Why I love the word "Grow".............

BY DONALD LATUMAHINA

The tag line of this blog is “Personal Growth and Effectiveness.” I use the phrase “personal growth” there rather than an alternative such as “personal development” or “self-improvement.” Why is that?

Well, in the beginning it was because the phrase was more search-engine friendly. It had lower competition than the alternatives; as a result, it ranked higher in search engines.

With the passage of time though, another reason emerged: I simply love the word “grow” in the phrase “personal growth.” Here are a few reasons why I love the word “grow.”

1. It implies a long process

These days, people want quick and effortless results. In the past, people washed clothes by hand. That, of course, took a lot of time and energy. But with a washing machine, you can just push your clothes in there, press a few buttons, and get clean clothes. Nice, isn’t it?

Unfortunately, you can’t expect such quick results in other aspects of life. For instance, you can’t achieve your full potential right away. You need to go through a process to achieve that, and it could take many painful years to complete.

The word “grow” implies that there is a process to go through to get results. There is no shortcut. So don’t get discouraged if you still don’t see the results you want. As long as you keep improving yourself (see the next point below), you are doing fine.

2. It implies constant improvement over time

Not only does the word “grow” imply a process: it also implies constant improvement. When a plant grows, it does so day-by-day. The plant grows a little compared to yesterday. The plant tomorrow will also grow a little. Each day brings improvement.

Similarly, you should improve yourself day-by-day. Aim to be better today than yesterday. Don’t ever stop improving yourself.

3. It implies that you need a good environment

For a plant to grow, it needs a supporting environment. It needs good soil and sunshine.

Similarly, you can’t achieve your full potential alone. You need friends who can support you, mentors who can guide you, and resources (such as a computer or a library) that you can use.

That’s why you should find an environment that can support you. Once you do, even if it’s not perfect, don’t take it for granted. Get the most out of it.

4. It implies a worthy goal at the end

When a plant grows, it doesn’t just grow without a purpose. The goal is clear: to achieve its full potential and bloom into the prettiest flower or the tallest tree. Similarly, you grow every day in order to achieve your full potential. You grow to be the best you can be. That’s a goal worth fighting for.

***

“Grow” is a simple word, but it contains many values. I love it. I want to grow every day, and I invite you to join me.

Photo by aussiegall

How To Protect Yourself On Facebook

 

As Facebook becomes more deeply ingrained in our daily lives, it is important that we remain vigilant when using the site so that we can protect ourselves from harm. When using Facebook for business practices, you leave yourself open to hackers, competitors who might want to do you harm and others who can quickly make your life hell as you attempt to socially network with your primary audience. The following tips will help to keep you protected when using Facebook so that you can get all the benefits out of the social network without any of the headaches.
Separate Email and Difficult Password
When you first sign up with Facebook, the platform asks you to supply an email address. To remain as safe as possible from snoopers, hackers or anyone else with malicious intent, it is recommended that you use a distinct email address just for Facebook. Then, create a password that is very hard to guess. Use a combination of numbers and letters. If you use a standalone email address and you make your password complicated using random words, numbers and letters, there’s little chance of your Facebook or any other social network being hacked, ever.
Set Privacy Settings
When you first sign up with Facebook, you might think that the platform has your best interests at heart and that your privacy settings will automatically be set to the most secure setting. This is definitely not the case. Your privacy settings aren’t enabled until you enable them.
Careful with Personally Identifiable Information
Many people like to populate their Facebook profiles with their real names, address, phone number, birth date. You might as well supply criminals with your social security number, mother’s maiden name and the name of the first street you grew up on while you’re at it.
If you are using the social network for business purposes, keep all information about your business and you won’t become a victim to identity theft.
Beware of Phishing
Hackers and scammers are incredibly smart and crafty. The typical phishing scam involves email. You receive an email that states that there is a problem with your account or that you have new messages or anything else that might get your attention. When you click on the Facebook link provided, it takes you to the login page. The problem is that this login page isn’t the social networking login page at all, it’s a Phishing site. It’s a page that’s designed to look like the actual Facebook login page, but it’s a complete fake.
If you get an email from Facebook, always login by going to the main site. Make sure any links you follow come from Facebook and not from some scammer.
Email isn’t the only way to be phished, however. Hackers and scammers are now using apps on the social networking giant to try to steal personally identifiable information from you. Apps often record a lot of personal information about you, your friends, your habits and more. Make sure you trust any Facebook apps you plan to use so that you don’t get taken by a phishing attack.
Watch How You Communicate
There are a few ways to communicate on Facebook. You can write on someone’s wall, which is public and can be seen and shared by that person and their friends; and you can also write a PM, which is a private message that is only visible to you and the person you’re sending the message to.
No matter how you are communicating, be aware of the information you’re sending and how you’re sending it. Never submit personal information to someone’s wall. This is a common mistake people new to the social network commit all the time. They think they’re posting a private message and they end up spilling the beans about a sensitive subject to anyone who has the privilege of having that message in their timeline.
Some good advice is to read over your message once, twice and maybe even three times before you hit submit.
Study All Photos Carefully Before Posting
Facebook photos allow you to add a visual element to your social networking profile. Choose photos that are high-quality and that don’t reveal too much about you. Too many online marketers have posted photos that include their mailbox with their home address in the background or maybe even their phone number.
And some marketers have posted photos that show something a little less than professional in the background. We won’t elaborate, but some marketers have gotten in a lot of trouble because they didn’t look over their photos thoroughly before posting them.
Your photos can say a lot about your business, but make sure they don’t say too much. As long as you examine every photo thoroughly, you should be ok. While this may not save you from phishing attacks or other types of attacks, it can save your professional reputation, which is equally as important.
Be Selective About Friend Requests
Finally, when you are making friend requests or accepting them, make sure you trust the person on the other end. Do they have an established profile? Are they in the same type of business or are they within your target market? Scammers often create fake Facebook profiles in order to gain entry to your Friends list. Once there, they can wreak havoc. Don’t give them that chance. Treat your friends list like a VIP list and you’ll keep yourself protected from scammers, suspicious marketers and anyone else on the social network wishing to do you and your business harm.

