How to Configure Static Routes On Cisco Router CCNA

When you start studying for cisco ccna exam the only thing that bothers you is the practice lab.There are several simulators available in market to simulate cisco ccna labs .The simulator which i use is GNS3.The GNS3 allows you to simulate any network for practice labs and the main advantage is that it uses real cisco IOS. You can find out about GNS3 and how to configure it from my previous article Step By Step Using And Configuring GNS3 Cisco Router simulator..The first cisco ccna lab that we are going to perform is static routes .I have access to physical cisco hardware but i will be providing you a GNS3 simulator file also . Lets start up by configuring some static routes on cisco routers and get one more step closes to your ccna certification.

If you have physical hardware you will need .

1. 3 cisco routers . One cisco router with two serial interfaces and Two cisco routers with single serial interface.
2. 2 Serial cables, Back to back DTE/DCE cables
3. One console cable

The topology that we are going to use is as shown in the figure . You can download the topology as GNS3 file from here. Right click and save target as.

Now Lets start with the configuration
Note:-The router R1 is a DCE device the DCE end of the cisco serial cable should be connected here not the DTE side.It provides clocking to other routers.If the clock is not set the connection will not work.

We will fist configure Router2 (Cisco 2650XM).

enable
configure terminal
hostname Router2
enable secret routemybrain
int s0/0 
(i have a 2650 xm so i type it this way if you have 2500 series you will type just int s0)
ip address 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
exit
ip route 194.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1
end
write

Now we will configure Router3.


enable
configure terminal
hostname Router3
int s0/0
ip address 194.1.1.3 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
exit
ip route 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 194.1.1.1
end
write

Now we will configure our DCE device Which is Router1



enable
configure terminal
hostname Router1
int s0/0
ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
clock rate 64000
no shutdown
int s0/1
ip address 194.1.1.1 255.255.255.0
clock rate 64000
no shutdown
end
write

Now you have a Cisco ccna lab with static routes you can just ping devices with each others Ip address .You can also verify using the command
show cdp neighbors


Thanks to Routemybrain !!!!! Cheers :)

9 Unusual Dangerous Foods that might harm you

When you think of food you don’t think of hazardous, infection or death, but in this post you will see foods that can do just that. There are some products that are so unusual and dangerous that they can fight off any appetite, still people eat it.

Kæstur hákarl
Greenland sharks are dangerous not only while sailing to kayaking, but also for the stomach. Greenland shark urinates like crazy when in danger and huge amount of ammonia and trimethylamine oxide excreted through the tissues of sharks. Enterprising residents of Greenland developed a traditional dish known as the “Kæstur hákarl“. The smell of shark meat is almost unbearable, the consumer is faced with the potential threat of organ damage, toxicity and disease from the poisons that are still present in the meat. Still people eat it.

Kivak
Kivak is extremely heavy on the stomach and a dangerous food. Ancient Icelandic food known as Kivak consists of fermented (in fact, decomposed) carcasses of small seabirds – guillemots and gulls. Birds who get caught in fish nets are seasoned with seal fat and burried in the ground for up to three years. Birds slowly marinate in seal fat in the cold arctic tundra. When its dug out, not only does it look disgusting, but it can be deadly because botulism.

Botulism is rare but sometimes fatal paralytic illness.

African poisonous bull frogs
African poisonous bull frogs from Namibia. Frog meat comprises potent toxin known as Oshiketakata which can cause kidney failure and death.
Nevertheless, meat frog comprises potent toxin known as Oshiketakata, which can lead to renal failure, muscle damage and even death. Recommendations for handling frogs include their favorites in a pot with special boards which supposedly “neutralize” the toxin. The level of venom is believed to be lower at certain times of the year when food is acceptable for the brave, or perhaps foolhardy, if it comes to handling wooden planks. We can not guarantee that the consumer will not croak

Braised Asian Bats
There are some foods which simply defy the imagination. Possibly the most counter intuitive food is Asian Bat soup, which contains an entire bat placed in a soup bowl after boiling with chicken broth. The bat is dissected with a knife and fork, and the broth is then eaten with a spoon, along with the innards of the bat. Hair is present in the dish, along with the membranes of the bat’s wings. The dish is rather delicious, but we are forced to conclude that it is very unappetizing to see an entire bat floating in front of us. The bats are also capable of carrying a number of human transmissible diseases, and the practice is considered unsustainable by many conservation organizations.

Octopus Tentacles
It is offered some exotic Japanese and Korean restaurants for Western Tourists seeking something different than sushi. Miniature alive octopuses get cut into two parts and served with some soy sauce. Because the animal is an invertebrate with a partially de-centralized nervous system, the tentacles continue to grap, coil and squeeze as they are consumed. In several unfortunate and eerie cases, death has resulted from the disembodied tentacles conspiring to block the airways of diners.

