Are you making the progress you want as you pursue your goals? Do you know why? Have you been doing the activities over and over again, activities that are supposed to work or that used to work but without making any real progress? Maybe something needs to change!

Now, you’re probably thinking “Change? Of course something needs to change; I’m not making the progress I should be making! But, I’m doing the right things, they’re just not working.” Let’s look at three possible reasons why your activities aren’t producing the results you want…and let’s assume that there’s nothing really wrong with the things you’re doing.

The World has Changed, You Haven’t

That sounds pretty harsh, but it’s not meant to be. If your work requires that you make presentations to prospects on a regular basis and you’re setting appointments and presenting information the same way you did five years ago, you might be out-of-date! You might be finding that your prospects resist setting time to meet. They don’t want to come to a meeting. Their schedules are tight and you just don’t fit in.

Welcome to the new world! You still need to get the information in front of the prospect but maybe you haven’t explored the new tools that would help you. In today’s internet world there are ways to meet that didn’t exist ten years ago and didn’t work very well a mere five years ago. You might be able to meet with more prospects by using the internet to make your presentations while you’re in your office and they’re in theirs. You’ll still be doing the same activities, but in a new and different way. (more…)

“WHAT is the matter with him? He should know better,” remarks an observer. Shaking his head in disbelief, another walks away muttering, “If he had a little common sense, he would never have done that.” Have you perhaps heard similar comments? What, though, is “common sense”?

The word “sense” is defined as “accurate appreciation,” “understanding,” and “practical wisdom or judgement.” It implies that a person has the ability to judge and decide with intelligence. Common sense evidently requires that we use thinking ability. Many people would rather let others do their thinking for them. They allow the media, their peers, or popular opinion to make decisions for them.

Common sense seems to be so lacking in today’s world that an observant man once noted, ‘Common sense, in truth, is very uncommon.’

The Golden Rule—A Universal Teaching

“All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them.”—Matthew 7:12.

Those words were spoken nearly two thousand years ago by Jesus Christ in his famous Sermon on the Mount. In the centuries since, much has been said and written about that simple statement. Among other things, it has been extolled as “the very essence of Scripture,” “a summary of the Christian’s duty to his neighbour,” and “a fundamental ethical principle.” So well-known has it become that it is often referred to as the Golden Rule.

The idea of the Golden Rule, however, is by no means confined to the so-called Christian world. Judaism, Buddhism, and Greek philosophy all expounded this ethical maxim in one form or another. Well-known, especially to people in the Far East, is a statement by Confucius, who is venerated in the Orient as the greatest sage and teacher. In The Analects, the third of the Confucian Four Books, we find the thought expressed three times. Twice, in answer to queries from students, Confucius stated: “What you do not want done to you, do not do to others.” On another occasion, when his pupil Zigong boasted “What I do not want others to do to me, I also do not want to do to them,” the teacher responded with this sobering rejoinder, “Yes, but this you are not yet able to do.”

Reading these words, one can see that Confucius’ statement is a negative version of what Jesus later said. The obvious difference is that the Golden Rule stated by Jesus requires positive actions of doing good to others. Suppose people were to act in harmony with Jesus’ positive statement, caring about and taking steps to help others, living by this code daily. Do you think that would make today’s world a better place? Undoubtedly.

Whether the rule is stated in the positive, the negative, or any other form, what is significant is that people in different times and places and with diverse backgrounds have put much stock in the idea of the Golden Rule. This simply shows that what Jesus stated in the Sermon on the Mount is a universal teaching that touches the life of people everywhere in every age.

Ask yourself: ‘Would I like to be treated respectfully, fairly, honestly? Would I like to live in a world without racial prejudice, crime, and war? Would I like to be in a family in which everyone showed concern for the feelings and welfare of others?’ Actually, who would say no to such possibilities? The grim reality is that very few enjoy these conditions. For most people, it is almost too much to hope for such things.

Throughout history, there have been cases of crimes against humanity in which the rights of people were totally ignored. These include the slave trade out of Africa, Nazi death camps, forced child labor, and brutal genocides in one place or another. The horrifying list could be much longer.

Today, our high-tech world is self-centered. Few people think about others when their own convenience or supposed rights are at stake. Why have so many become selfish, cruel, unfeeling, and self-centered? Is it not because the Golden Rule, though still widely known, is being brushed aside as unrealistic, a moral relic? Sadly, this is the case even among many who claim to believe in God. And judging by the way things are going, people will only become more self-centered.

Do you have a website and always scratch your head on how to generate more traffic, or wondered how other websites were positioning themselves for higher rankings in the search engines? It really is quite simple if you just follow the 1-2-3 steps of linking.

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There is a new smooth way of buying quality links on the internet which allows webmasters to list their website for maximum exposure and receive targeted traffic.

Bidding Directories cater to smart webmasters who know the value of obtaining as many one-way incoming links as possible. When using Bidding Directories you will be placing your link in the appropriate category/ section of that directory, the directory also displays links alphabetically, and lets you bid your way to the top of the list. Increase your bid to take a top position, and not only will your link list higher in the directory, but you could join the link leaders on the homepage, not to mention these directories are widely promoted and well established directories of premium bidding websites.

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Warmest Regards,

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One journalist describes the zeal to put criminals behind bars as “lock-’em-up fever.”

There are four principal reasons why lawbreakers are put in prison: (1) to punish the offenders, (2) to protect society, (3) to prevent future crimes, and (4) to rehabilitate criminals, teaching them to be law-abiding and productive after their release.

But are prisons accomplishing their missions?

IN MANY cases prisons simply act as a restraint—and a temporary one at that. When a prisoner is released, has he really paid for his crime? What about the victims or their loved ones? “I am the mother of a murdered child,” pleaded Rita when the convicted killer of her 16-year-old son was released after serving only a three-year sentence. “Please stop for a moment. Think. Can you begin to imagine what this means?” As Rita’s case illustrates, tragedy often lingers long after the courts have finished their business and the headlines have faded.

This issue is of concern not only to those whose lives have been touched by crime but also to everyone else. After all, whether released prisoners have been rehabilitated or simply hardened by their experience behind bars has a direct bearing on your peace of mind if not on your very safety.

The prison system does not always quell criminal behavior. “When money is poured into building another prison cell at the expense of rebuilding a prisoner’s self-image, it is often just a prelude to more—and worse—crime,” writes Jill Smolowe in Time magazine. Peter, who has spent 14 years behind bars, would agree with that statement. “Most of my fellow inmates started off with petty crime, then they moved up to property crime, and finally they graduated to serious offenses against other humans,” he says. “For them, prisons are like trade schools. They’re going to come out worse.” (more…)