What is Personal Branding?

Author: Robi

Everybody is using this term 'Personal Branding'. What is it anyway? Why is it necessary for me to have my own Personal Brand? First you have to have an understanding of what Personal Branding is before you can start to use it to your advantage.

Remember this: YOU ARE NOT YOUR BUSINESS. YOU as a person and YOU + your business are two different entities. Your business is not you and you are not your business. Although there is a close relation.

Whether you are marketing yourself or marketing your professional services, a strong personal brand will draw people and opportunities to you like a magnet. Personal Branding is about honing your skills, narrowing your focus, and getting clear on what you're passionate about. It's about getting your prospects to choose you as the ONLY solution to their problem. It is a dynamic way to introduce yourself to the world. Who you are... what you do... how you think... as opposed to a static website that is devoted to your business or service.

Here are some powerful benefits of creating a strong Personal Brand:

1. Increase your competitive edge

A sense of individuality and "separateness" in the marketplace is something that you want to embrace so that you are able to easily stand between your clients and your competitors.

2. Take your identity to the next level

Your authentic personal identity is expressed best online through a Personal Brand. Your brand evolves from the search for identity and meaning. For many people, it's about using your best talents and gifts in the service of others. Your Personal Brand identifies who you are from a personal perspective as well as from a business perspective. Your brand reflects who you are, your opinions, values, and beliefs. It expresses what you say and what you do and how you do it.

3. Focus your time and talents to achieve maximum leverage

Your Personal Brand plan can become your own personal identity. If done properly, it guides all your actions and communications authentically and consistently.

4. Create top of mind awareness for your business

Consumers do not distinguish products and services. They do distinguish between the person behind the business. The branding process allows you to take control of your identity. You influence the perception that others will have about you and the services you offer. Your brand demonstrates this most effectively.

5. Increase demand for your products, services and expertise by creating a buzz

You can achieve effortless business growth by word-of-mouth using your Personal Brand. Your brand will connect you with the movers and shakers who will send you referrals and give you testimonials. It will get people talking about you to stimulate customer-to-customer selling. Communicating your brand consistently through many channels will start to generate the buzz and create excitement for your products and services.

6. Generate more sales and higher income in less time

Most professionals don't reach their full income potential. A strong personal brand will enable you to effortlessly attract clients and opportunities. You will position yourself in the mind of your marketplace as THE service provider of choice. You will dominate your market and command higher fees - work less and make more!

7. Establish yourself as an expert and become a celebrity in your area of specialty

Make a lasting impression and be super-rewarded for your business. Trust, respect, and admiration will follow when your name and message are embedded repeatedly into the consciousness of your target market. The more you are visible to your target audience, the more you will be perceived as an expert. Your brand will propel you to the top of your marketplace.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com

About the Author:  Robi is an entrepreneur and social networker. He invest his time and money into things of value for his personal growth and the growth of others. Robi teaches people how to cultivate a passion for something greater than themselves. Take action and connect with Robi now before it's too late!

Blog: http://www.robivarga.com/blog E-Mail: robiv2008@gmail.com Skype: robiv2008

Join my mastermind team:(http://robiv.mlmleadsystempro.com/leadership http://www.robivarga.com/blog/

Team Building For Success

By Ian Grainger

Conflict or confusion can seriously damage productivity and workflow in a team – any manager worth having will tell you that. And, of course, the opposite is true. A team that bonds, gets on well together and works FOR each other will have a high quality of work and volume of output.

You can bring out the best in your team, both collectively and individually through team building exercises.

These can be as simple or as complicated as you like, but they will promote a healthy team ethic.

The reason that you build a team is to achieve success, strive for a shared goal. It doesn’t matter if that is a business goal, a sporting goal or different kind of goal all together.

It might be a big project or it might be several small projects that make up a finished product or ending. It doesn’t really matter, what matters is that a productive team will be able to work together, fully focused on reaching the goal and achieving success.

Creating a sense of ownership for everyone in the group over both the project and the finished product will help the team feel important, breeding a shared feeling of responsibility.