Ask the readers: what book on health do you recommend ?

If you want to live your life to the fullest, there is no doubt that physical health is important. After all, it’s through your body that you think and act. If there is something wrong with it, then you won’t be able to function as well as you should.

To be honest though, I don’t know much about health. That’s why I rarely write about it. But I’d like to learn more about it and I believe you should too. Doing that will only do you good.

So far, my favorite book on health is The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. It talks about energy management, which includes physical health as an important part. But I believe that there are still many other good books out there.

So I’d like to ask you:

What books on health do you recommend and why?

Please share your answer in the comments so that everyone can read it. Thanks!

Photo by epSos.de

A guide to having meaningful work

BY Donald Latumahina |

How do you spend your time? Everyone has a different answer, of course, but I’m sure there is one similarity: work is a big part of it. We spend a big chunk of our time at work. That is why your work plays an important role in your happiness.

I recently read a book titled Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman. I like the book because it talks about happiness based on scientific research and not just opinions. Among others, it also talks about how to derive authentic happiness from your work.

But what is authentic happiness? Put simply, there are two kinds of happiness: momentary happiness and authentic happiness. Momentary happiness is the fleeting feeling you get from having fun. Authentic happiness, on the other hand, is the enduring fulfillment you get from doing things that are true to yourself.

The book says that there are three levels of how we view our work. The higher your level is, the more authentic happiness you will get from your work. Here are the three levels:

1. Job
   This is the lowest level. Here you view your work primarily as a way to make money. Money becomes the primary motivation. If there is no money in it, then you won’t do it.
2. Career
   Here your motivation is the advancement you get. As long as you can move to a higher level, you are motivated. But when the advancement stops, you are no longer motivated to do the work.
3. Calling
   This is the highest level of all. Here your motivation is the inner fulfillment you get from doing the work. External rewards like money or advancement are not your primary motivation. In fact, you will still do the work even if you don’t get any external reward. The work is rewarding by itself.

From the description above, which one do you think applies to you? Do you view your work as a job, a career, or a calling?

Even if you now view your work as a job, that’s fine. After all, we all have needs to meet and families to feed.

However, to live your life to the fullest, you should move beyond that. Your goal should be to make your work a calling. That’s how you can have meaningful work. That’s how you can have work that is fulfilling beyond what external rewards could give.

Here are four tips to make your work a calling and thereby making it meaningful:

1. Be content

You can’t make your work a calling if you constantly worry about making more money. Yes, you need money to meet your needs. But beyond meeting the essential needs, studies show that additional money brings little to no happiness. It’s just not worth fighting for. So you should learn to be content instead. Being content frees your mind to focus on the more meaningful things.

2. Find the intersection between your cause and strengths

To make your work a calling, you should have a cause that’s bigger than yourself. What is it that matters to you? What is it that you want to contribute to?

In addition, you also need to find your strengths. What are the things that you are naturally good at? What are the things that feel enjoyable and effortless to do?

After you find your cause and strengths, you should find the intersection between them. Find ways to use your strengths to contribute to your cause.

3. Exercise your strengths

Now that you have found the intersection, you should constantly exercise your strengths. Try to use them every day. The more you do this, the more gratification you will get. This is where authentic happiness comes from.

If you work for someone else, you may need to talk with your boss about it. Ask him or her to assign you to the area of your strengths. Explain to them that it will benefit the company because you will be able to contribute more. Another solution is to start a side business where you can exercise your strengths.

4. Think in terms of helping people

A calling has a sense of contribution attached to it. So one good way to make your work a calling is to think of it in terms of helping people. How can you help people through your work? How can you make the world a better place through it?

***

I am lucky because my work more or less fits the description of a calling. Take this blog, for example. When I started it back in 2006, I didn’t have any motivation to make money. I simply loved personal growth and writing. As time passed, however, this blog started to earn some income. Eventually I was able to quit my day job.

