Posts Tagged ‘money’
What to Know Before Signing a Home Improvement Contract
It is important to be a very careful consumer when it comes to home improvement contractors. For instance, I had a case where my client, an elderly and blind woman, signed a contract and paid $30,000.00 to a home improvement company that disappeared with all of her money! Unfortunately, the company was a scam operation, my client lost her life’s savings and it will take some time in court before my client may ever see her money again however, her mistake will be a lesson to all of you because this article explains how to protect yourself from home improvement fraud.
Before signing any contract with a home improvement company, first ask that company for its license number and check it out with your State or County Consumer Affairs’ Business License Division. Find the License Division on the web or call information and get their number. You want to find out (1) the name and address of the company associated with the license number given to you, (2) if the company is currently licensed and the license expiration date and (3) whether any complaints have been made against that company. The answers to those questions will help you determine if you want to proceed with signing a contract. Make sure both the contractor and the company he works for are licensed to work in your State.
If your going to sign the contract then make sure certain things are included pursuant to your understanding and as required by your State’s Home Improvement Business Law. The contracting company’s name, address and phone number should be printed on the contract. Also, it is important that the contracting company’s home improvement license number is printed on the contract and that it is not different from the number you called and inquired about with Consumer Affairs. Lastly, make sure that all of the work to be performed is listed in the contract and that the approximate start and end dates of work are included. You should put a penalty clause in the contract regarding the contractor’s failure to timely complete the work because contractors are notorious for starting jobs and then leaving for a few days or weeks to do other jobs while you sit and wait in your dismantled kitchen for him to return. Once the contract terms are satisfactory then the contract should be signed by both you and the company’s representative.
An example of a consumer protection law is New York’s General Business Law §771 (“GBL”) requiring all home improvement contracts shall be in writing and contain certain terms of payment, fees for services and materials and start and completion dates, among other terms. GBL §771 is a consumer protection statute to prevent the misunderstandings between contractor had consumer and to protect the consumer from overreaching of the contractor, such as charging for work that was not agreed upon. GBL §771 limits the contractor who disregards its written contract requirements to satisfactorily proving to a court each and every item of work he did and the reasonable value of each item by detailed invoices, timesheets and proof of hourly rates, among other proofs. So, if the contractor who failed to put your home improvement work in writing attempts to collect $20,000.00 from you, he has to prove the value of his services in detail before scaring you into paying an amount you had no idea about. New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act and the Home Improvement Act protect the consumer even more by denying the contractor from recovering any monies if he violates any of the consumer laws AND he will pay three times the amount of damages (called treble damages) to the consumer for his failing to obtain proper permits or licenses or any other violation of those laws.
Lastly, protect yourself by not paying 100% upfront. Most contracting companies ask for a deposit upon your signing the contract. I suggest that you put down as little as possible and arrange a payment schedule with the company where you will pay a certain amount as certain work is completed. Of course, always get a receipt, signed by the company and stating the date and amount of any monies paid to the company if you pay anything in cash.
This article is certainly not all inclusive and is intended only as a brief explanation of the legal issue presented. Not all cases are alike and it is strongly recommended that you consult an attorney if you have any questions with respect to any legal matters.
Any questions and/or comments with respect to this topic or any other topic, contact:
Law Offices of Susan Chana Lask
853 Broadway, Suite 1516
New York, NY 10003
(212) 358-5762 Susan Chana Lask, Esq. c 2004
About The Author
Susan Chana Lask is named in the media as New York’s “high powered attorney”. She practices sucessfully all civil, criminal & appeals cases in State & Federal courts nationwide. http://www.newsletterjournal.com
Driving To Your Goals
Every time you get in your car to go anywhere, you are working on achieving a goal. There is somewhere you want to be, so you take action to get there. The three major things that get you where you want to go when driving are a specific destination, directions for getting there, and a way to track your progress. You must also have these three things to achieve any goal.
Specific Destination
Before even getting into your car, you must know where you are going. Unless you have a specific destination, you’re just moving the car and wasting gas. There isn’t anything particularly wrong with this; some people enjoy just driving around and looking at the scenery. But if you want to get somewhere, you must know where you are going.