Start by making clear what your objectives are right at the start and how you intend to go about achieving them.

This will breed a shared commitment within your team and it is also the best time to address any issues or concerns they may have about the project. To help deal with any issues that may arise further down the road set progress indicators – if they’re not met, you will know and you can sort it out, if they are, a sense of achievement will spread through the team, spurring them on.

The type of project you are working on will ultimately determine what team building strategies you will use. It may be a group-based project in which everyone pitches in, or a management run project in which there is a significant proportion of direction or it might be the whole business working as one team.

The group-based project will need more focus on an individual’s strengths and abilities as there will be a good amount of working both in a team and as an individual, and you will need to boost morale as well as dealing with poor attitudes.

You should look to build your team building strategies into the daily tasks of the project. A group-based project will naturally create a sense of team purpose but by adding in your own strategies you will ensure this is continues and that each individual retains their own voice – and their own tasks – while continuing to work with their fellow team members.

Outside of the working environment it might be worth taking time out to further develop your team through team building events and weekends. A corporate event management company is the ideal way to organize this sort of team building exercise and there are plenty of them around.

Team building days incorporate all sorts of events that force individuals to work together and have proven to be a huge success for many companies.

By incorporating your ideas into a fun, productive and interesting environment you will foster a more productive team. All it takes is a little time to consider the goals you wish to accomplish and the skills that you wish to instill in your team so that they can realize the potential you know that they have.

About the Author: Ian Grainger is writing on behalf of Owl Event Management (http://www.owleventmanagement.co.uk ), a specialist corporate event company.

Source: http://www.isnare.com

Ways on How to Balance Your Mind, Body and Spirit

By Karissa C. Dupree

A complete well-being involves in balancing your mind, body and spirit. Well-being embraces all aspect in your life, not just your physical body. If your emotions and your thoughts are in turmoil your health will also be compromised. It is very essential to create a balance in your life by taking care of yourself as a whole which includes mental, physical, emotional, social and spiritual.

A well balanced mind, body and spirit will help boosts your mood and your immune system which allows your body to heal itself. Always take a few moments everyday to unify yourself with your body because this will provide peace, harmony and happiness in all areas of your life

Here are some simple tips on how to balance your mind, body and spirit.

1. Try doing a yoga exercise. Yoga is based on ancient Hindu spiritual tradition. The main goal of yoga is to create consciousness of spiritual insight and tranquility. Doing a yoga will simply make you feel better. Yoga is a therapeutic technique that uses different kinds of postures, breathing exercises and meditation. It makes your mind, body and spirit healthier. Yoga will help you relax, in tune and shape up.

2. Massage therapy is one of the ancient form of therapy that promotes natural healing of the body. Massage will make your tensed and painful muscle to relax. It also helps your mind to wander off into a dream world which gives you a rejuvenating feeling. Check your local area for a reputable massage clinic to help your mind, body and spirit in line.

3. Keep your chakras open. Chakra is based on Indian traditional medicine. It refers to the force centers or vortex of energy from the point of physical body to the etheric body or life force. If you keep the seven chakras in your body open, the flow of energy will freely move to help and keep your mind, body and spirit balanced.

4. Meditation is also good in creating a balance between your mind, body and spirit. With meditation it reduces tension in your brain activities which will assists in creating happy thoughts. Study showed that people who meditates has the capability to shift their brain waves to fight against depression, stress, anxiety and fear. One good example of meditation therapy is yoga.

5. Sleeping is also important to have a total well-being. With enough sleep, your body will have the time to recuperate from a stressful day. A good sleep will help you recharge, relax and rejuvenate.

6. A balanced diet is very essential in keeping your body stay healthy. Eat foods that are fiber rich, packed with vitamins and minerals like vegetables and fruits. Drink at least 8 glasses of water to keep your body hydrated. Keeping a healthy lifestyle will allow your body to naturally heal itself.