I would still love to write here even if I didn’t get any income. The nice thing about having that mindset is that, more often than not, the money eventually comes.

It wasn’t always like that though. There were times when I did some work merely for the money. It didn’t feel good. It took extra effort to get through the days. Moreover, most of what I did also failed.

Making a calling out of your work is the better path to take. Yes, I probably won’t be rich, but I will have a meaningful life. That’s something that even wealth can’t buy.

Photo by Paul Bica

How to think and act like a winner: 13 lesson from no easy day

By Donald Latumahina |

I always like military-related things, perhaps because I like the high standard that the military demands. It uses the best technologies and expects excellent performance from its people. Yes, there are many things that could go wrong with the military, but in many cases I find it inspiring.

That was the case when I read No Easy Day, a book about the mission that killed Osama bin Laden. The story itself was interesting, but the important thing for me was that it inspired me to think and act like a winner.

The book talks about the author’s experiences in an elite unit called DEVGRU. DEVGRU is more than an elite unit actually; it’s an elite within an elite. To become a member of DEVGRU, you must already become a member of the Navy SEAL which is an elite unit. But then only the best SEALs can make it to DEVGRU. That’s why I call it an elite within an elite.

From the stories in the book, I learned about how the members of such a unit think and act. I can’t give you the background story of each lesson (since it will take too much space), but I hope I describe the lessons clear enough so that you can apply them in your life.

Here are 13 lessons I learned on how to think and act like a winner:

1. Don’t make excuses

Sometimes you might find yourself in the midst of an unfair situation. In such a situation, it’s easy to make excuses and most people do. But winners are different. They don’t make excuses or blame the situation. Instead, they focus on what they can do to get the most out of it.

2. Be comfortable being uncomfortable

Like it or not, growing in life often means moving out of your comfort zone. Why? Because in order to grow you need to expand your personal capacity and that requires you to take on new challenges. For that reason, you need to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Only then can you do the things that are necessary for your personal growth.

3. Have a strong desire to perform and excel

For the winners, simply meeting the standard is not enough. Their goal is exceptional performance. That’s why they often become their own worst critic. Whatever it is you are doing, strive to become the best that you can be.

4. Focus; one step at a time

To get things done, you need focus. But it’s difficult to do that if you look at the whole thing. So you should instead focus on just the current small step that you are in. In the author’s case, when going through a very difficult training, he simply focused on getting to the next meal. By focusing on doing that, he eventually overcame the big challenge.

5. Don’t dwell on past mistakes

Winners make mistakes just like other people, but what makes them different is their attitude toward mistakes. They don’t dwell on them nor let them hinder their actions. Instead, they learn their lessons, block the negative thoughts, and move on.

6. Know your window of opportunity

Whatever it is you are trying to accomplish, you should be aware of its window of opportunity. Something that looks promising today might become worthless a few months from now. By knowing the window of opportunity, you can use your resources wisely.

7. Adapt

The world is changing and changing fast. So if you want to thrive, you must be able to adapt. Some people insist on doing things the old way, but winners know that they need to change. They are willing to adopt a new way of doing things.

8. Make simple plans

Related to the point before, there is no point in making complicated plans. Why? Because they may become obsolete before you can execute them. So just create simple plans and go from there. This way you can react more quickly to new developments.

9. Be humble

Many people want to take credit for themselves, but winners know that they can’t achieve things by themselves. They also realize that there are others out there who can do what they do. So instead of bragging about their achievements, they stay humble.

10. Master throttle control

Winners know when to wait and when to act. When they need to wait, they wait patiently. When they need to act, they act decisively. They know how to read the situation.

11. Prepare for contingencies

Winners prepare themselves for bad situations. They know that things could go wrong so they prepare themselves beforehand. Do you have a plan B for your career? Have you built an emergency fund? Good preparation helps you recover quickly when things go wrong.

12. Be a team player

Winners know that they work best by being in a solid team, so they become good team players. They work with teammates with whom trust and responsibility are the norm. Working in a solid team will multiply your effectiveness.

13. Stack the odds in your favor

Though they work hard to improve their skills, winners know that luck still plays a role. That’s why they do what they can to stack the odds in their favor. Sometimes it means waiting until the time is right before taking action. Sometimes it means building a support system. Whatever it is, you need to learn how to maximize your chances.

***

Interesting lessons, aren’t they? It will take time to learn to apply them, but I believe we can all think and act like winners.

Photo by The U.S. Army

As Sweet as nothing else....

A boy loved a mute and dumb girl. She too loved him immensely and they decided to marry. But then the girl came to know that her plight of being born as a mute and dumb was a prenatal affliction and that comes from the defect in the genes of her family’s generation and the same thing will also be naturally inherited to her child too. 

After knowing this the girl grew adamant that she didn’t want to marry and give birth to some other with same defect like hers. Though the boy compelled her she expressed him that she had a miserable life until she met him and she didn’t want to see her child suffering miserably. She cried that if her mom had thought so then she would not have cursed with this pitiful life. 

