How to Sharpen Your Decision-Making Skills The ubiquitous phrase "go with your gut" validates the importance of intuition and instinct in leadership and decision-making. But it's also true that discarding reason and experience in favor of hunches often results in bad business decisions. U.K. marketing and media consultant Jonathan Gifford has explored the balance of these often opposing factors in his book Blindsided: How Business and Society are Shaped by Our Unpredictable and Irrational Behaviour (Benchmark Books, 2012). Here, he shares four strategies to merge mind and gut for better decision-making. Related: How Successful Leaders Balance Skepticism and Openness 1. 2. If your decision to invest heavily in a bold new business model or fire a key employee is based on fear, anger, or other negative emotions, it's best to wait and see if you still feel the same way after the emotion has passed. Related: 5 Ways to Learn to Trust Your Instincts 3. 4. Related: Startup Must-Haves: Perseverance and Optimism (Infographic)
9 Factors That Helped Me Make My First $1M in Profits Making a million dollars in revenue is hard. Making a million dollars in profit is even harder. Every entrepreneur dreams of reaching his or her first million dollars in profit. Here is a list of nine factors that helped me reach my first million in profit -- I hope they can help you reach this milestone as well. 1. I started my business without any outside capital and without any business loans. Related: 5 Steps to Build a Million-Dollar Business in One Year 2. It is very rare that an entrepreneur will hit a home run with his or her very first venture. 3. When you set limits and work within those limits it lays a solid foundation to build from. Even though I continue to increase overheads in line with ever-increasing revenue, I am still conservative with spending as I’ve become disciplined from years of bootstrapping. 4. Nothing will set you off course quicker than surrounding yourself with negative people. 5. You can’t wear every single hat within your business. 6. 7. 8. 9.
My Fridge Food - Recipes you already have in your Fridge 3 Tweaks in Thinking That Turn a Goal Set Into a Goal Achieved With their robust sound systems, bright paint and can-do slogans, fitness centers brim with the hope of delivering a new you. But the desire to improve health and wellness has a lot more to do with what happens each moment and day, long after the ink dries on your iron-clad contract. Whatever commitment you intend to make, here are three ways to increase your chances of success: 1. At the time of this writing, Jawbone’s website features typical goals -- Get more sleep, drink more water and get more exercise. Bring only items to bed that will improve my sleep (no electronics). Replace my commute-time coffee with water. Go for a walk during my lunch break once a week. These turn your goals into specific actions that eventually translate into habits. Related: Forget Big Goals. 2. After staying in her room for months at a time, Byron Katie reached 200 pounds and slept on the floor. If you feel a goal is too far outside your comfort zone or that you can’t achieve it, you are right. 3.
Guinea Lynx :: Emergency Medical Guide Become Familiar With These Signs Of Illness A cavy's health can deteriorate very quickly. By the time problems become apparent, illnesses may be life-threatening. Guinea pigs very seldom get over an illness without help. Prompt, competent veterinary care is crucial to saving the life of a sick cavy. When caught early, most illnesses can be cured fairly easily with a course of antibiotics safe for cavies. Do not hesitate to seek competent veterinary care if you suspect your pig is ill. Signs of illness and possible causes: Refusal to eat or drink (anorexia) -- URI, Malocclusion, other Weight Loss -- Malocclusion, other Labored breathing, wheezing -- URI, Circulatory Problems, other Crusty eyes, sneezing -- URI, other Rough or puffed-up coat -- URI, other Swollen abdomen -- BLOAT, other Dull and/or receding eyes -- URI, other Lethargy, hunched posture -- URI, other Drooling -- Malocclusion, other Watery diarrhea -- Diarrhea, other No feces -- Anorexia (not eating), Bloat, other Sow bleeding First Aid
The Best Ways to Do Market Research for Your Business Plan In their book Write Your Business Plan, the staff of Entrepreneur Media, Inc. offer an in-depth understanding of what’s essential to any business plan, what’s appropriate for your venture, and what it takes to ensure success. In this edited excerpt, the authors discuss the whys and hows of conducting market research. Market research aims to understand the reasons consumers will buy your product. Market research is further split into two varieties: primary and secondary. The basic questions you’ll try to answer with your market research include: Who are your customers? What do they buy now? Why do they buy? What will make them buy from you? You can also find companies that will sell you everything from industry studies to credit reports on individual companies. For companies of all sizes, the best market research is the research you do on your own. You'll also want to do your due diligence within your industry. 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4.