7. Keep your things organized at home and in your office. Clutter can negatively affect your thoughts which will cause stress in your life.

These are the seven simple ways in keeping the balance of your mind, body and spirit for a total well-being. Have a happy life!

About the Author: Karissa C. Dupree enjoys writing for http://Superiormassagechairs.com  and http://Discountfountains.com  which sell indoor floor fountains and wall water fountain as well as hosts of additional products. http://www.discountfountains.com/large-floor-fountains.html http://www.discountfountains.com/wall-fountains.html

Source: http://www.isnare.com

Ways to Overcome Panic Attacks

Author: Nazima Golamaully

Nowadays, people claim to have panic attacks over fairly simple things that stress them out, like seeing an ex in the mall or being confronted by a relatively simple phobia. Due to the recent financial crisis, causes of stress are many nowadays, and there are thousands of stress triggers in the world everywhere. Some say that the best way to overcome panic attacks is to overcome stress. But the thing is, stress can only be managed up to a certain degree. So how can you really deal with panic attacks? There are a few ways to do it, and some are really easy. See which one suits you:

1. Avoid exposure to phobia triggers – let’s say you have a fear of riding the escalator, do you still have an option? Of course you do! You can consider your phobia as a handicap and use a handicap facility. You can also opt to use the elevator or the stairs instead. There are many other alternative ways of doing things that will not expose you to your phobia. You just need to find out ways on how to get around it. All it takes is a little time and a bit of research.

2. Know the side effects of your medications – there are some medications that have panic attacks as a side effect. In this case, the medication is the cause, the trigger and the solution. Talk to your doctor and find out if there is another medication that you can take that won’t give you panic attacks. Changing your medication with surely help you overcome panic attacks.

3. Breathe into a paper bag – you often see this being done by folks who have motion sickness on transportation. It’s very handy and effective for all ages. Some say though that breathing in your own carbon dioxide is not very healthy for you and may cause another panic attack, but as long as you take gulps of fresh air in between breaths in the bag, you’ll be fine.

4. Increase your confidence – there have been some academic studies that show that people who are not in the least assertive are more prone to panic attacks. This makes an awful lot of sense because when you are more confident, you become more assertive, and you have less things to fear. This means that you will have less chances of having a panic attack. So go out there and work on your confidence.

These are just some of the ways to overcome panic attacks. If you will notice, the ways to overcome the attacks depend on their causes, as there are many triggers and underlying causes of panic attacks. The important thing to do is to find out what is causing it, and work on it from there. More serious steps on overcoming this difficulty should be referred to your doctor or medical representative for professional advice. Be aware when you are having a panic attack, and do not hesitate to ask for assistance from the people around you.

Do you want to learn how to stop panic attacks? Learn how an "Average Joe" beat panic attacks with dead simple techniques!  http://www.selfsteps.com

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com

Dealing With Negative Behavior

By Tammy AS Kohl

Emotions play an important role in everyday behavior. There is no thought, behavior, idea, or attitude that does not have a related emotional counterpart. Often times in the business arena, various forms of emotions are frowned upon. But, the reality is emotions do exist and do impact communications no matter how subtle. As often as it is said emotions do not belong in business, they will always be there. The intent of this information is to alert you to the importance emotions play in our everyday lives, and how a successful leader can create a productive and focused working climate while dealing with the reality of emotions.

As you interact with your staff or team, you begin to build up certain expectations of each other’s behaviors and reactions. In any relationship between two people who have been in continuous interaction over a period of time, certain tolerable limits of emotional communication are established. There are certain ways of saying things which must be slightly altered to fit varying situations. For example, you may not talk to your children the same way you talk to your partner; you may not talk to your superior in the same way that you talk to a team member, and so forth. In some instances, these behavioral responses are simply a matter of courtesy and respect for the other person. In some cases, they stem from a fear of undesirable results.