The boy then gave a letter to her which made her to change the mind.
The contents of the letter are,“You expressed that you had a miserable life, until you met me. The same goes with me too. My life was lonely and miserable with none to care, and then I met you. Do you know that my life changed colorful when your hands touched my life? When you started to care me as your own, I got interest to live as my life got someone to care. You swept away the emptiness in me and darkness in my life. If you believe you have chosen the right man then trust me I would be there to take care of you and I would also take care of our child twice better than you. You are an angel in my life and I believe our child would also become angel in someone’s life. Defect was someone that belongs to our heart. No one is perfect in this world, I too have many defects but you wholeheartedly accepted mine. The same way we will accept our child too. Finally the decision is yours but I want you to close your eyes and think for a minute about everything I said.”
Thumbs up for this sweet letter ♥ ♥

The Acute Heptagram of Impact

Not as catchy a title as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, but I hope you'll walk through this with me:

I can outline a strategy for you, but if you don't have the tactics in place or you're not skilled enough to execute, it won't matter if the strategy is a good one.

Your project's success is going to be influenced in large measure by the reputation of the people who join in and the organization that brings it forward. That's nothing you can completely change in a day, but it's something that will change (like it or not) every day.

None of this matters if you and your team don't persist, and your persistence will largely be driven by the desire you have to succeed, which of course is relentlessly undermined by the fear we all wrestle with every day.

These seven elements: Strategy, Tactics, Execution, Reputation, Persistence, Desire and Fear, make up the seven points of the acute heptagram of impact. If your project isn't working, it's almost certainly because one or more of these elements aren't right. And in my experience, it's all of them. We generally pick the easiest and safest one to work on (probably tactics) without taking a deep breath and understanding where the real problem is.

Feel free to share the AHI, but please don't have it tattooed on your hip or anything.

Via : Seth's Blog |

Free range

Ways to improve your performance:

• Compete for a prize
• Earn points
• Please a demanding boss
• Make someone else's imminent deadline
• Face sudden death elimination in the playoffs
• Wear a heart monitor and track performance publicly
• Go head-to-head against a determined foe

The thing is, all of these external stimuli are there to raise your game and push you ever harder. They are fences to be leaped, opponents to be defeated.

The alternative is to compete against nothing but yourself. To excel merely because the act of excelling without boundaries or incentives thrills you.

And the good news is that once you find that, you'll always have it.

Via : Seth's Blog |

Time Management Tips :7 ways to build time assets

Via : Donald Latumahina

In my previous post, I wrote that one good way to invest your time is to build time assets. Time assets are things that can save you time in the future. They require time investment to build, but once they are built, they can save you a lot of time. You will be more productive as a result.

Here I’d like to discuss several ways to build them. Of course, what I’m about to cover is not exhaustive; you are welcome to recommend more ways in the comments. But I hope these can give you a starting point.

From my experiences, here are seven ways to build time assets:

1. Create checklists

I have written about the benefits of using checklists before. In short, it helps you not to miss anything when performing a task. Plus, it frees up your mind for more creative things since you don’t have to remember steps and procedures.

Checklists are especially useful for complex tasks that you do frequently. For such tasks, you should invest time to create an accurate checklist so that you can do the task much faster later.

2. Build a knowledge base

Whenever you solve a difficult problem, be sure to document it. Write down the problem and the exact solution. You might think that once you solve a problem you will never forget the solution, but I often find that the reality is different. After several bad experiences, I made it a habit to document difficult problems I encounter and their solutions. I call the document my “knowledge base.”

3. Learn outsourcing skills

No matter how good you are at managing your time, your time is still limited. In addition, you can’t be good at every tasks. That’s why outsourcing is important: it allows you to tap into other people’s time and expertise and get a lot more done as a result.

These days there are a lot of outsourcing sites like oDesk, Elance, and Fiverr. Knowing how to outsource effectively though, requires practice. You should learn how to structure your tasks, how to find the right people, and how to handle communication problems. But the time you spend to learn these skills is worth it because they enable you to boost your productivity.

I must admit that I still have much to learn here. So far I use outsourcing mainly for graphic design, but the potential is almost endless.

4. Learn to use keyboard shortcuts

When I recently installed Windows 8, one of the first things I did was learning its keyboard shortcuts. I have become so accustomed to using keyboard shortcuts that not using them feels like a big productivity hurdle.

Whatever application it is that you usually use, you should spend time to learn its keyboard shortcuts. Some good candidates are the operating system (like Windows), browser (like Firefox), email app (like Gmail), and word processing app (like Microsoft Word).

5. Improve your typing skills

If you use computers a lot, it’s worth your time to learn to type faster. It seems that keyboard will still be the main input device for the foreseeable future, so being able to transfer your thoughts through it faster will save you a lot of time.

6. Highlight books

This one deals with the ability to quickly “reload” knowledge from a book. Unless you have a photographic memory (I know I don’t), you might find that you forget most of the ideas in a book within just a few weeks. After experiencing this again and again, I concluded that an important part of reading books is ensuring a faster way to “reinstall” the knowledge later on.

