Create the mindset to make it okay

If you spend a lot of money on an extravagance or do something else which may trigger external judgement, then you don't have to focus on what kind of milestone this may or may not be.  Instead, consider what this course of action symbolizes in your life and whether you're okay with it.  When was the point at which you began to nurture the mindset of self-acceptance?  Maybe you've never learned? When did you decide to learn it's fine to do certain things at certain times?

Raising self-awareness involves asking questions about why you decide some decisions are evil or negative or undermining who you are.   What is your underlying motive for self-criticism?  This is the predominent question.  You may have arrived at a pivotal turning point in your life.  This has nothing to do with finances, and everything to do with your self-view and understanding of the world.  Your mindset is the critical thing which decides on the value of comfort or discomfort.

Step back and reflect on your general view of education and learning.  Do you see these specific initiatives as generally a positive or negative thing?  Do you sense you deserve good things in life? If not, then underlying explanations you discover will teach you about your judgement and why you may hold yourself back from more fulfilling people, situations and events.  Learning to accept life with all its ups and downs means you learn to accept yourself and not be ashamed of anything.  You learn not to regret past choices either. 

Challenge yourself to disregard any experiences, objects or perceptions you believe to be bad.  Ignore reasons why other people want you to think you experience quiet desperation.  Shift your thoughts and educate yourself to alter experiences.  How? The transformation will happen when you're ready.  If only part of you is ready to evolve, another part of you will still hold you back. It's all or nothing.

You can learn to see everything as having potential to empower you and cause events to unfold as if through you.  You can evolve to believe that you're effective, productive, talented and useful even when you didn't feel this way before.  You never really get a firm grasp on right and wrong because your attitude defines the fine line.  Learn not to prevent your own effective action.   Choose instead to learn how you can make positive changes in yourself and inpire them in other people.

6 tips to keep your business "cutting-edge"

If you've ever become involved in business, or are considering this now, it makes sense to think about the reasons which could enable you to pioneer your own way forward.  Growth can be temporary. It can come in spurts or, it can be perpetual, providing you decide to do what it takes and take steps to remain informed.  Consider the potential benefits of these principles that could help keep you on "cutting edge" of whatever you do (or would like to):

1) Think twice before expanding.  If you contemplate an increase in business size, costs and complexity will rise exponentially.  Having foresight means you'd seek a comprehensive overview of the implications in all departments. Many business owners underestimate payroll and other cost rises that not only reduce profitability, but also jeopardize overall reputation and even stability.  Alternatively, what could you do differently now to help meet the goals of a desired expansion?

2) Constantly see yourself as a small business.  Even if you do grow bigger than a mere start-up, its useful to understand why returning clients value smaller business. Things like customer service, attention to detail, prompt service, knowledge of industry developments, expedited replies to inquiries, eco-friendly initiatives and a sense of family, are reasons that could help you stay connected to your client needs.  Why not investigate what you have in common with other businesses? It could help you stay on top of your game or, redefine the game and how you play. If this means you see big advantages in ignoring traditional long-term business plans, so be it.

3) Encourage innovation.  You have a wealth of talent in your employees and, in all likelihood, you haven't even begun to tap into this goldmine.  By encouraging your staff to propose in-house changes, developments, to sollicit clients and take other initiatives, you're stepping back and enabling people to discover and prove their hidden talents. Why not let focus less on profits and more on people so everyone in-house and in society would benefit more?

4) Loosen the reins. Whatever your role or prospective business roles, you'll benefit from refraininng from making people around you feel like they're under surveillance.  As people begin to feel self-conscious and followed around or followed-up on, its more difficult to develop a sense of trust.  Giving people a degree of freedom to do their job is also an opportunity to enable people to develop initiative, observation and other useful skills to lessen your load.  If you loosen reins gradually, then you can evaluate competence and assign responsibility accordingly.

5) Demonstrate transparency.  When people feel connected to the bigger picture, and know how it affects them personally in their day-to-day roles, they can also learn to think more for themselves in relation to others.  This kind of leadership approach can be empowering and promote participatory democracy.  Entrepreneurship demonstrates an understanding that markets and taste preferences are constantly changing.  How do you take steps to surf the waves?

6) Reach out for advice & ideas.  No matter how much life experience you have or how brilliant you are, its unlikely you'll be en effective "one person production." Consider what expertise you have and how that could be enhanced br interacting with people who have other types of know-how.  In order to remain cutting edge, you need to know how this image is perceived and portrayed and also by whom and for whom.  The more informed and inquisitive you are, the better off you'll become. What initiatives do you take? 

Rethink the power of giving

Whatever you have or have not achieved, you can find someone who has less than you.  You can find someone who is worse off, who isn't as healthy, who isn't as informed or as equipped to deal with life as you are.  How often do you reach out to find someone like that? What would compel you to give more of yourself, even if you didn't really feel you could afford to give anything? It's not simply a question of money or material things you could offer a stranger or someone you know. Consider the value of time, food, a gesture, advice or mentoring.  The sky is the limit.

Success is often associated with abundance.   What leads one person to be seen as successful and another person to be seen as unsuccessful? It has nothing to do with what each of us does per se.  It has to do with how a person sees him or herself and a particular awareness.  Each of us has the power to attract positive experiences and to learn to recognize them.  Rather than seek out something specific to do, why not decide to experience meaningful things? When you're engaged in what excites and motivates you, you're really being yourself. What are you being right now?

