FREE 10-Week Mini Life Coach Training Course – Week 9 – Video
Posted: May 13, 2012 at 1:16 am
More here:
FREE 10-Week Mini Life Coach Training Course - Week 9 - Video
FREE 10-Week Mini Life Coach Training Course – Week 10 – Video
Posted: at 1:16 am
View post:
FREE 10-Week Mini Life Coach Training Course - Week 10 - Video
GET A LIFE: Here’s to you, mum!
Posted: at 1:16 am
Your strengths arent where you think they are, mum would say
I miss my mum so much. To cope and survive, all its been for the past 24 years is patching the gap, disguising the wounds. So here goes. Mum, this is a tribute to your memory. Your daughter will always look up to you and love you.
Losing her year-long battle with cancer, mum passed away on Sept 1, 1988 at 10.20pm. She was only 48. Mum was tall 1.7 metre. She worked out regularly, was fit, and was never ill a day in her life. She dressed fashionably.
The cancer (or rather the handling of the disease) ravaged her spirit, turning her from a vivacious, glamorous, and energetic woman into a meek, fearful, and defeated person. I would often go to the crowded hospital ward, waiting for her doctors to do their rounds. I would stand there and insist on speaking with the oncologist, radiologist, and all the caregivers so that wed know what was happening to mum.
What did the symptoms mean? Why those tests, why those drugs, and what to do about the effects they had on mum? I remember my sister ringing me up and me going numb upon receiving the news. I wasnt home much as we travelled a lot on business and until today I wish I had been by her side more throughout her ordeal. She never asked being the selfless, self-sacrificing soul that she was, but I know it. The experience of raising my own children has made me understand the completeness of a mothers love... and a mothers yearning to be close with her babies, especially in a crisis.
Throughout the journey home, I kept thinking, Why hadnt I been there? How could I have left her when she needed me most? I was tormented by guilt. Mummy, please forgive me. My deepest values, everything I understand about the meaning of life and the wonder of living, I derived from my mum. She was my guardian angel, my teacher, and disciplinarian. She was my best friend my cheerleader, my defender, my protector. Growing up, it was mostly mum.
From my early teenage years, my dad worked in another town. Mum, my sister, brother and I only saw him on weekends. So you could say that she was a single mum, raising three growing children on her own. There was great celebration when dad came home. Afternoon tea was a tradition in our house, the family would gather and yarn about what went on during the week.
I remember a lot of laughter. Mum made it safe for us to speak up, to be expressive. She was forthright and candid and that gave us permission to be ourselves. Then I went away to college and coming home was always something I looked forward to, a time to let down my hair.
What does it cost you to be obedient and inauthentic? What would I lose if I gave up my Self to conform in exchange for acceptance and approval? Every time I compromise, I suffer the most. Every time I forget my upbringing who I really am and where I come from I run aground. This is what I know for sure because of her.
Your strengths arent where you think they are, mum would say. How I wish Id trusted her more, paid more attention to her lessons, which were always subtle and loving, never obvious or abrasive. That I work in coaching and mentoring today, is because of you, mum. That I champion womens development is because of how you inspired me. That I fight for equality, mutual respect, freedom, and esteem for womens role in our community is a candle I light in your honour.
Campus Connections launched at conference
Posted: at 1:16 am
CollegeBound Coaching LLC (collegeboundcoaching.com), a pioneer in the field of student life coaching, which helps middle and high school students throughout the Boston area with college preparation and admissions, has introduced an innovative service called Campus Connections, designed to personalize the college-visit experience through a fast-growing network of college students who are trained to work directly with high school students and their families across the country.
Harvard classmates Phil Sloan and Steve Maislin have launched Campus Connections (campusconnections.us) at the spring conference of the Independent Educational Consultants (www.IECAonline.org) held this week in Boston. IECA is the nations leading professional organization for independent educational consultants working in private practice. For 35 years, IECA has helped its members serve families in educational decisions that include colleges, local day and boarding schools, schools or programs for students with learning or behavioral needs, international placements, summer opportunities, and graduate and professional schools.