Constantly avoiding dealing with your feelings can build up a stockpile of pent-up emotions. It can create a festering problem which when it does find expression, exhibits itself in ways that are harmful, hurtful, and destructive to a relationship. This repression and lack of adequate expression is not limited only to negative emotions such as anger but also applies to positive emotions such as love. We must develop a way to widen the tolerable limits of emotional expression, so that the problems associated with restraint and repression are diminished. By understanding human behavior, you will be able to identify emotionally based problems which emerge in the everyday operations of the organization. Effective management demands that you deal with emotions on a rational basis.

The key to managing emotions within your team is the environment. The culture that you create and maintain provides the platform for how you and your team deal with situations when
they arise. Throughout most of our lives, we have developed ways to express disappointment, anger, and discontent in somewhat less than honest terms. We have learned, through experience and conditioning, that exhibiting hostility can prove ineffective in solving our problems with others. Instead of confronting situations head on we circumnavigate the stormy waters by using what we have come to believe are more socially acceptable forms of expression. This can be very functional behavior, up to a point, since a continuously abrasive and complaining individual soon finds no one around with whom to become hostile. On the other hand various negative feelings need expression as well. Emotions, if left unexpressed, or if expressed irrationally inhibit progress in improving relationships. Honest, open communication is necessary for a results-oriented working environment. To do so, you must create trust, concern, and a mutual commitment with your people. Some additional ideas when implemented correctly will help create a productive culture.

Create a culture that encourages your staff members to come directly to you and discuss, share, or brainstorm a situation with which they may be dealing. Whether they need an avenue for emotional expression or they are on the receiving end of a distracting situation and want to brainstorm possible solutions, make yourself available.

About the Author:

Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at http://www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.

Source: http://www.isnare.com

Tips for the Heartbroken – How to Get Your Life Back Together?

By Felix Lehmann

Are you heartbroken by the loss of a love affair that you thought would last forever? No matter what others tell you at this time, you feel that you will never be able to recover from this jolt. Heartbreak can be very debilitating, and people who have just suffered a brutal end to a relationship can actually feel physically ill for a long time. Depression can have very physical manifestations such as pain in the chest, digestive problems leading to stomach aches, and insomnia.

You will get over being heartbroken eventually, but how long are you willing to wait for this to happen? If the process of getting over heartbreak takes too long, it can have a very negative effect on your life. You therefore have to get your life back together at the very earliest so that you can be ready to face the next challenge. There is more to getting over depression than just waiting for time to heal all wounds, and there are specific steps that you can follow to repair your broken heart.

At the very outset, you have to see things from a larger perspective. You have to understand that this is just one part of your life and that this is only a temporary phase, no matter how bad it seems right now. You should also allow yourself the luxury of grieving over the lost relationship because this will enable you to go beyond it. If this involves wallowing in misery listening to only romantic music while you weep copious tears, then so be it. You will emerge from it feeling much better since you would have released a lot of pent up emotions. It is most unhealthy to suppress these emotions and if you do so, they will be manifested in physical symptoms and ailments.

Your friends can play an important role when you are heartbroken. They should give to the time to grieve while they prevent you from doing things that are harmful to you. Many people resort to the artificial crutches of alcohol and drugs when they are heartbroken and this can leave them with lifelong addictions and a bigger problem than they had before.

This is also the time that you might feel tempted to take the help of ice creams and chocolate and this can cause you to put on lots of weight. Apart from being bad for your health, this can effectively reduce your chances of forming another relationship easily.

Your friends will also help you understand what went wrong with the relationship that caused it to break. Hopefully, this should help you avoid making the same mistakes in the future. There is
no use in blaming yourself for what happened. Instead, you should try to see what you can do to save yourself from being heartbroken ever again in your life.

You deserve to have a happy life and if you follow these pointers you will emerge from this phase of your life as a much stronger person.