Highlighting the book you read is an easy way to do that. By highlighting the important ideas in a book, you can read just the those parts when you want to get the knowledge back.

7. Get organized

Have you ever lost something and spent a lot of time trying to find it? I certainly do. Obviously, that’s not a good way to use your time. Isn’t it much better if you can quickly find what you need when you need it? That’s why you should get your stuff organized.

It applies not just to your physical stuff, but also to your ideas, appointments, and others. Have a place to store each of them and organize them in such a way that you can easily find them later.

***

When it comes to time management, here is a good principle to live by: spend time on things that will save you time in the future. If you do that, you will be much more productive in the long term.

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt

Cycle worse, cycle better

The downward spiral is all too familiar. A drinking problem leads to a job lost, which leads to more drinking. Poor customer service leads customers to choose other vendors, which of course leads to less investment in customer service, which continues the problem.

Your boss has a temper tantrum because he's stressed about his leadership abilities. The tantrum undermines his relationship with his peers, which of course makes him more stressed and he becomes more likely to have another tantrum. An employee is disheartened because of negative feedback from a boss, which leads to less effort, which of course leads to more negative feedback.

Most things that go wrong, go wrong slowly.

The answer isn't to look for the swift and certain solution to the long-term problem. The solution is to replace the down cycle with the up cycle.

The (too common, obvious, simple) plan is to live with the cycle that caused the problem instead ("When I get stressed, I freeze up, so I need to figure out how to avoid getting stressed"). The simple plan puts the onus on the outside world to stop contributing the input that always leads to the negative output. That's just not going to work very well.

The more difficult but more effective alternative is to become aware of the down cycle. Once you find it, understand what triggers it and then learn to use that trigger to initiate a different cycle.

"This is my down cycle. What will it cost me to replace it with a different one? Who can help me? What do I need to learn? How do I change my habits and my instincts?"

This works for organizations as well as individuals. The fish restaurant that as sales go down, borrows money to buy ever fresher fish instead of cutting corners that will lead nowhere good. Or the ad agency the follows a client loss not with layoffs, but with hiring of even better creative staff.

Slowing sales might lead to more investment with customer service, not less. Decreased grades might lead to more time spent on enthusiastic studying, not less.

This is incredibly difficult. But identifying the down cycle and investing in replacing it with the up cycle is the one and only best strategy. The alternative, which is to rationalize and defend the cycle as a law of nature or permanent habit, is tragic.

Via : Seth's Blog

SkinDisplay Shows Incoming Texts on Your Skin!

An innovative technological invention is able to imprint the text messages that come to your cell phone. This may seem a bit odd at first, but imagine a world where phones are not needed to communicate, but just a person’s own body.
The product works on the basis of piezoelectric technologies that connect different tissues and fabrics through electric waves. By just touching the back of the cell phone with your finger, you would be able to see what was written in it without having to make obvious movements and break the conversation you might be having at that time. It is also considered to be something that would help people read Braille.

Our Inner Ear is Harmed by Smoking and Eating!

Over stuffing yourself with food will harm your inner ear and so will smoking. Everything that lowers the abilities of the blood and slows down the bloodstream is damaging your inner ear. This means, that your hearing is obstructed and irritated and that, through constant stuffing or smoking, you will most definitely bring yourself quite a handful of issues with your ears. It is because bad blood circulation obstructs the natural ways and moves of the hair cells within the hearing apparatus and mostly the inner ear. Smoking, on top of everything, also increases the speed and number of the free radical molecules that also cause deafness.

The hearing capacity of each and every one of us can be damaged in many ways – from low and high pressure when swimming and diving to smoking to loud noises. All it takes for us to care of our bodies is to try and hope for the best, but overdoing everything will definitely bring harm to our own organism, even eating vitamins. What about the cigarette?

THE EASIEST WAY TO THRIVE AS AN OUTLIER

 

...is to avoid being one. At least among your most treasured peers.
Surround yourself with people in at least as much of a hurry, at least as inquisitive, at least as focused as you are. Surround yourself by people who encourage and experience productive failure, and who are driven to make a difference.
What's contagious: standards, ethics, culture, expectations and most of all, the bar for achievement.
The crowd has more influence on us than we have on the crowd. It's not an accident that breakthroughs in music, architecture, software, athletics, fashion and cuisine come in bunches, often geographic. If you need to move, move. At least change how and where you exchange your electrons and your ideas.
We all need leaders who challenge the tribe. We benefit even more when our leaders have peers who push them to be even better.

Denying facts you don't like

Denying facts you don't like

Transformational leaders don't start by denying the world around them. Instead, they describe a future they'd like to create instead.
Denying the truth about relative market share, imperial power or the scientific method helps no one.
Gandhi didn't pretend the British weren't dominating his country, and Feynman didn't challenge Einstein's theory of relativity or the laws of thermodynamics.
It's okay to say, "this is going to be difficult." And it's productive to point out, "our product isn't as good as it should be yet."
The problem with Orwellian talking heads, agitprop, faux news and Ballmer-like posturing is that they take away a foundation for a genuine movement to occur, because once we start denying facts, it's difficult to know when to stop. Tell us where we are, tell us where we're going. But if you can't be clear about one, it's hard to buy into the other.