As we began helping high school students with the highly competitive college admissions process and started sending families to visit schools under consideration, we became more and more aware of how little they were learning from the traditional process of attending the group campus tours and information sessions conducted by the admissions offices themselves, Sloan explained. After two or three visits, students were complaining that the tour guides sounded the same, and the parents were disappointed that there were few opportunities to ask their more specific questions in a group setting.
He continued, Recognizing that both transfer rates and tuition costs are rising higher than ever and that so many parents are spending even more money for lost credits when their children find themselves unhappy with their college selections, we decided to focus our time and energy upon enhancing the college-visit process as a means of helping families to make better-informed decisions. We quickly realized that college students themselves are the best source of information about life at their own campuses.
Sloan began by leveraging his local contacts in the Marblehead and Swampscott area to interest college students in joining his fast-growing network of Campus Connections. In just several months, Campus Connections has grown to include more than 150 college students at more than 100 campuses across the country.
We expect to be on more than 500 campuses by September, Sloan said. College students are joining Campus Connections because we are providing rich and rewarding, part-time, on-campus jobs.
Campus Connections are trained to work closely with each family to understand what they are most interested in learning about and to then schedule meetings for them during their college visit with other members of their campus community who can answer their specific questions about those areas of particular interest.
We encourage families to attend official college tours and information sessions conducted by the admissions offices, and to personalize their on-campus visits through Campus Connections, Sloan said.
He concluded, For the summer, we are offering high school students and their parents the opportunity to connect with our Campus Connections online and by phone, thereby providing college students with summer jobs and high school juniors the opportunity to begin learning more about schools to which they plan to apply in the fall. We are also offering to provide some college students with summer marketing internships, leveraging their knowledge of social media to help us continue building our network of Campus Connections.
Read more here:
Campus Connections launched at conference
76ers Coach Doug Collins, grayer and more mellow, back in the second round after 23 years
Posted: at 1:16 am
When Michael Jordan buried that iconic, hanging jumper over Craig Ehlo more than 23 years ago in Cleveland, a 37-year-old Doug Collins hoisted his fists, hunted down Jordan with a frantic sprint, hair flopping wildly about his head, and jubilantly hopped around to celebrate with his Chicago Bulls players.
Collins would gray almost completely, lose several hair follicles and three coaching jobs before he would have the opportunity to feel to excitement of winning another first-round playoff series. And, his next victory came in similarly dramatic fashion, as Philadelphia 76ers all-star forward Andre Iguodala buried two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining to complete a stunning upset of the Bulls.
Again, Collins gleefully raised his hands. But instead of joining Iguodala on the scorers table or chasing down the rest of his giddy players to dance under confetti, Collins applauded, pointed toward the crowd and headed toward the tunnel, mind already drifting to the next opponent.
Im not in this for me, Collins explained after the 76ers won a first-round series for the first time since 2003, when another player named A.I. dominated the Philadelphia sports landscape and Collins was fired after a failed two-year stint coaching Jordan again with the Washington Wizards.
The 76ers are back in the second round, against the Boston Celtics, after Collins led the only franchise for which he played to a win over the first franchise he coached. And, the magnitude of the win wasnt lost on Collins, who proudly proclaimed afterward, Im a Sixer. For life.
Since leaving his cushy existence as a TNT studio analyst before the 2010-11 season to coach the organization that drafted him first overall in 1973, Collins has repeatedly spoken about how much he has changed since his previous coaching job, in Washington; that he has become more grandfatherly and focused on a greater purpose of passing on knowledge to an impressionable young team. But while he has delegated more responsibility to his assistants in Philadelphia, losing doesnt hurt any less, and Collins remains as competitive and intense nearly two months shy of his 61st birthday.
I got to be honest with you, Im a little anal as my family will tell you, Collins said from the podium on Thursday, as he sat next to his grandson, Cooper. Im just at a different spot in my life. As a younger person, you look more for the satisfaction of the things that come to you and I think as you get older and you become a pop-pop, you look at things a little differently. So, Im not as selfish as I used to be.
Collinss reputation for being too tightly wound and overbearing has followed him through his time in Chicago and Detroit, where he had initial success before flaming out; and Washington, where he never really had the chance to wear on his team, with young players such as former No. 1 overall pick Kwame Brown bristling from the outset.