About the Author: I am basically a graduate at the University of Hamburg and I work at http://www.layoutsparks.com

Source: http://www.isnare.com

3 Simple Ways To Overcome Fear.

Author: Paul Beer

Fear is your enemy – no other way to describe it. It can take the very starch from you and reduce your life to an experience of mediocrity at best.  I’m not talking about that natural life preserving action along with a major boost of adrenalin that happens if a wild animal is coming at you.  I’m talking about the fears people live with day in and day out. Fear is your enemy.  Someone once described fear as, “Sand in the machinery of life.”  Fear doesn’t help you, it hinders you.  Fear doesn’t get you through an open door; it keeps you in the hallway.  Fear never helps you put your best foot forward; it just keeps both of your feet in cement.

The psychology of today is, “Learn to live with your fears”, “Embrace your fears”, “It’s normal to have fears – everybody does.” 

It’s true; lots of people do have fears. And there are people who are trying to learn how to live with their fears, and embrace them.

But if it’s “normal” to have fears, then why would the Bible talk about being delivered from all your fears?

Think about it - if it’s normal to have fears, and you had no fears, then you would be abnormal, right?  Well why would God want you to be abnormal? 

He doesn’t.  He truly desires for you to be set free from all your fears.

There are many facets and aspects of fear.  One of the big ones is having fear of what others think of you.  People do things, say things, and even buy things because of the fear that they have of what others think. 

Many times people join clubs or organizations because they are afraid that if they don’t, others might think badly of them. 

People say things and talk a certain way because they are afraid that they might not say the right thing in front of the right people. 

People purchase items because of fear of not measuring up to those around them.  And on and on it goes. 

You don’t have to live with fear.  Here are 3 simple keys to getting rid of fear.

First, start by realizing that God truly loves you and that His love for you is unconditional.  The Bible teaches that nothing can separate you from His love. Nothing.  His love for you does not change, ever!

Second, ask God to help you to get rid of all your fears.  He has promised to deliver you from all your fears.  That is His desire for you – a life without fear.

Third, make decisions based on what is best for you, not how it may or may not appear to others.  You’ll never, ever be able to please everyone, so stop trying to.  You’ll never, ever be right in everybody’s eyes, so stop trying to. 

When you make a decision, ask yourself, “Why am I making this decision?  Is it based on fear?”  Make decisions based on what is right and best for your life, regardless of what others think. 

You can live without fear.

Article Source: www.articlealley.com

Your Mind is Your Source of Power

 

Your mind has the fantastic ability to transform you most intimate desires and wants into their physical counterparts and create brand new realities of your current life. It is an amazing wonder what you mind can conceive of and then using your belief and will power to actually implement.

Are you skeptical? You should be because that also is an important part of your mind. It's the part that relates information to your current reality to determine what to believe and what not to believe. The problem with this mechanism is that it often gets in the way of itself and doesn't allow you to utilize your mind to its fullest.

For example, cancer patients who were given placebo pills (Placebos are often associated with sugar pills that have no medicine) as part of their treatment were able to get well without real medical treatment.

So how did these cancer patients get well?

The power to heal themselves came from their thoughts because they were told that the placebos contained the highest amounts of cancer-fighting medicine available which could cure them in a couple of days.

The cancer patients believed that their medicine would restore their health. Their minds turned their belief into a reality and cured them of their illnesses.

Isn't it amazing how powerful your mind is?

Of course, if your mind can cure cancer patients then all of your dreams should be achievable if you only "set your mind to it."

One of the most effective ways to use your mind for dream realization is to use the "as if" principle.

Using the "as if" principle, you act as if you are the person you want to be. Act as though the things that you want to possess are already in your possession.

This isn't necessarily a literal possession that we are talking about but often a figurative possession.

What do you want to be? Do you want to be a doctor, lawyer, newscaster, Olympic athlete? Think, act, and feel like one. By "being" your goal, you'll be much closer to your goal because you are constantly in touch with your final objective. Be obsessed with your dream! You can be everything that you want to be.

For this to be effective, you can't just act like you are what you want to be. You have to actually take ACTION. Don't get so lost in this new reality that you forget to take action, because without action your new reality will remain a fantasy. Do what needs to be done and do it today! Let your dreams motivate you to actualize your purpose in your existing reality not just in your head.