When setting your goals, you must know exactly what it is that you want. Get a clear picture of it in your mind. If it’s a new job, picture yourself in that job. If it’s more money, visualize that monthly bank statement. Imagine what you will feel like when you reach whatever it is you are striving for. Write it down, like you would write down the address of a house you are visiting for the first time.
Directions
If this is a destination you’ve been to before, you don’t need directions. It’s automatic, like tying your shoes or chewing your food. But what if it’s somewhere you’ve never been before? How do you get there?
You ask. You ask someone who’s been there before. You pull out a map. You check the Internet. The directions may not be perfect, and often they aren’t. “It’s either the second or third light, I can’t remember which,” is something often heard when getting driving directions. But you get the best directions you can.
Goal setting is the same. You get in touch with others who already have what you want. You read books, you listen to tapes, you attend seminars. You get as much information as possible that will assist you in reaching your goal.
Tracking Your Progress
You know where you are going and you’ve got your directions, so now it’s time to take some action! You hop in the car and you’re off!
But wait! It wasn’t the second or third light, it was the fourth! So what do you do when you realize you are off course? You check your map, you pull into the nearest gas station, or you make a phone call. You try to get back on track. But you don’t give up! You don’t turn around at the first closed road and go back home, saying “I didn’t really want to get there anyway.” If this were to happen, you’d never get anywhere you hadn’t been before, and your life would be pretty limited. Even if you have to head all the way back home, you start again. Eventually, you get to that destination, and isn’t it even more exciting when you get there after a difficult journey!
You may get sidetracked on your journey. If you get hungry, you stop for a bite. If you need to use the restroom, you stop to take care of that. But do you stay stopped? Do you sit in the restroom all day, wondering why you aren’t where you want to be? No, you do what you need to do and continue on.
Don’t quit on your goals, either. There may be setbacks, dead ends, even car accidents. But don’t forget that you’ll never get there if you don’t keep taking action and moving towards your destination. When that prospect says no, it’s not a failure; it’s another mile under your belt. When nothing seems to happen for a long period of time, you’re just getting closer to that next landmark. If you’re not sure what to do next, don’t be too embarrassed to stop and ask for those directions!
About The Author
Lyman Reed is the webmaster of Inspiration, Motivation, and Wisdom for Living – http://www.motiration.com/ a website dedicated to providing informational tools which help individuals improve their lives. He can be contacted via email at lyman@motiration.com. This article may be freely used in any publication, providing it is not changed in any way and this “About the author” text is included.
Do you Have the Burning Desire to Lose Weight or Reach any Goal?
NOTE: This article is one of the component parts of the 9-step WTA3 program contained in the ebook titled “The Action Path -Your Key to Success!” due out in 2005 at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/index_actionpath.html.
- Do you have a Burning Desire? -
Do you have a burning desire to lose weight and reduce your body fat to 10%?
Do you have a burning desire to get a flat, well-toned midsection?
Do you have a burning desire to increase your net worth to $500,000?
Do you have a burning desire to improve your personal relationships?
Do you have a burning desire to start a business next year?
Do you have a burning desire to reduce your credit card debt?
The key phrase is “Do you have a burning desire to…”. We all have hopes, dreams, wants and wishes. Do you have a ‘Burning Desire’ to make the right choices on a daily basis and take positive action steps toward your goals?
Let’s start with a common goal of reducing body fat or losing weight. While losing weight is a more common goal, reducing body fat to your body’s optimum level is the better route to take. For this illustration, imagine you had a personal goal of losing 10 lbs in 30 days. Because you’re smart, you know that losing weight can be accomplished by taking in fewer calories than you burn. This is a law of nature and makes logical sense. Even though we are aware of this basic principle, losing weight continues to be a difficult goal for many people to accomplish. Now the question; do you really have a ‘Burning Desire’ to lose 10 lbs in 30 days? If you’re like many, your answer is “…yes, I have a desire to lose weight…” but in reality you don’t have a ‘Burning Desire’.
Another source for creating your own ‘Burning Desire’ is a program from Tony Robbins titled, Get the Edge! You can see a product review of his program at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/product_gettheedge.html.
To further illustrate our day-to-day choices and the difference between a desire and a ‘Burning Desire’ let’s pretend that you are two days into your diet and you’re at your favorite hamburger restaurant for your usual lunch. What are you going to choose from the menu? What choice are you going to make?