He lifted the 76ers from the lottery to the playoffs in his first season coaching the 76ers, overcoming an ugly 3-13 start to finish with the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia then opened this lockout-shortened season looking like a team that was ready to join the conferences elite.
Read more here:
76ers Coach Doug Collins, grayer and more mellow, back in the second round after 23 years
Phuket News: Phuket Health
Posted: at 1:15 am
Read more:
Phuket News: Phuket Health
2012 Ottawa Consumer Choice Award Winners: Health and Fitness Sector
Posted: at 1:15 am
OTTAWA, May 11, 2012 /CNW/ - Consumer Choice Award is thrilled to announce the 2012 Top Service Providers in the health and fitness sector for the greater Ottawa area. We would like to extend heartfelt congratulations to all this year's winners; your dedication to superior service has resonated with the people of the city of Ottawa.
Each year across Canada, Consumer Choice Award gathers opinions, perceptions and expectations through the responses of thousands of consumers and businesses. All Winners have gone through a rigorous selection process conducted by a third party research firm to ensure only the most outstanding service providers are the winners within their respective industry. Find the list of Award-Winners below:
About Consumer Choice Award
Consumer Choice Award (CCA) was established in 1987 and is considered the most distinguished award for business excellence in Canada. This is the only organization in North America to recognize business excellence by conducting third party market research of both the consumer & business community with statistical accuracy. The research method determines all the service providers, ultimately selects the top ranked companies, and establishes the winner within each industry.
Consumer Choice Award conducts its market research strictly with Leger Marketing, the leading Canadian-owned market research firm and memberof the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) of Market Researchers.
Consumer Choice Award lives in Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Saskatoon, St. John's, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg.
See the original post:
2012 Ottawa Consumer Choice Award Winners: Health and Fitness Sector
US Investors Admit They Are Not Saving Enough for Retirement
Posted: at 1:15 am
ST. LOUIS, May 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Some Americans are not optimistic about the possibility of a financially comfortable retirement or the possibility of retirement in general. According to a survey released today by financial services firm Edward Jones, one in 10 Americans say retirement simply isn't an attainable goal when asked to identify the reason they're not saving enough. Only 32 percent of survey respondents identify hard financial issues, such as the need to focus on immediate expenses as the rationale for their lack of savings.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110120/MM33708LOGO )
"While everyday expenses like education and housing are clearly necessary expenses for many Americans, this survey found that there is still almost one-third of respondents who point to fairly vague reasons for not saving enough, including those with concerns that saving for retirement is unattainable or that it's too early to start," said Scott Thoma, Investment Policy Committee Member at Edward Jones. "We want to remind Americans that taking a proactive approach, no matter how minimal it may seem, is the best way to overcome retirement readiness fears. Investing regularly into a 401(k) or an IRA can be a great option. By working with a financial professional, any investor, whether they are at the beginning of their career or close to traditional retirement age, can work to develop a plan to help them achieve their goals."
Conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, the survey of 565 respondents found that age plays a factor in whether Americans are saving enough. Seventy-two percent of respondents between 18 and 34 believe they are not putting enough money towards retirement. The percentages dropped with the age of the respondents, with just less than half of respondents (47 percent) 65 and older indicating they are not saving enough.
The survey also found that household and family size has a clear impact on retirement savings. While the survey average shows that 32 percent of Americans are grappling with too many current expenses to save for retirement, the percentage increases dramatically for respondents with children between 13 and 17 to 49 percent. "Balancing college and retirement savings is a common challenge for parents. With limited resources, it's important to create a strategy that will help allocate savings appropriately," Thoma continued. For respondents with no children, only 25 percent indicate that current expenses are impacting their ability to save.
Other key findings from the survey include:
About Edward JonesEdward Jones provides financial services for individual investors in the United States and, through its affiliate, in Canada. Every aspect of the firm's business, from the types of investment options offered to the location of branch offices, is designed to cater to individual investors in the communities in which they live and work. The firm's 12,000-plus financial advisors work directly with nearly 7 million clients to understand their personal goals - from college savings to retirement - and create long-term investment solutions that emphasize a well-balanced portfolio and a buy-and-hold strategy. Edward Jones embraces the importance of building long-term, face-to-face relationships with clients, helping them to understand and make sense of the investment solutions available today.