BMI Calculator Plus: Personalized BMI for Your Body Type and Metabolism People use a lot of numbers to talk about weight and fitness. This tool can help you understand what some of those numbers mean -- about where you are right now, and what it will take to reach your goal. From the information you give us, we'll tell you: BMI A number doctors use to describe how healthy your weight is. Your BMI is: BMI, or body mass index, is a way to see if you weigh more -- or less -- than doctors believe is healthy for someone your height. BMI tells you how heavy you are for your height, but it doesn't measure body "fatness." Your Body Shape (Waist To Height Ratio) is: Extra fat on your body can be unhealthy, but where you carry your weight is also important. Doctors compare different parts of your body to find out your body shape. Doctors also compare your waist and your height. Your Healthy Weight Range is: pounds A healthy weight is a great start, but it doesn't take into account other things such as body fat percentage or your family's health history. Strengthen Muscles
27 Tips for Mastering Anything 20 Ways To Deal With People Who Annoy The Crap Out Of You 1. Realize that annoying people are inevitable. You can’t always walk away. It’s not always a matter of simply associating with different people. More importantly, we’re not built to be inclined to like everything about everyone, and vice versa. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Brianna Wiest is the author of 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think, available here. It Only Takes Five Minutes to Become a Morning Person How you start your day sets the context and your mindset for the rest of the day. Yet, most people start the day with procrastination by hitting the snooze button, telling their subconscious that they don’t even have the self-discipline to get out of bed in the morning, let alone do what’s necessary to be happy, healthy and successful. Stand-up comedian Demetri Martin's humorous take on the subject sums it up well: Hitting the snooze button in the morning doesn’t even make sense. It’s like saying, "I hate getting up in the morning so I do it over and over and over again." When the alarm clocks starts beeping in the morning, consider it to be akin to life’s first gift to us. If it weren't for the following strategy, I'd still be snoozing through my alarm clock every morning and clinging to my old limiting belief, claiming that I was not a morning person. Related: How to Become More of a Morning Person (Infographic) Step #1: Set intentions before bed. Step #3: Brush your teeth.
How To Pick Up Chicks: A Lesbian Guide to Getting Girl-on-Girl Action Hellllloooooo ladiesss, you’re lookin’ good today. As you may or may not know, after a few years of coming out, dating, and general lesbian tomfoolery, Katrina C. Danger is off the market. I know, I know, this is shocking/appalling, as we all expected me to lesbian bromance my days away in the sunkissed shores of an eternal Dinah Shore right here at my East Coast university, but alas, these days of lesbian playerhood are not forever, and I need someone to take my place. Namely you. Yeah, you. (Sidenote: While I am, in fact, a doctor of such things as lesbian bromance, I recommend that my guidance on chicks be taken with a grain of salt, as giving advice on this kind of thing makes me feel like I’m wearing a silly leopard print pimp hat.) Do’s for Picking Up Chicks: Make gay eye contact. You know what I’m talking about, bros. Maybe she looked at you first–did she? Be confident. Does that sound cliche? Be subtle. As in, don’t show up with your pants off (this only works sometimes). Touch.
Femke Becomes Funke: Celebrating Mediocrity In Nigeria By Femke van Zeijl I used to think corruption was Nigeria’s biggest problem, but I’m starting to doubt that. Every time I probe into one of the many issues this country is encountering, at the core I find the same phenomenon: the widespread celebration of mediocrity. Unrebuked underachievement seems to be the rule in all facets of society. A governor building a single road during his entire tenure is revered like the next Messiah; an averagely talented author who writes a colourless book gets sponsored to represent Nigerian literature overseas; and a young woman with no secretarial skills to speak of gets promoted to the oga’s office faster than any of her properly trained colleagues. Needless to say the politician is probably hailed by those awaiting part of the loot he is stealing; the writer might have got his sponsorship from buddies he has been sucking up to in hagiographies paid for by the subjects; and the young woman’s promotion is likely to be an exchange for sex or the expectancy of it.
25 Things I Do To Make My Body Dysphoria Feel Smaller and Quieter Before we even begin: I’m not a medically trained professional, nor am I a licensed therapist. Today I’m all curled up in my duvet cover because I haven’t been able to sleep in two days, and maybe if I was a doctor I’d find the little parts of me that aren’t working and fix them so I could get out of bed. Unfortunately I’m just a kid with a binder and a lot of pronouns, and the world seems like a whole lotta sharp edges right now. If you’ve never had body dysphoria, let me explain a little bit about how it makes me feel and why I have it. Body dysphoria feels like the worst-fitting outfit you’ve ever put together, but you can never take it off. Or sometimes it’s more like a pebble in your shoe, or a belt that digs into your side, or a tiny thing that is just noticeable enough to throw your day off. My gender identity is a very slippery thing. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.