Caviar
Caviar is a popular dish in Russia, and snails are a popular French dish. Extreme entrepreneurs are engaged in the popularization of a new dish, a delicacy known as “cochlear caviar”, which consists of raw eggs from land snails. The eggs are served on the hard-boiled quail eggs, or with grilled vegetables and exotic salads. They come neatly packaged in small jars with wonderful seasoning, which carries the taste of fresh earth. Raw snail eggs contain brain parasites, which already killed quite a few extreme food lovers.

Snake Burger
Snake Burger made from cobras, rattlesnake and other snake meat can be enjoyed in South-East Asia. Snake meat is perfectly safe but if a chef fails to remove skin from meat correctly toxin will get into the meat.

Inner Organs of Animals
The insides of the digestive, reproductive and nervous systems of some animals are placed in the heart of some of the grotesque, but surprisingly popular dishes. A variety of dishes using membrane of the stomach, intestines and even the testicles of cows and sheep. Lamb testicles are among the most popular, and are served breaded in marinated sauce. In Europe, the dish can be served, known as “offal”, which is made from pig intestines. Head of sheep and fish eyes also appear in the menu. Risks of fatal infections from parasites led to a number of deaths in European restaurants. Cant say how many deaths this caused in countries where health and safety isnt as important as in European restaurants.

Crow pie
Crow pie is the last dish on the list which is popular in Lithuania. Birds are caught at a fairly young age, fried in oil and then served with a plate of grilled vegetables. Meat is rumored to act as an aphrodisiac.
Concerns have been raised over the possibility of contracting diseases from these scavengers. Crow is not considered Kosher or Halal for these reasons.

 

 

VIA : iCAN'TbELIEVEiT

Changing DNS setting in Windows 8

Here we'll show you how to manually assign DNS (Domain Name Service) servers for your Internet connection using Windows 8.

1.     Open the Control Panel. You can either:

·         On the Start screen, type 'Control Panel' and click on the Control Panel link in the the search results

·         In desktop mode, open the Charms menu, choose settings and then select Control Panel

If you need help with either of the above steps, please see our Windows 8 basics guide.

2.     From the Control Panel, under Network and Internet, click View network status and tasks.

3.     Click the link next to Connections on the right.

This screenshot shows a wireless connection to a Plusnet router so the link is Wifi (PlusnetWireless). If you're using a wired connection the link will be named differently.

4.     On the connection status window, click Properties.

5.     Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) from the list, then click Properties.

6.     Select Use the following DNS server addresses, and enter:

·         Preferred DNS server: 212.159.13.49

·         Alternate DNS server: 212.159.13.50

7.     Finally click OK on this and the previous windows to save your changes.

Lost Egyptian City of Heracleion Finally Revealed After 1200-Years

Finally, the lost Egyptian city of Heracleion has been revealed after spending 1,200-years under sea. Researchers discovered amazingly well-preserved artifacts 30-feet under the surface of the Mediterranean Sea in Aboukir Bay, near Alexandria that tell the story of a vibrant classical-era port.

According to the Telegraph: "Leading research now suggests that Thonis-Heracleion served as a mandatory port of entry for trade between the Mediterranean and the Nile." Researchers say that the immense weight of large buildings on the region's water-logged clay, combined with sand soil, may have caused it to sink in the wake of an earthquake.

[Source]

Category: Pics, Video

5 Beautiful Roads You Must Drive Before You Die

If you haven't already planned a road trip for this upcoming summer, be sure to add some of these beautiful roads to your "must-see" list. They include Highway 1, Big Sur (above) to a windy road in China.

5. White Rim Road, Canyonlands National Park (Utah, USA)

The 100-mile White Rim Road loops around and below the Island mesa top and provides expansive views of the surrounding area. Trips usually take two to three days by four-wheel-drive vehicle or three to four days by mountain bike. All vehicles and bikes must remain on roads. ATVs and non-street legal dirt bikes are not permitted. Pets are also not permitted, even in vehicles.

4. Highway 1, Big Sur (California, USA)

State Route 1 (SR 1) is a major north-south state highway that runs along most of the Pacific coastline of the U.S. state of California. Highway 1 has several portions designated as either Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), Cabrillo Highway, Shoreline Highway, or Coast Highway. SR 1 was built piecemeal in various stages, with the first section opening in the Big Sur region in the 1930s. However, portions of the route had several names and numbers over the years as more segments opened.

3. Tianmen Mountain Road (Hunan, China)

Tianmen Mountain is a mountain located within Tianmen Mountain National Park, Zhangjiajie, in northwestern Hunan Province, China. A cablecar was constructed by the French company Poma from nearby Zhangjiajie railway station to the top of the mountain. Tianmen Mountain Cableway is claimed in tourist publications as the "longest passenger cableway of high mountains in the world", with 98 cars and a total length of 7,455 metres and ascent of 1,279 metres. The highest gradient is an unusual 37 degrees. Tourists can walk on kilometres of paths built onto the cliff face at the top of the mountain.