Will it be the usual double cheeseburger, large fries and a soft drink?
Will it be a double cheeseburger, small fries and a small soft drink?
Will it be a single burger, no small fries and a diet soft drink?
Will it be a burger (no bun), small salad (light dressing) and water?
Will you leave your favorite hamburger restaurant and find a different place to eat?
Most will order the usual lunch or might only cut down slightly. You might even justify it by convincing yourself that later in the day you’ll eat less, you’ll exercise more at the gym or you need all this food because you are ’starving’. By choosing to order the usual lunch, you’ve made a choice to take action towards your goal of losing weight. Let me repeat in a slightly different way. By selecting the usual lunch, you have made a (wrong) choice to take (a negative) action towards your goal of losing weight. Every minute of every day you have the power, potential and intellect to make good choices that will help direct you to take positive actions towards meeting your goals. Will you succumb to a need for immediate gratification or can you delay it for a short period with your eye on the prize, of a larger, more gratifying long-term goal.
Was choosing the usual lunch the right choice for you to meet your goal of losing weight? It probably wasn’t the best choice, but only you can make the decision to make the right choice. Your decision to eat a high calorie lunch was probably based on a short-term craving and the need for immediate gratification. After the meal, you’ve met your short-term craving but you’ve moved farther away from your long-term goal of losing 10 lbs. You need to be aware that your day-to-day choices are often based on a superficial need to satisfy your immediate gratification. When short-term wins over long-term, it shows that your immediate gratification cravings have registered more votes in your brain. Your objective it to move the pendulum; make your long-term goals register more votes so you will automatically start taking more consistent and positive action steps. You need to create a ‘Burning Desire’ to make long-term win over short-term.
Don’t forget to check out the other examples, such as increasing your net worth, outlined in other chapters of this book. You can also check out a product review of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/product_burnthefatfeedthemuscle.html.
Stop reading and take your first positive action step to create a ‘Burning Desire’. You can apply this technique to any goal. To make this exercise easier, use the form in the appendix section of this book.
- List at least 6 reasons why you want to attain a weight loss goal (or any other goal). List both the positive reasons (I want to look good for the Caribbean vacation) and the negative reasons (I can’t fit into my pants). Positive reasons are “What will I get if I attain this goal”. Negative reasons are “What will happen if I don’t attain this goal”.
- Next to each reason you listed above, write a short, visual description of that reason. It’s important that you visualize your reasons. If one of your reasons is “…I can’t fit into these pants…”, describe this visualization as a picture with your stomach hanging over the edge of your belt or waistband. Make sure you complete this visualization description for each reason. As you go through this visualization process you may start thinking of more reasons – go ahead jot them down on your list.
- Take 10-15 minutes and read your 6 (or more) reasons along with your visualization descriptions. Which one or two reasons trigger the most emotionally energized response?
- Take the top 1,2 or 3 emotionally energized reasons, write them down on a business card size piece of paper and place them in your wallet, purse, desk and/or car. For the next 3-5 days, take out this card and read the reasons and the visualization description out loud.
- By the end of the 3-5 days, if you still get emotionally energized and excited; congratulations, you now have created your own ‘Burning Desire’.
What if this didn’t work and you’re not emotionally excited – what if you didn’t create a ‘Burning Desire’. Your current goal has reverted back to a wish, a want, a dream or a hope. At this stage you have a few options. First, you should go back to step #1 and try this exercise again. Often during the first attempts, you may not have put enough time or energy into the process. Right now is the time to change for the better – take a positive action step and give it another chance. Second, if you’ve tried this exercise or other techniques and still can’t seem to create a ‘Burning Desire’, than you may need to pick another goal, abandon the goal or change the goal. Changing the goal is not giving up; changing the goal is often one of the best ways to get yourself re-energized, motivated and excited about moving forward.
By taking these 5 steps to create a ‘Burning Desire’ for each one of your goals (large or small), you will make your goals much more attainable, you will start to consistently meet more of your goals and you will have more fun along the path to success. This technique can be used in other areas of your life such as your business (career), your personal finances and your relationships. Other chapters in this book will provide the details on how to use this technique to succeed with more of your personal goals.