The Monster of the Andes – Serial Killer of Hundreds Is Walking Free

There is one man who should be known all over the world for his awful acts against humanity, society and more than 300 people, mostly women. Pedro Lopez, a Columbian citizen who has travelled around Latin America because he’s been caught and released by many authorities. The monster of the Andes, as he’s known in the region, has confessed to killing “100 girls in Colombia, 11 in Ecuador and more than 100 in Peru”. Being imprisoned as a car thief in Colombia in 1978, he would be the most improbable culprit if we judge based on what we see on TV. The fact that he was harassed while in jail and had to save himself by murdering the four men who did it to him, unlocked his true identity. Why he went on murdering females is what we cannot comprehend, though it was mainly because he felt stronger against them.
 The final judgment he received as a serial killer, and just the second one, happened when 1994 he was sued, but found insane. Four years later he was released from the psychiatric institution as sane and is running free even now… if someone hasn’t decided his life as he did to 300 people.

How to manage time by thinking like an Investor

Knowing how to manage time is essential for your personal effectiveness. While there are many approaches to time management, here I’d like to focus on just one key mindset that I believe you should have: an investor’s mindset.

Many people invest in financial instruments. I do, and most likely you do too. It’s common to think like an investor when it comes to money. But that’s not the case with time. I believe, however, that the principle of investing is equally applicable to time.

Time is like money. You can invest it and reap rewards in the future. You can also spend it carelessly and go “broke.” What makes the difference is the way you use your time. It can make or break your life.

The fact is that your time is a limited resource that’s even more limited than money. You can increase your savings so that you have more money to invest. But no matter what you do, you can only have 24 hours a day. So it’s important that you use your time wisely.

The Benefits of Thinking Like an Investor

Thinking like an investor helps you use your time wisely. Here are several benefits of having an investor’s mindset about your time:

• You will be careful not to waste your time
  A good investor always tries to cut wasteful expenses and avoid losing money. One of Warren Buffett’s investing rules, for instance, is “don’t lose money.” Applied to time, it means “don’t waste your time.”
• You will want to maximize your return
  When you think like an investor, you will want to maximize your return. With time, it means that you will want to get the most out of your time. You will do things that will give you the best results.
• You will be willing to wait
  If you invest $1000 today, you wouldn’t expect to earn a profit today. You know that it takes time for the investment to grow. Similarly, when you invest your time, you know that it will take time to get results. You will be willing to wait and not hurried.
• The results could be exponential
  Thanks to compounding interest, a small money investment today could yield exponential return years from now. Similarly, you might invest your time on something that seems small today. But if you keep at it, the return could be huge years from now.

Ways to Invest Your Time

Now that we have seen the benefits, how should we invest our time? Here are some ideas:

1. Find your strengths and causes

This, in my opinion, is the starting point. Just like different investors have different financial instruments that match their profiles, so do different people have different ways to invest their time. What is right for others isn’t necessarily right for you. It all goes back to your strengths and causes. What are your personal strengths? What are the causes that matter to you? Investing your time in the intersection between your strengths and causes will give you the best results.

2. Read good books

Reading good books can widen your perspective and help you see the world in a new way. In turn, this widened perspective can help you use your time better. It has happened to me many times, which is why I consider reading books essential for my personal growth.

3. Build other people’s lives

Building other people’s lives can multiply your impact. If you transfer your values to some people, and they in turn transfer them to others, imagine how the overall impact would be. To build other people’s lives, you can do mentoring, writing, or other ways that fit you.

4. Think and reflect

Being busy could get you lost in the details of life. You might no longer be able to see the big picture. That’s why it’s essential to have time to think and reflect. It could be in the form of prayer, meditation, weekly review, or whatever it is that works for you. The goal here is to get clarity about the overall direction of your life.

5. Build time assets

A good way to invest your time is to build time assets. Time assets are things on which you spend time today so that you can save time in the future. Some of the ways to build time assets are outsourcing, making checklists, and creating a productivity system.

***

With all these in mind, here is a question you should ask yourself daily:
How should I invest my time today?

Give a thoughtful answer to the question and apply it. You will reap the rewards.

Photo by aussiegall

100+ Free Tools For You To Access Blocked Sites

By YOUNG | Published: APRIL 1, 2011


How many ways have you used to unblocked the internet censorship and get access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and some other sites blocked in your country or area?

I have used a ton, such as Proxy, SSH, VPN and many other anti-censorship tools, since which may be blocked, too, the more you have, the safer you will be.