Think about the adjectives you use to describe yourself and what they say about how you really feel inside.  Have you ever said you feel "terribly good" or said someone is "awfully nice?"  Have you ever admitted feeling "not bad," "filthy rich" or "rather successful?" If you belittle yourself or others with your comments, then you undermine the whole concept of giving generously and push away rather than invite in your own realization of new kinds of success. 

Why is it do you think that messages about money can be negative and emotionally-charged? In order to rethink your position on money and success, it may be wise to forget many things you've ever been told about what others think is good or bad, and remind yourself energy takes varied forms.  You give or take energy from people in different forms and you're sense of value is as connected to your energy level as to your emotions.  Rather than define success via cultural myths, why not step out and redefine success on your own terms, by how happiness reverberrates back?

The dream shower

A shower, like many dreams, is a refreshing experience many people look forward to. However, for most of us, realizing dreams isn't known to happen as often as we'd like to take a shower. In fact, many people have evolved to take showers for granted, especially if you live where water is abundant. As water use increases worldwide, questions of sustainable water uses arise. What would you do if you had water restrictions? How would you react for your shower?

If your bathroom is a retreat used to rejuvenate mind, body and spirit, you may think about more than simply using water to get clean. You seek a shower that doesn't contribute to sustainability nightmares. A shower experience can be created at home or elsewhere. People are becoming more motivated to use water wisely because of droughts and water shortages. These circumstances have fostered innovations and initiatives worthy of reflection. Which among them would you use?

1) Air-filled showerhead. Melbourne CSIRO scientists developed an innovative tech design for this simple 'air shower' device. When fitted in your showerhead, it fills water droplets with a tiny air bubbles to increase pressure. The result is the shower feels just as wet and just as strong as before, but reduces water used by almost 30%. (Average cost ~20$.) The average Australian household uses ~200,000 litres of water a year, and showers account for nearly 1/3 of this water, the 'air shower' could help the average household save ~15,000-20,000 liters a year. If you extend this across the country, that is an annual saving of about 45,000 Olympic-sized pools.

2) A waterproof 5-minute shower timer. This sticks to the wall of your shower and helps keep track of time. It’s a variation of the popular egg cooking timer found in kitchens. Shorter showers can save water and money. You can choose a humorous alarm sound too.

3) Dymaxion & burst-oriented showerhead. In 1940, Richard Buckminster Fuller invented the Dymaxion fog gun water vapor shower. It uses only a cup of water and inspires a generation of burst-oriented, super water-conserving heads.

4) AQUA-MON, an electronic Water Use Monitor and Leak Detector. This gadget constantly monitors your water use and displays it on a 10-segment red L.E.D. bargraph. When water is used, 1-10 L.E.D.'s light up, depending on the amount of water being used. Normal operation means the device lights up when any faucet is open and can be adapted specifically to showers. You know you have a leak when lights come on but don't go off.

6) Use a bucket. Forget about installing new accessories. Allow shower to fill bucket while soaping yourself over. Turn off shower and dump bucket over body to rinse. Inexpensive alternative.

7) Share the shower. Shower with your children or your partner. Use less water, get even more efficient and still get clean! This is a new way to make the best use of what you have. Make it fun.

8) Create your own dream shower. Find an outdoor waterfall. Go swimming at the beach. Devise some other eco-friendly practices that enable you to wash with minimal water use and minial damage to the environment.

Feedback as soul food

If each of us is truly honest with ourselves, we would have to admit there have been times when our behaviour has been unsuitable and even disrespectful to others.  If we refuse to acknowledge our "faux pas," or do nothing to avoid such behaviour in the future, then we refuse to learn from the past and focus on our perceived headaches.  Are you aware that a perceived mistake or sense of failure is an inappropriate basis to define your self-worth or value?

If you haven't been as honest with yourself as you could be, then you may identify more with people you think make your life difficult than admit your perception is the real issue. Supervisors will complain about their employees.  Staff will complain about bosses.  Partners will complain about each other's behavior.  Parents and children will disagree at any age. You may even disagree with your pet's actions. Do you assume everyone but you is the problem?

You may be the sort of person who can't seem to live with others yet, you can't seem to live without companionship or other relationships either.  You may engage in relationships because you're convinced you need things from them. Remember people interact for diverse reasons. Some people desire to give more than they receive.  Others don't know how to give or take. Whatever your case, you need not be hurting yourself or others in the process.  What can you do about you?

1) Remind yourself relationships reinforce your existence.  You choose how you will permit them to influence your life.  People enable you to get-to-know-yourself better and enable you to learn to work through relationships, or they can be your excuse for living an unsatisfactory life.  Consider whether you sell yourself short. 

2) Teach yourself relationships have costs and benefits. It takes time, attention and energy, yet, becoming mindful of why you engage in certain relationships and what you get out of them will show you whether your efforts are meaningful and justifiable. Perhaps you could become more or less results-oriented. Is your current mindset detrimental? Do you aim to serve others or self-interest?

3) Accept you learn from all relationships.  Not all relationships appear to be in our interest.  You may be asked to interact with people you dislike.  You may have uncomfortable tasks of firing people, mediating conflicts or often be in places with difficult people.  Ask yourself if you can learn from the process.   If you discern you have self-defeating tendencies, if you always seem to focus on what isn't working for you, can you rise above a troublesome attitude and perceive differently?