Author’s Personal Note: I have successfully used this technique in the area of weight loss and have lost 10 lbs (in 45 days), reduced my body fat by 3% and dropped from a 35-inch waist to a 32-inch waist. What was my ‘Burning Desire’? I had about seven of them, but two created the most passion and drive.
First, was when my youngest son commented about how big my stomach was getting and that I looked out of shape. This comment was my negative reason that drove me to make a change. If I didn’t attain this goal, I would continue to hear these comments . Second, I had a closet full of size 32 pants and was ready to go out a buy more tight-fitting 34 size pants. Since I personally don’t like (despise) spending money on clothes, I created a visualization of all the money I would save by not having to buy another 3-4 pairs of pants. If I did attain this goal, I would have another $150 to do what I love most – invest.
My personal visualization for the first reason was a flat stomach instead of the love handles and no ‘fat’ comments from my son. My visualization for the second reason was seeing $150 invested in 3 shares of a blue chip stock on my portfolio statement, instead of pants hanging in my closet. While my personal visualizations might not get you motivated, these visualizations created enough push, motivation and drive for me to change my dietary habits and eat right (not necessarily less) and exercise more often. Remember, each of you will have your own personal visualizations that will get you to take action.
It was the first time in my 40+ years that I’ve ever wanted to lose weight and while it was difficult to make these dietary and exercise changes; I sacrificed my short-term immediate gratification needs for the benefit and success of my long-term weight loss goal. Not only did I receive gratification from meeting my weight loss goal, but I received even more gratification by knowing that I could make the appropriate day-to-day choices to minimize my short-term immediate gratification needs to meet a long-term, more gratifying goal. It was worth the efforts. Other personal success stories can be found throughout this book.
It’s time for You to take Action!
What are you going to do right now to take one positive action step towards meeting one of your personal goals? To get the momentum moving in your favor, you need to take immediate action. After reading this article, take the next 30 minutes to complete this 5-step process for one of your goals? You don’t have 30 minutes, take 5 minutes to start the process. The key is to take Action. You owe it to yourself to be successful and one key component for making your personal goals attainable, is to create your own personal ‘Burning Desire’. Start it now!
About The Author
For more information about this ebook, “The Action Path – Your Key to Success!”, by Mike Matthews, please visit http://www.your-key-to-success.com/index_actionpath.html. Your-Key-to-Success.com provides a resource for articles, products and services to help you get motivated to take action and succeed with your goals in the areas of your personal finance, your business and your physical fitness. Remember – Dreams will determine what you want in life, Actions will determine what you get in life. Sign-up for our free newsletter at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/index_newsletter.html.
How to Make Money from Internet Auctions
If your business is not using eBay and other Internet auctions, you could be missing out. Here are just a few ways of generating additional income, profits and cashflow from online auctions.
1. Convert Excess Assets to Cash
Sell personal or business items that you no longer use. For example, are there slow moving inventory items in your store? A major camera store chain sells their slow movers, quite successfully, through eBay.
2. Buy and Sell Anything
Sometimes people put things out in the garbage because they don`t need them anymore and don`t know anyone who could use them. You can successfully sell some of these items by Internet auction.
As well, if you pick up bargains from garage sales, flea markets, importers, wholesalers, closeout dealers or other sources, these items can also be sold through online auctions.
3. Drop Shipping
There are suppliers who will ship one item at a time for you. You don`t have to stock any inventory. You simply pay your dropship supplier out of the money you receive from your auction sale. They will ship the product directly to your customer.
For further information about drop shipping, visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/dropship.html
4. Self-Publishing
Do you have expertise in a specialized area of interest to people? Then, you could publish your own information product.
A very popular format for self-publishing information products is the electronic book (or e-book). E-book compilers, some of which are free, are readily available on the Internet. When people buy your e-book, they can download it from your website or receive it by e-mail.
You could sell such self-published information products on eBay and other Internet auction sites. Incidentally, online auctions are an inexpensive method of testing the market for your information (or other) products.
For further information about self-publishing, visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/selfpub.html
5. Reprint and Resale Rights
You may not want to produce your own information products presently. Or, perhaps, you may already have an information product, but would like to supplement your income with additional, related product offerings. This is where reprint and resale rights come in.