The following are 100+ free tools for you to access blocked sites:

I. Online Proxy Websites (66)

The main advantage of online proxy websites (or web proxies) is that you don't need to install anything nor to make any configuration, just to look out those pop-up ads.
1. Aniscartujo.com
The Aniscartujo web proxy is workable for both computers and mobile phones.
2. Free Web Proxy
This web proxy allows you to watch YouTube videos as well as to download them in MP4 files.
3. Daveproxy
A UK web proxy which supports JavaScript well.
4. TryCatchMe
The effect of TryCatchMe is nearly same as Daveproxy.
5. Surfagain.com
Surfagain.com is available for you to watch YouTube videos.
6. Online Sonic
Online Sonic will translate the languages of the target websites into French.
7. Megaproxy
The Magaproxy free version is free of pop-up ads.
8. Shield Proxy
This web proxy is very simple with just an address box in its homepage.
9. Psiphon 2
Psiphon 2 is also a web-based proxy service, but you need to be invited and register, and the website URLs are often changed.
10. Glype
Glype is available for you to create your own online proxy website, just by uploading its script to your server.
11. Circumventor
On the website, you will get one URL of a web proxy, if which is blocked, you can subscribe to its lists for more.
12-47. CamoList.com
The owner of the CamoList.com website offers more than 30 online web proxy tools:

• artclassdrama.com
• browse007.com
• browse007.info
• camo1.info
• classwork101.com
• coolkidsonly.org
• ditchthetests.com
• downwithitall.com
• dumbdream.com
• enoughschool.com
• erasermaker.com
• forgotmybooks.com
• getus.in
• goodgradesforme.com
• gumunderthedesk.com
• gymtimestories.com
• hiddentunnel.net
• hidemy.biz
• letmethruthis.com
• nobodycanstop.us
• noclasswork.com
• noneedhallpass.com
• nowaytoknow.com
• plzhidemy.info
• rebelbrowse.com
• schoolisgood.com
• showsomewisdom.com
• slaptheblock.com
• sneakmyass.in
• starscantshine.com
• studybreakneeded.com
• studyhardplayharder.com
• theunblocked.com
• tothedeans.com
• tunnel007.com
• wecantfocus.com

48-65. Polysolve.com
The Polysolve.com website offers 18 links of web proxy tools (including itself):

• Atunnel.com
• Backfox.com
• Btunnel.com
• Calculatepie.com
• Ctunnel.com
• Dtunnel.com
• Englishtunnel.com
• Geotunnel.com
• Mathtunnel.com
• Newbackdoor.com
• Polysolve.com
• SafeForWork.net
• Safehazard.com
• Safelizard.com
• USAtunnel.com
• Vmathpie.com
• VPNTunnel.net
• Vtunnel.com

66. Proxy.org (100+)
There are over 100 workable web proxy tools on the Proxy.org website.

II. Proxy Desktop Clients (11)

There are less or even no ads for proxy desktop clients, though you need to download and install them:

• Freegate(For Windows, Windows Mobile and some Java mobiles)
• FreeU (Similar to Freegate and offered by the same website)
• DanyPass (Similar to Freegate and offered by the same website)
• UltraSurf （For Windows）
• GTunnel (For Windows)
• Tor (For Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and Nokia)
• GappProxy(For Windows and Linux)
• Hyk-proxy (For Windows, Linux and Mac)
• Your Freedom (For Windows and Mac)
• GPass (For Windows)
• HTTP-Tunnel (For Windows)

Bonus:
When using any of the above 11 proxy desktop clients, you need to configure the browser’s proxy settings, which process can be more easier with the following two extensions:

• AutoProxy ( For Firefox)
• Proxy Switchy (For Chrome)

III. VPN (13)

While proxy is only workable for the application with network configuration, VPN (Virtual Private Network) is workable for all the programs run in your computers, tablets, or mobile phones.
a. Free VPN services without any installation (6)
Most VPN services without installation are workable for computers, mobile phones and tablet PCs in any operation system.

• Tsunagarumon
• MacroVPN
• USA IP
• Prox Network
• Super Free VPN
• Free VPN Servers

b. Free VPN desktop clients (7)
VPN desktop clients are mainly workable for computer systems.

• SecurityKiss (For Windows)
• ProXPN (For Windows and Mac)
• Hotspot Shield (For Windows and Mac)
• ExpatShield (For Windows)
• Loki VPN Client (For Windows)
• Private Tunnel (For Windows and Mac)
• RaptorVPN (For Windows and Mac)

IV. SSH (3)

As mentioned before, free SSH is not stable, but you can also try the following 3 anyway:

• Feelssh.com(Chinese)
• Freessh.us (Chinese)
• Alidage.org (Chinese, email address required)

Bonus:
To use SSH, you’ll need some assistant tools, such as Tunnelier for Windows, andSSH Tunnel Manager for Mac.

V. Browsers (3)

The best browsers are available for you to access blocked sites.
a. For computer (1)
While Firefox, Chrome, IE and other popular browsers can’t unblock the censorship themselves, Alkasir can.
b. For Mobile Phones (2)
Although there are not so many anti-censorship tools for mobile phones, besides some VPN services and web proxies, you can also check out the following two mobile browsers:

• Opera Mini
• Bolt Browser

But the above two mobile browsers are both blocked in China.

