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5 Easy Ways To Let Children Know They’re Always In Your Heart
With the hectic pace that many moms and dads have, sometimes it's really difficult to let children know just how important they are!
And while big huge bunches of quality time is always preferable, sometimes it's the little things that can bring a smile to your children's faces as well.
Here are 5 great time-sensitive ways to achieve that goal!
1.) "I'm always in your heart."
Do you have private, personal sayings that tell your child how much you love them?
I sure do! Mine is, "I'm always in your heart and I love you from here to eternity….always and forever." This is something I've repeated sooo often to my kids they can recite it in their sleep!
But more importantly…it's not just words to them. They know that my love for them is stronger than an asteroid and longer-lasting than the time since the Big Bang until now. So when things get them down and I'm not around, they can simply remember, I'm still in their heart…and always close by.
2.) Create mini buddy times!
Do you work at home constantly?
If so, you can use a Grandfather Clock widget and set up a notification to ring every hour or half hour.
At that time, you and your child can do 5 minutes of something silly or productive (my kids and I practice karate kicks), have some wonderful laughs…and then return back to whatever you were working on before.
The benefit here is that you're touching base with your children and they know you haven't forgotten them. Plus, if you use that 5 minutes for karate kicks or other physical exertions, you're exercising together as well!
Which brings me to:
3.) Set up dual exercising stations
Staying fit and healthy is something we all should do.
And for me, personally, it's something I want my children to internalize too!
So I invested in not one but two exercise bikes and placed them in front of my computer screen. Every now and then, my kids and I will bike to a video or two or even just chat while pedaling away.
Next, you can:
4.) Schedule personal "I need help!" trips
Even with huge amounts of work, things simply *have* to be accomplished. Grocery trips, mall trips, financial trips…they have to be done.
Tell your children that you need their help and would love for them to accompany you!
This has the benefit of making your kids feel their presence is important…but even better, it offers an opportunity for the two of you to have quality discussion times too.
And finally (and this is my favorite):
5.) Send loving pictures via your phone
I do this all the time.
It's sooo easy these days to reach out and touch someone!
But a nifty trick to this is to visit one of those ecard sites and download the images to your computer. Then email them to your phone and save it in your photo gallery.
Whenever you want to make your child smile, you can simply send them that picture with your own personal text!
I've made dozens of these pictures myself, and have stored on my phone pictures that convey:
- Feel better!
- Miss you!
- Good luck!
and lots more.
It's one of the best uses for phones that I've devised. And I'll bet…your kids will love to see it from you as well!
Enjoy,
Barbara Ling
7 Super Tips For Maximizing Your Employee’s Satisfaction During 2011
If you're a business owner, you're probably dealing with employee satisfaction a great deal (and if you're not, you really do need to focus upon it!).
After all, it's cheaper to retain quality employees than to cause them so much angst that denuding King Kong with a dull butter knife would seem to be more tolerable than working at your company.
Right?
Of course right!
So without any further ado, enjoy these 7 great tips for making sure your employees do NOT leave you high and dry.
1.) Find out what they *hate*
The plain fact is, people far more prefer complaining than simply extolling the goodness that might abound.
So, ask your employees to write down the top things that really bother them about working in your company.
You can set aside an anonymous mailbox or such so they can drop off their annoyances without fear of retribution.
Then, see if anything mentioned is both verifiable *and* fixable. Sometimes, just knowing one's voice has been heard can make a positive difference indeed.
2.) Make sure you recognize a job well done.
Do you have a company newsletter? Even a company email address for all your employees?
If so, make sure to mention in your newsletter whenever an outstanding job has been accomplished….and by who.
Most people like being acknowledged for great performances – a public "well-done" can go a long way.
3.) Provide a big huge company calendar emblazoned by critical dates
Put this in the center of activity (lunch room, break room, etc.). Make it impossible to miss! Highlight on it holiday rushes, project deliverables and the like.
The more people who are aware of important schedules, the more likely said schedules will be met.
4.) Create a Facebook Fan Page for your employees
Use this as a way to share new and interesting happenings, special achievements and the like.
Offer employee discounts via it too!
Everyone and their coffee cup are basking in Facebook…it only makes sense to use it for your employee retention as well.
5.) Offer special employee discounts
True, you're probably already giving your employees a 20% discount or so already.
Why not print out "Employee Friend & Family Discount Cards"?
This ensures that not only employees get a savings, the people they love (friends and family) do to.
A definite win-win no matter what!
6.) Hold Employee Team-Building Contests
Yes, I know all about your typical team-building thingees out there.
But…think beyond the box!
Hold an employee team-building contest where the "winner" is the team who brings in the most new customers/profits/etc.
Reward everyone, of course, but give the winning team an extra shot of coffee.