You can buy the rights to reprint or resell excellent information products created by other people. Some of these rights are inexpensive.
In addition to selling these products from your own website, you can use Internet auctions to create extra sales. Another advantage of online auctions is that they can create additional traffic for your website.
For further information about reprint and resale rights, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/instantpub.html
6. Sell Your Services
Do you design logos or websites? Do you sell consulting or other services? These, also, can be successfully sold through eBay and other auction sites.
7. Run an eBay Consignment Shop
There are still people who don`t have a computer or who don`t use eBay. You could sell on a consignment basis for them, taking a commission on the successful sale. You would need to charge for advertising expenses incurred, such as eBay listing and selling fees.
8. Promote Affiliate Programs through Auctions
Some affiliate programs have brandable e-books that contain your affiliate link. When people order from the e-book that they bought from your online auction, you get credit for the sale. As well, some of those purchasers may sign up as affiliates, earning you additional commissions.
Some of these e-books have valuable information that is worth the nominal value you would sell it for on eBay. In other cases, such an e-book is readily available for free. In this latter case, you might consider selling another related product and offer the e-book as a free bonus.
For further information about affiliate programs, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/affiliate.html
9. Supply Fellow Online Auctioneers
During the gold rush days, it is said that those who sold picks and shovels were more likely to make money than those panning for gold. Similarly, since there is such a big market for online auctions, you can make money supplying eBayers with information and auction tools to help them start and grow their own online auction business.
10. Internet Auction Consulting
As you gain experience and expertise in online auctions, you might consider charging for your knowledge.
Consulting services, seminars, information products and other ways of packaging your knowledge can earn you additional income streams.
For more information about consulting, visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/consulting.html
These are just a few of the ways you can profit from Internet auctions.
For more information about Internet auctions, visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/auctions.html
RESOURCE BOX:
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc., http://www.popeconsultinginc.com/ has been helping clients to earn maximum business profits for over twenty-five years.
For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/
Alarm System: Contacts (Window & Door Switches)
Alarm Contacts- Contact switches are magnetic switches used to protect doors and windows for the most part. There are three main styles that are used by most alarm companies. They are recessed contacts, surface mount contacts and roller-ball contacts.
Recessed contacts are hidden in the window tracks and door jams so that they can’t be seen when the window or door is closed. The switch is on the fixed or non-movable side of the opening and a magnet is placed on the movable side. When the magnet meets the switch the circuit is complete and the control knows it is closed. Recessed contacts are more complicated to install unless they are placed during the construction phase of your home or business. A good installation technician can install recessed contacts in your home after construction as long as they have an unfinished basement, accessible attic or closet to run the wires in.
Surface mount contacts function the same as recessed ones however they are visible when the doors or windows are closed. They come in three main sizes being large, small and micro. They come in the colors white, gray and brown so they can blend in to the door trim or window- sill they are mounted on.
Roller-ball contacts are in the hinge side of your door jam and the spring- loaded ball is pushed in when the door is closed completing the circuit. These are more likely to need replacement in a few years as they are considered a moving part.
All types of recessed and surface mount contacts can be hardwired directly to your control panel or you can get them in a wireless version. Wireless contacts have a transmitter tied to them or built into them that sends a radio signal to a receiver in the control. The transmitter is surface mounted and comes in two colors, white and brown. If white and brown are not your desired colors, you can paint the switches and transmitters to match your decor.
Doors are the most common point of entry and should be protected by your system. I always recommend contacting every perimeter door in your home or business
Window contacts can add up in a hurry as most homes have many windows. I have always felt that window contacts give the homeowner a false sense of security because of the fact that a window has to be opened in order for them to work. If your window is locked (and it should be) when you are away or sleeping, a burglar has to break the glass or remove the glass to unlock it. If they break the glass and the alarm does not sound, why would they open the window? Instead they would most likely clear the broken glass and climb in. That is why your money is better spent on motion detectors and/or glass- break sound detectors.
If you have children, window contacts can be a valuable tool. They will keep your youngsters from opening the window for a stranger. And they will also make your teenager sorry you ever read this. (If they tell you all they want for the holidays is a magnet, the jigs up!) Window contacts are often better at keeping people in than they are at keeping burglars out. If you do choose to use window contacts you may like the fact that the surface mounted versions can be set up so that you can keep your window open a few inches for ventilation and still be armed.