VI. IPv6 (1)

If your broadband supports IPv6 access, then you can visit those IPv6 sites directly, if not, you can do that indirectly with some third-party tools, such asgogoCLIENT.
After registration and installation, you can connect Gogo6 and access Google, Twitter, YouTube and some other blocked websites with IPv6 addresses by the following 3 ways:
1. To add .sixxs.org in the end of their domains, like Google.com.sixxs.org for example.
2. To configure an automatic proxy URL in your browser.
3. To edit the hosts file by adding the IPv6 addresses of those blocked sites. For Windows user, you can find the hosts file in the following address:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc

And you can find out some IPv6 addresses of Google, YouTube, Twitter as well as some other popular blocked sites here (Chinese).
Bonus:
Without IPv6 access, you can also add those unblocked IPv4 addresses of the blocked sites in the hosts file and save it, than you can visit the website directly without any anti-censorship tools. For the IPv4 addresses of a domain, you can find them with OpenDNS.

VII. Others (3)

All the tools mentioned above are available for you to unblock the censorship directly, and you can also get access to those blocked sites indirectly with the following 3 ways:
98. Google Cache
You can visit the cache of the blocked sites if they displays in Google search result pages.
99. Google Translate
With Google Translate, you just need type the URL of the blocked site, and select a language, then you can view the blocked site in the translated language.
100. Google Reader
Most of the sites offer RSS feeds, which you can subscribe and read them with your Google Reader.
For more information about the above 3 tools, you can check out this post.

Bonus

Among the above 100+ anti-censorship tools, it’s hard to say which one is the best, since you have no idea when them are blocked, so you’d better bookmarkthem all.

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Tumblr
• 
  
• Pinterest
• StumbleUpon
• Digg
• Reddit
• Email
• Print

 

Related free web apps:

1. Book Giveaway: 100+ Free Tools For You To Access Blocked Sites
2. How To Access Blocked Sites
3. Access Blocked Sites With Private Tunnel
4. How To Access Blocked Sites With Google Reader
5. Unblock Blocked Sites By Changing The Hosts File

This entry was posted in Free Online Anti-censorship Tools and tagged access blocked sites, Google, proxy, VPN. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

Top 10 Websites to Unfollow Those Who Don’t Follow You Back

Get tired of those Twitter users who you follow do not follow you back? If yes, you can find and unfollow them.

Below are 10 websites which will help you find out that among your following, who do not follow you back, then you can unfollow them easily, and of course, FREELY.

1. Refollow

You can login Refollow with Twitter OAuth or Twitter account, sort the results by I’m Following and Not Following Me, then you will find out who are those tweeps that do not follow you back, and you can unfollow or block them at a time.

Go to Refollow 

2. Tweepi

Besides to unfollow those inactive Twitter users, you can also use Tweepi to unfollow those who don’t follow you back. Just sign in with Twitter OAuth, you will see those Twitter users who do not follow you back on the Flush web page, and you can unfollow them all in one click.

Go to Tweepi 

3. Buzzom

Sign in Buzzom with Twitter OAuth, Click the Flush button on the TwitIn web page, then you will see a list of those tweeps who you follow are not following you back. You can just select them all and Flush (Unfollow) or Block them in one click.

Go to Buzzom 

4. Mytweeple

Sign in Mytweeple with Twitter OAuth, Sync with Twitter, click You Follow, then you will see those tweeps who do not follow you back, and you can unfollow or block them one by one.

Go to Mytweeple 

5. ManageTwitter

After login with Twitter OAuth, you will see a list of those tweeps who you follow are not following you back, you can select and unfollow all of them just in one click. ManageTwitter also lets you find out and unfollow those inactive Twitter users.

Go to ManageTwitter 

6. Justunfollow

Sign in Justunfollow with Twitter OAuth, click Show Non-Followers, then you will see who are those tweeps that do not follow you back, and you can unfollow them one by one.

Go to Justunfollow 

7. Twitual

Just enter your Twitter username on Twitual, then you will see your followers as well as your following, and you can unfollow those who do not follow your back (Idols) one by one on Twitter website.

Go to Twitual 

8. Tweepsect

Sign in Tweepsect with Twitter OAuth, enter your Twitter username and click Enlighten Me, then you will see a list, on which the Stalking means those who you follow are not following you back, you can just unfollow them one by one.

Go to Tweepsect 

9. FriendOrFollow

Just input your Twitter username on FriendOrFollow, then you will see how many tweeps that do not follow you back, and you can unfollow them one by one on Twitter website.

Go to FriendOrFollow 

10. Your Twitter Karma

Sign in Your Twitter Karma with your Twitter account or Twitter OAuth, sort the result by Only Following, then you will see those tweeps who do not follow you back, and you can unfollow them one by one, or block them in one click.

Go to Your Twitter Karma 

Among the above 10 websites, Refollow is my favorite, since it has many functions, including tracking who has unfollowed you. How about you? Which one is your favorite? Or do you have any other websites to find and unfollow those tweeps who don’t follow you back? Share with us by adding a comment.

[Update] Refollow is not free for you to unfollow those who don’t follow you back any more