7.) Remember the spouses
Your employees are far more effective if they have a happy home life! The decrease of stress can work wonders for their performance.
Thus, make an effort to remember the spouses as well.
Encourage big dates to be shared (ie, wedding anniversary, tenure goals achieved, promotions, etc.) and then showcase that to your employees.
You'd be surprised at just how effective such a small thing can be!
Enjoy,
Barbara Ling
6 Simple Ways You ALREADY Are Exercising Without Making An Effort
Everyone, these days, wants to either get healthy or stay healthy or otherwise….simply enjoy their life more.
And the sad fact is, *exercise* is one big huge key component to achieving this goal.
But let's be serious. Not everyone loves the concept of going to the gym and walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes or becoming one with the iron or otherwise….making that critical effort.
However, all hope is *not* lost! For following are 10 easy ways that you already *are* exercising…and by simply doing them a wee bit more, you might not even have to hit the gym.
1. Shopping cart fitness.
Do you shop?
Do you use a shopping cart?
Do you realize that many grocery stores are at strip malls…and that if you walk the distance from one end to another, you might end up walking for a third of a mile?
I used to walk my strip mall three times back when I was pregnant! I measured the distance and discovered, each back-and-forth way was 1/3 of a mile. Walk it three times, and bingo – instant one mile walk.
After I gave birth, I discovered that my child loved the ride as well. Thus, I was exercising while amusing my kid – a definite two-stroke win.
You can also choose to park farther away from the shopping center as well. No matter what, the facts are, you simply *have* to return to your car after shopping…so why not get the most benefit from it?
2. Checking up on the house.
Do you have a ranch house?
Or perhaps a two story?
Do you need to check the rooms to ensure they're spic and span?
Can you devise a path through your home that describes a complete circle?
If so, you can simply walk through your home 10 times at your own pace. As you'll probably end up going up and down stairs, there's that extra muscle engagement as well!
3. Housework.
You probably do the laundry.
Or you probably fix the computers (I myself do both).
You might even do the cooking.
Again. It's stuff that requires your body to move. And moving…burns calories.
Add to that! Set a timer to accomplish tasks in a certain amount of time (cardio!). Or devise arm/leg patterns to do mindlessly while you're finishing up your chores.
Every little bit helps.
4. Officework.
Do you work outside the home?
Your office building probably lacks moving sidewalks, right?
Take advantage of that. Map out a walking routine to accomplish your daily requirements or even use your lunch period to stretch your legs in a brief walk.
Walk up the stairs instead of using the elevator.
Every little bit counts!
5. Watch movies.
Are you a couch potato?
Do you sit motionless for hours on end?
Consider doing isometics (the tensing of various body muscles) while sitting there!
Isometrics you can do at your desk
can easily be applied to sitting at the couch as well, as can
The Farmer Burns Stomach Flattener
You're sitting there *anyways*…why not make it profitable for you?
6. Act Out Your Emotions
When you get mad….do you sit and stew?
Do you pace?
When you're happy, do you smile? Maybe dance a few happy steps?
Whatever way your emotions manifest themselves for you….emphasize them!
If you find yourself dancing, get Dance Dance Revolution (ie, DDR) - it's a great way to really let yourself go and enjoy moving around (plus…it burns calories like nobody's business). I do that with my kids to this day – it's wonderful!
And if you simply sit and stew, you can bring over a pillow and punch that to smithereens, stand and kick waist-level 50 times and the like.
It will get out your frustration….and help you exercise as well.
Neat, huh?
So the next time you have an insane urge to turn that key in your mind and start your health in the UP path….take a look at what you're doing *now*. You can easily make that work for you.
Enjoy,
Barbara Ling
Top 7 Reasons Why Facelifts After 40 Are Utterly Peachy
It used to be, I believed that anyone who would get a facelift…was vain beyond belief.
It used to be, I believed that anyone even considering a facelift….had severe self-confidence problems that mere plastic surgery could not repair.
It used to be….well, actually, it used to be.
Until.
Until I found myself actually walking the walk I had so brazenly earlier decried.
It's funny, you know, how life can smack you upside the head when you least expect.
Being closer to 50 than to 40, I've always been handicapped physically, you see. I have a bone condition that is continually degrading my ability to walk without discomfort…and will, most likely end up with me in a wheelchair sometime 'way in the future.
'Course, you know, these things happen.
And there are long-suffering individuals out there whose physical condition makes me qualify as a national ice skating champion to boot!
But….as I'm not living their particular life, I have but my own to consider.
I've recently realized that while I cannot control the descent and utter devastation of my lower body, I *can* choose to "fix" the ravages that age is flinging up me in my upper body!
And is that ego?
Heck yes! But you know what….being flung headfirst into this situation made me realize….ego has a terrific place in one's own self-confidence as well.