Edward Jones, which ranked No. 11 on FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For 2011," is headquartered in St. Louis. The Edward Jones Web site is located at http://www.edwardjones.com, and its recruiting Web site is http://www.careers.edwardjones.com. Member SIPC.
Survey was based on 565 telephone interviews of U.S. adults conducted between April 5 7, 2012. The margin of error was +/-5 percent.
Read this article:
US Investors Admit They Are Not Saving Enough for Retirement
Retirement planning 101: Seven questions you need to answer
Posted: at 1:15 am
Retirement planning isn't easy. Nearly half of Americans don't feel financially prepared to live to age 75, according to a survey from Northwestern Mutual. But the process is a lot less burdensome if you break the task down into simpler parts. Here are seven questions to ask as you plan for your long-term financial security in retirement.
- Mark Trumbull,Staff writer
At the core of the typical retirement plan is the goal of building assets that will provide income, alongside Social Security and other sources, during your senior years. But how much do you need to save by age 65 or 70? And what does that mean for your present saving habits? The math gets complicated fast, because there are so many variables. How much to save depends on things like your future wage growth, inflation, longevity, future spending needs, what year you hope to retire, and whether you have a defined pension in addition to Social Security. Many families will find it helpful to consult a financial planner who is paid by client fees (not paid by a financial company to promote certain products). A planner would help with setting a savings target and with other steps in retirement planning. But online calculators can also offer some useful guidance. One free tool that blends ease-of-use with relatively sophisticated results is T. Rowe Price's retirement income calculator. Answer a few questions, and soon you'll see a chart of how much you're on track to save now, and how much you might need to boost that amount to have a 70 percent chance of hitting a prudent target by retirement. The tool lets you test what happens when you shift a few parameters (like retirement age). An alternative online tool, worth noting because it's considered state-of-the-art by some finance experts, crunches the numbers to fit a theory called "consumption smoothing." This is the idea that your goal is to maximize your quality of life (the "consumption" part) over your whole lifetime (the "smoothing" part).
The service, called Economic Security Planner, often gives very different advice from the typical online calculator. And it can be tailored specifically to one's situation such as factoring in when you'll stop helping a child through college and start putting some extra money toward your own retirement. The software concept was crafted by financial economist Laurence Kotlikoff of Boston University. Whether you turn to a professional or to some software designed by professionals for guidance, don't be frozen by the complexity of the decisions. Doing something is much better in this arena than doing nothing, finance experts say. So set a goal, keep saving, and you can revise or improve your plans as you go.
Read more from the original source:
Retirement planning 101: Seven questions you need to answer
Retirement savings should come before college funds
Posted: at 1:15 am
Graduation is a proud day for parents and students, but saving for a child s college education shouldn t take precedence over saving for retirement.
CHICAGO -- Imagine if retirement were financed by scholarships, grants and loans.
You could qualify for a substantial aid package to pay for your senior years. Your stellar job "grades" and career achievements would be rewarded with significant merit aid.
Alas, no such aid exists. Paying for retirement is an expensive obligation that you have to handle on your own.
The one similarity with college is you likely will need to set aside money for many years in order to take care of it.
And if you need to save for your children's college as well as your own retirement, you've got a daunting challenge on your hands.
The cost of a college education continues to rise faster than inflation, at roughly 5 percent per year. The average sticker-price for four years at a private college is now more than $150,000 -- including $38,589 for the 2011-12 school year. Even going to your state's university runs close to half that total at an average $17,131 a year, according to the College Board.
Retirement is far more expensive than that.
How do you balance those important objectives? Here are some considerations to keep top-of-mind as you juggle both:
Put retirement first: Student loan debt has risen above $1 trillion and the average student's debt at graduation now exceeds $25,000, according to the Project on Student Debt. Hoping to keep their own kids from being overly burdened, parents often unwisely sink thousands of dollars into their
Originally posted here:
Retirement savings should come before college funds