Matthew Francis Alarms@expertsknow.com
22 year veteran of the alarm industry Installer, salesman, licensed alarm company owner, monitoring station designer, promotions and marketing director with one of the worlds largest security dealers. He now works as a consumer advocate, teaching consumers how to buy or get systems for free (without being taken). He is committed to being unbiased. His web site is http://www.newsletterjournal.com
Money Making Hobbies – Which Ones?
Which ones can be money making hobbies? A friend made a life-sized cow out of plywood once. He painted it, put it in the yard, and people started asing if he would sell it. He soon had a waiting list of customers for his plywood cows. With a profit of about fifty dollars each, he wasn’t getting rich, but isn’t making money with your hobby more fun than a job?
Money Making Hobbies – Two Approaches
The first approach is obvious: Look for ways to make money with your existing hobby or hobbies. What do you produce that other people might want? Do you collect dolls? You might produce a newsletter for other doll collectors, or buy and sell doll furniture.
The second approach is to think of all the hobbies you might take up that can generate a second income for you. When I found that I really enjoyed making walking sticks as a hobby, I sold more than a thousand dollars worth one summer. There are probably things you would enjoy doing that can make some money.
Get creative in your thinking. Look at the list of activities or hobbies below, and see if you can think of a way they can be used to make money. Do you like to travel? You might become a tour guide, or write articles for magazines.
Painting … Crafts of all sorts … Sewing … Caring for animals … Talking … Playing with computers … Traveling … Rock Climbing … Stamp Collecting … backpacking
How To Make Money With ANY Hobby
In the past, you could argue that not all hobbies can be money making hobbies. This is no longer true. If you go to my sites, you’ll notice the ads. I just copy and paste some code (no selling involved), and make a little bit everytime you click on one. In a matter of days, with almost no money, you can have a website up where you write about your favorite hobby, and collect for the advertising clicks.
Steve Gillman has been studying every aspect of money for thirty years. You can find more interesting and useful information on his website; http://www.UnusualWaysToMakeMoney.com
Do You Need an Expensive Padded, Cushioned, Air Bubbled, Gelled Running Shoe?
Nike Free does not think so; and neither should you. Read on to find out why this concerns every one of us, our health and a good deal of wasted money. This is not a story of the Nike Free shoe; it’s about our freedom and growth.
It has been a really long time since a major shoemaker has stepped forward and acknowledged that the human foot is the perfect running, walking machine.
Hence, a good shoe should be simple and that allows this perfect machine to execute flawlessly, rather than attempt to take over Nature’s function.
This is the core concept of the Nike Free line of shoes. Shoes that both mimic and allow the foot its freedom to get things done – in this case, walking, jogging and running.
Nonetheless, detractors argue that the lack of structural support and cushioning undermines the shoe’s ability to be a serious running shoe. The experts are spewing out terms like ? Stress Fracture, Calf Injury, Knee Injuries, Plantar Fasciitis.
The Footwear Market & You
In the footwear industry, structural support and cushioning are considered the benchmarks of shoe superiority. The more features a shoe has; the more acclaim it will receive and, coincidentally, the more expensive it will cost.
Do we, as consumers, really need all that expensive support and cushioning?
Is it really better for us?
For centuries across civilizations, shoes were only worn as status symbols by aristocrats; while the common folk went about barefooted.
The very people, who walked the most and ran the most, went about their daily lives barefooted!
Obviously, shoes did not come about as an invention because our feet failed; it came as an invention of luxury and ego.
In the centuries that have gone by, our feet still maintain this same powerful ability. Today, we have barefoot marathon runners across the world and complete communities of tribal people who live barefooted.
Our God given machine of motion still explodes power in this day and age!
Yet, weekend runners who barely run a tenth of a marathon are spending hundreds of dollars to buy advanced technology for their feet!
Why is the man on the street spending so much on high ? tech shoes when marathon runners and hunters happily thrive without them?
The answer is advertising and product branding.
Shoemakers astutely noticed that city folks are mostly overpronators or underpronators. Hence, in an effort to capitalise on this underlying dysfunction, they design shoes that support and cushion shock. Consequently, detaching and depriving the foot from its primary role as locomotion point guard.