Sure, there will be folks who think I've sold out or am doing an injustice to today's society's views of women in general.
But you know something?
So be it. You can't please everyone!
With that as an introduction, here are my top 10 reasons why facelifts after 40 are utterly peachy!
1.) You can control your appearance.
If other parts of you are falling to pieces, facelifts are something you *can* control (assuming no complications, of course). And let me tell you, it feels damned wondrous to yell to the Universe, "HAH! I might be crumbling to a heap in other ways, but ho ho ho, I beat you there! HAH!"
Trust me, you have no idea how truly important this becomes until it's taken away from you.
2.) You can better compete in the workplace.
Sad but true. You can go all feminist on me and I'll still point you to the facts – today's society tends to gyrate towards younger-looking peoples.
Yes it's wrong.
Yes it's lousy.
But also….yes that's the facts. It's ageism at its worse….but hey, it's also the way life is.
Deal with it.
And it's not just women: Surgical advantage: More turn to cosmetic surgery to compete at work Equal opportunity indeed!
3.) You can better compete in the dating pool.
Again, sad but true. Both men and women tend to appreciate the, ahem, look and feel of a younger body.
And if you're on the prowl for either a second or third or 10th marriage, or simply want to build up your male harem….leveling the playing field makes a huge amount of sense.
4.) You can feel superior to those people who disdain you.
Trust me, if you tell the world you're getting a facelift, big huge bunches of morally-superior people will point you out as a traitor to the gender.
'course, you'll be the one who is enjoying all of the positive attentions afterwards.
And yes, that's truly shallow too. But again, it's a fact of life.
5.) You gain a hell of a lot of empathy.
When you showcase the courage to tell the world, Hell YES, I'm going to do this….you find yourself starting to really understand and empathize others who are dealing with major personal issues as well.
And I'm not just talking about mere physical presence….you start to question, "Hmmm! Why would person XYZ do ABC? There must be some underlying reason…I wonder if I could help out?"
In today's society, we often lament how we're never *heard*. People don't necessarily want you to feel sorry for them, but they *do* want to know their thoughts and ideas have merit and value.
Going thru the whole process yourself….it's a killer but boy, does it ever kick you in the teeth!
6.) You can destroy the haters at high school reunions.
Now, true….I myself view high school as the ultimate pit of torrential doom and hell, second only to a coffee-less present.
But some people who were bullied back then might have unresolved baggage…and showing up at a high school reunion looking 83 times better than your prior tormentors is worth its weight in gold.
Shallow gold, mind you, but gold all the same.
7.) You appreciate what you have while you still have it.
It's been said that youth is wasted on the young…well, I'll tell you…it's also wasted on the casual fool who takes good health and appearance for granted.
When you lose something that's precious to you (ie, the ability to walk, the ability to run, the ability to double as a runway model, etc.), you start to realize just what it was you had…..emphasis on the word 'HAD'.
Because you have it no longer.
And when you take the step to get a facelift, you're reminded yet again of your humanity….and hopefully you'll be far more appreciative of *everything* you have now…while you still have it.
In closing, sure….it really comes down to your own personal choice.
And quite honestly….to hell with whatever anyone else says.
Enjoy,
Barbara Ling
Twitter To Facebook Fan Autoupdating Secrets
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Huge popular brands know it.
Having a Facebook Fan page gives brands an additional fantastic edge in extending their reach to their audience.
However, keeping your Facebook Fan page updated with current news and exciting ideas can be tedious at worst. After all, chances are that you’re already promoting your heart out via your Twitter account, correct?
Well then, why not take advantage of that power and have those updates automatically refresh your Facebook Fan page as well?
The benefits to this are extraordinary – you can entice more and more individuals to your Facebook Fan page with zero effort. And the best part of it is the tools required are free.
Twitter To Facebook Fan Autoupdating Secrets is a 20 page Marketing Steele workbook complete with over a dozen snapshots that show you step by step how to set up an autoposting process that takes your tweets and sends them directly to your Facebook Fan page.
Think how much time you will save and how quickly your Facebook Fan page will grow once you’ve added the extra benefit of quality updates.
And it’s self-explanatory as well; everything is explained via actual screenshots like:
If you’re serious about niche marketing, you’re going to want to learn this. You’ll be able to set up individual auto-updating niche Facebook Fan pages. You can then use the techniques to generate quality content for virtually any type of niche marketing need.
The $9.97 pricetag makes it very much the steal. You’re only limited by your imagination – you can set up multiple free Twitter accounts to handle various aspects of your niche and sub-niche marketing…and then turn them onto auto-pilot so everything works like clockwork, freeing you up the time to tackle other aspects of your niche marketing.
You can get it directly by clicking below at:
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Get the product, follow the steps, and within minutes, your Facebook Fan Page will be automatically updated with your Twitter tweets.
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