you have that you're not progressing towards as fast as you'd like? Who might you challenge to a competition?

Learn How To Get That Competitve Edge Here!

Don't Forget To Follow PickTheBrain on Twitter!

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How To Turn Crisis Into Opportunity

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Thursday, August 6, 2009

Shealoe - Shea Butter + Aloe Vera Gel

 
 

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via Natural Hair Rules!!! by tamara@naturalhairrules.com (Natural Hair Rules!!!) on 8/4/09

As promised my basic recipe for Shealoe. I know there are many recipes avaliable online but this is probably the most simple with only three ingredients. Shea Butter alone is a great all natural moisturizer. Combined with aloe vera gel it is softer and easier to work with. It can serve as a creamy moisturizer and/or styling product. Feel free to improvise and add your favorite essential oils. I suggest that your use a glass mixing bowl for easier clean up. Ok here we go.

You'll need:

1/2 cup of unrefined white or yellow shea butter

1/4 cup of aloe vera gel

1 tbs of coconut oil

Soften the shea butter by microwaving for about 30 secs or warming over a water bath. Its ok if it melts completely. Once it's soft add the aloe vera gel and coconunt oil. Mix by hand or with a hand mixer on low speed. Pour in a contain with a lid and let settle. Store in a cool dry place.


 
 

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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

$5 Tickets to the High on Saturday, August 8

 
 

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via Atlanta on the Cheap by admin on 8/5/09

Thanks to Amy at Atlanta with Kid for this lead, which she literally just spied on Twitter: On Saturday, August 8, you can get $5 admission to the High. Not $5 off, but $5 admission. That's cheap. The deal is valid for walk-up purchases only. It's available from 10:00 a.m.-noon on August 8th only,...


 
 

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Monday, August 3, 2009

Free Dive-In Movies at the W Atlanta-Perimeter: August ‘09 Schedule

 
 

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via Atlanta on the Cheap by admin on 8/3/09

You can enjoy free movies all summer long. And unlike some free movie screenings, this one takes place poolside at the W Atlanta-Perimeter. Dive-in Movie screenings will happen on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. through September 22. Here's a look at the August schedule: August 4: Tropic Thunder August 11:...


 
 

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