Overpronation, Underpronation and Neutral Feet
More than 75% of city dwellers are either overpronators or underpronators. Essentially, it means that your feet lose their ability to accommodate ground unevenness and absorption of daily walking stress. Your foot has curved in one direction and cannot return to neutral state ? think of it as a jammed window that cannot close.
In its functional state, our feet are made to pronate; curve to suit the contours of the ground. This is how we can run side ways on slopes and edges without tumbling over. Hence, feet with full range of pronation can walk, run, jog barefooted and not injure themselves (assuming you are not silly enough to go running on broken glass).
Since the foot has lost its ability to fully pronate, shoemakers generally believe that a shoe has to be padded, cushioned, gelled and reinforced. The reason being that it will make up for the feet’s loss of pronation range. Hence, the natural progression towards spending millions on technology research and charging you hundreds of dollars more per pair.
On the other hand, I look at all these structured shoes like crutches. Yes, we may need it for a while. But, when we consistently wear them and use them, we can never regain our natural ability to move the way we were originally made to – Pain free, explosive and flexible.
A plain simple running shoe that allows your feet to spread out is sufficient and good for any weekend jogger. It also happens to be much easier on the wallet! If you do want a fancier shoe, the Nike Free series would be a good buy because it goes beyond un-restriction of the feet; it mimics the shape of the feet and offers the feet much more control.
Ultimately, the injury and pain does not come from the lack of a jazzed up shoe, but rather dysfunctional feet.
My Feet / Knee / Shin / Calf hurts because of my Pronation. What do I do now?
I would first make a wild guess that the sole of your shoe is eaten up excessively on one side of the shoe. This could occur on one or both shoes. Do not assume that both feet equally underpronate or overpronate.
The first thing to do is to throw away all your shoes that reflect this unevenness. Go buy new pairs of shoes; neutral shoes that do not have excessive support. Have fun shopping, do it with a friend, a spouse or alone!
After a while, if you do not buy new pairs of shoes, your recovery will be impeded because you never throw away the “crutch”.
The next step is to slowly walk barefooted and as often as possible. You can start with your house, followed by the beach or park. The aim is to re-introduce your 26 foot bones and muscles to the sensation of the natural foot movement. They have been trapped in the shoe for all these years.
Finally, you have to move into active rehabilitation to help your body recover its neutral state. It is not some costly procedure, but rather a series of simple movement patterns that specifically unlock your frozen foot muscles and reintroduce your body to its natural alignment.
Some familiar exercises like yoga and pilates do help in this process. Nonetheless, if you want it quicker, faster and simpler, drop by http://phenogy.com to find out how you can be free of knee pains, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, flat foot, raised arch and other musculoskeletal injuries that are by-products of feet pronation.
Even if you think that you are not suffering from any of this at the moment. Take 5 seconds to stand straight up, feet shoulder width apart?. Now look down? Are your feet parallel to each other? Both pointing forward?
It is a disservice to yourself to cheat by correcting them. You have to look at your feet when they are at a relaxed state. Take a look when you go to work, or go shopping.
If your feet flare out or curve in or are not parallel pointing to the front. It is a very strong hint of future musculoskeletal injuries, that includes the above conditions coupled with back, shoulder and neck dysfunction.
Nonetheless, you may be that rare 1 out of 4 who have neutral feet. Congratulations and keep up whatever good motion that you already have!
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Reproduction of this article
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The author, Winston Ng, is an avid peak performance coach and CEO of Phenogy Health Advisors Pte Ltd, based in Singapore. His Health Consultancy programmes are renowned worldwide for their efficiency, simplicity and independent unbiased advice. The Phenogy Health Concierge? is unparalleled internationally in providing cutting edge Natural Health Alternatives to the busy individual who needs viable options to invasive surgery, dangerous synthetic pills and overpriced ineffective therapies!
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Combining the Mind and Effective Goal-Setting
Goals are of vital importance in our lives. Many of us spend our lives without any definite purpose, simply drifting from place to place. Setting goals help us to focus our lives and to advance confidently in a definite direction. Without them, I don’t think our lives can truly be complete.
If you are looking for proof of the importance of goals, you need not look any farther than two pivotal studies on success and goal-setting, one completed by Yale University and the other by Dr. Lewis Terman of Stanford University.