There was a weightlifter who was stuck on 300lbs. No matter what he did he couldn't figure out a way to lift more. So, one day his lifting coach decided to trick the lifter. He told the lifter that the bar only had 300 lbs on it. The weightlifter went to the bar and lifted the 300lbs as he had done every day prior. After the successful lift the coach told him that he had just lifted 350 lbs!

It's often true we can do what we think we can't, if we change what's in our heads. There's an old saying: "Fortune favors the prepared mind." It's all in the mind!

In today's world, we're far too preoccupied with our worries, anxieties, and negative emotions. All of that baggage has adversely affected the state of our health, creating stress-induced conditions and diseases.

A famous person once said, "Whenever you think you can or you can't, you're right."

If you think that you are not rich, then you are not. You must recondition your thoughts and beliefs to be positive rather than negative. Many times it is hard to think rich if everything around you truly is poor but that when visualization with a bit of imagination are required.

Visualize your house/apartment to be a mansion, your old car to be new fancy sports car (no speeding), and everything else around you to be exceptional. Use your mind to expand the possibilities of your life into a new reality.

There is no limit to what your mind can achieve by combining belief, will power, and action with positive thinking and a positive mindset in order to arrive at your dream destination.

About Author: Anthony Stai is a proud contributing author and writes articles on several self-improvement related topics including positive thinking. You can see more of Anthony's articles on his Self-Improvement Resources informational web site located at http://www.self-improvementresources.com

ArticleSource: ArticlesAlley.com

Tips to Teaching Youth Life Skills

by: Vince Shorb

Life skills are vital for the proper development of our youth. It is essential that we provide our young people with relevant life skill lessons to help them live a productive life full of wonderful experiences. 

How we teach youth life skills in the focus of this article. We will explore and share youth life skill lessons with you so the time you spend with each child is more productive and moves them to take positive action. 

What should be included in a youth life skills program? 

1) Financial literacy. Ensuring your children or students receive practical financial literacy training can improve all areas of their lives. Studies show that people that have developed financial literacy skills are healthier, have better relationships, have a higher self esteem and are less stressed. Financial literacy training is the foundation which all the other youth life skills can build on and support. 

2) Relationships. Children need to understand the importance of encouraging relationships and cultivate the skills to maintain positive relationships. One key component of developing positive relationships is the ability to communicate effectively. This is a life skill that will not only benefit their friendships but will help them in their careers as well. 

3) Goal setting. Youth life skill programs should include instruction on goals setting. When teaching youth life skill programs do not tell them what their goals should be; instead listen and help them turn their dreams into goals. Try to help your students or children realize their life dreams rather than pushing your own agenda. 

4) Develop their strengths. It is important for adults to focus on the strengths of their children and help them to take their strengths to the next level. For most, what we are good at is also what we enjoy doing. Make your youth life skill program one that helps them follow their passions and build upon the strengths they have developed growing up. 

The focus of youth skills programs is recognizing student potential and providing them with the proper tools to empower them to develop their skill sets. You are helping to open up windows of opportunity for them and encouraging them along the process by making them feel worthy. 

The goal of youth life skill programs is to help our children grow into responsible adults. Obviously, the lessons are different with every age group, becoming a little more challenging as the child grows. But, regardless of their age, paying close attention and teaching your children the survival skills that are required in life is imperative. 

Children cannot grow into the wonderful human beings they are meant to be when they are constantly shut down, turned away and ignored. They need the proper guidance that will enable them to feel proud of their accomplishments. They also need the opportunity to express themselves in an environment that is willing to listen to them and to help them as well. There is only so much they can do on their own; the rest is up to the adults that play important roles in their lives.

About The Author

The National Youth Financial Educators Council is your trusted leader in financial literacy events, financial educator certification, financial literacy curriculum, college planning and financial education products. Visit http://www.FinancialEducatorsCouncil.org now to pick up free celebrity video lessons.

Article Source: http://www.articlecity.com/articles/parenting/article_1989.shtml