In the first study, Yale University kept track of their graduates during a 20 year period and found that the 3% who set goals were worth more financially than the entire 97% of the students who did not!
In the second study, Dr. Terman of Stanford conducted a study of 1,528 students all with IQ’s above the genius level. His study found that intelligence had nothing to do with success and financial acumen but that goal-setting did!
So now we know that goal-setting is vitally important to our success, but how do we do it? I first recommend that you take a day or two (longer if needed) to spend some time meditating about your passions in life. Start to make a list. Some wise men recommend that you try to write down 100 goals for your life. Lou Holtz, the tremendously successful football coach at Notre Dame and more recently at the University of South Carolina, said that while still in his teens he wrote down over 100 goals for his life (one of which was to coach a college football team to a National Championship – which he did). A few years ago at about the age of 60, Coach Holtz had achieved every single goal he had written down. So he had to write another 100 goals and I’m sure he’ll get those before long too!
I recommend that you try to write 100, write them out and break them out into long-term, mid-term, and short-term goals. You can write your own definition of the time periods involved, but I would recommend that short-term is up to 5 years from now, mid-term is 5 to 15 years from now, and long-term is 15+ years.
Now that you have goals, you need to start taking advantage of them! This is where most would-be goal-setters fail. Anyone can write a goal, but I’d wager that if you asked 10 goal-setters what their short-term goals were after a week of setting those goals, that 9 out of 10 would not be able to answer!
You need goals in your life in order to achieve your dreams and have the success you desire. But just as important is a system for keeping your goals constantly in your mind. We’re back to using affirmations and mind-imagery!
After you’ve written out your 100 goals, take all of them and write them in the form of 100 affirmations. Example, if your goal is to earn enough money to take your wife on a second honeymoon to the Caribbean, then you could write: “I am enjoying the company of my wife in the Caribbean sun by January 1, 2009 with the money that I gladly save and invest for my benefit!”
Then, follow the advice of Rod Moore of Self Management Systems who said: “Each morning, the first thing you should do is spend 5 – 10 minutes and invest it in programming your mind to go get the goals you have set for yourself. By doing so, you are imprinting or programming your mind each day to focus on what you want. By doing this consistently your sub-conscious mind will begin to manifest your desires into your life.”
What I’ve found works best for me is to review my short-term goals daily, and then once a week review the mid-term and long-term goals making adjustments as necessary to the term of specific goals. I find that this keeps me focused on achieving the goals with the shorter term without forgetting about the goals on the horizon.
I want you to be tremendously successful and I believe that you will be with the techniques and exercises that we’ve discussed. Be a goal-setter, but don’t just set them and walk away. Set them and follow them and achieve the success you deserve! Until next time!
To Your Success,
Joel S. Nelson
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Joel S. Nelson operates Harvest Mind Enterprises, an operation targeted to individuals interested in developing personally by harvesting the power of the subconscious mind. For more articles on the topic, go to http://www.harvestyourmind.com/newsletter.html
© 2005 Joel S. Nelson
Joel S. Nelson has spent years studying the power of the subconscious mind and the science behind success. He believes that growing up we were all taught the wrong things about success and personal achievement by our parents, in school, and on T.V. and that society perpetuates those misconceptions. Joel’s goal is to reverse the damage done by bringing the science of achievement to one million people by the year 2020.
Why Do You Want a Degree?
There are many reasons people seek degrees in today’s day and age. As a grown adult, it may seem like an unrealistic goal, but it is achievable. You may be sick of your job, you may want more money, or you may just want to try something completely different from out of left field. All of these are justifiable reasons to seek out a higher education.
Even if your reasons are not related to your job or potential career, getting an education is beneficial regardless if it is only for the sake of learning. After all, knowledge is power and the more you know, the easier time you will have in life.
The only thing you really need when seeking out a degree or an education is a goal.
A goal will keep you on track and prevent you from giving up.
Set a goal and stick to it no matter what, you are the only person you need to impress.
Envision yourself with your degree; Do you like what you see? A smarter, more educated person; somebody sought after by the workforce and envied by your friends.
If you like this vision, figure out what drives you to pursue this education, set a goal and accomplish it!
About The Author
Ryan McKenzie
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