2. Furka Pass (Switzerland)

Furka Pass (el. 2429 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting Gletsch, Valais with Realp, Uri. The Furka-Oberalp-Bahn line through the Furka Tunnel bypasses the pass. The base tunnel opened in 1982 and replaced a tunnel at 2100 m. The Furka Pass was used as a location in the James Bond film Goldfinger.

1. Atlantic Ocean Road (Norway)

The Atlantic Ocean Road or the Atlantic Road is an 8.3-kilometer (5.2 mi) long section of County Road 64 which runs through an archipelago in Eide and Averoy in More og Romsdal, Norway. The fixed link passes by Hustadvika, an unsheltered part of the Norwegian Sea, connecting the island of Averoy with the mainland and Romsdalshalvoya peninsula. The road runs between the villages of Karvag on Averoy and Vevang in Eida. The road is built on several small islands and skerries, which are connected by several causeways, viaducts and eight bridges & the most prominent being Storseisundet Bridge.

Cultivating Love of Learning: A lesson From Bill Gates

A few weeks ago, Bill Gates hosted an Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) event at Reddit. While there were many questions asked and answered, here I’d like to focus on just one of them:

Q: What do you do for fun? I find it hard to fathom how someone like you can just disconnect. Disconnect from the emails, calls, the media. All of it. What would be your definition of a chill and fun day?

A: I love playing tennis. I am an avid bridge player (a card gameif you have not heard of it – it was more popular in the past!). I like to tour interesting things with my kids like power plants, garbage dumps, the Large Hadron Collider, Antarctica, missile Silos (Arizona),… I read a lot and watch courses (online or the Learning Company)…

The part I highlighted above states that he loves to read and to watch courses. But what kind of books does he read? To give you an idea, here is a page that showcases them. The question, remember, was about what he does for fun. But, to be honest, I don’t think many people will consider the books on that page fun. As for watching courses… well, I guess it’s quite obvious. :)

So how can Gates consider those activities fun while many people don’t?

The answer, I believe, lies in an important trait he has that many people lack. The trait is a love of learning. In fact, I can’t think of any other explanation of how someone could consider such activities fun unless the person loves to learn.

There is a big difference between those who love to learn and those who don’t. Those who love to learn will consider activities that widen their perspective (such as reading books) fun. Those who don’t, on the other hand, will consider those activities boring. Those are very different ways of viewing the same activities.

This difference can manifest into a big gap between the two groups in the long run. Those who love to learn will absorb new knowledge like a sponge, while those who don’t will actually avoidopportunities to learn. Can you guess which ones are more likely to achieve their full potential?

Love of learning, I believe, is an essential trait to have. We need to have it. It’s even more true given the fast-changing world we live in now. Those who love to learn are the ones who will be able to adapt and thrive. The reason is simple: they are the ones who enjoy learning new things.

But one question remains: how can we have this trait? How can we love to learn?

As with many other things in life, the main thing is to find the motivation. If you can find it, everything else will fall into place. But if you can’t, it will be hard to get anything going.

From my experience, here is a good way to find the motivation:

Have a strong desire to get the most out of your life

Simple, isn’t it? But think about it. If you have this desire, the love of learning will naturally follow. Why? Because to fulfill the desire you will need to achieve your full potential. And to do that, you need to constantly learn. That’s why if the desire is strong enough, learning will become something youlove.

So what do you think? How do you cultivate your love of learning?

Source Via: Donald Latumahina

A Man's Journey From Nepal To Texas Triggers Global TB Scramble

We don't know too much about a Nepalese man who's in medical isolation in Texas while being treated for extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, the most difficult-to-treat kind. Health authorities are keen to protect his privacy.

But we do know that he traveled through 13 countries — from South Asia to somewhere in the Persian Gulf to Latin America — before he entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in late November. He traveled by plane, bus, boat, car and on foot.

And all the way he may have unwittingly put hundreds of other people at risk of getting the highly drug-resistant TB strain.

That possibility has triggered a far-reaching investigation by the U.S. and other health authorities to track down potentially exposed people around the world. "It's a huge effort that's ongoing," Dr. Martin Cetron, who heads the division of global management and quarantine at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tells Shots.

The case, first described by Betsy McKay at the The Wall Street Journal, provides a window on a problem that health officials say is sure to arise more and more often.

XDR-TB is a more dangerous part of a bigger problem with multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, or MDR-TB.

"We estimate at any one time in the world there are about 630,000 cases of MDR-TB," Dr. Dennis Falzon of the World Health Organization tells Shots, referring to multi-drug-resistant TB. MDR-TB isn't vanquished by the two mainstay drugs isoniazid and rifampin and requires more complicated drug regimens.

In 2007, a young lawyer named Andrew Speaker became the best-known case of MDR-TB when he flew to Europe, potentially exposing other passengers.

XDR-TB is resistant not only to isoniazid and rifampin but also a class of drugs called fluoroquinolones and one or more potent injectable antibiotics. TB germs become drug-resistant when patients fail to complete a course of treatment. When a partly-resistant strain is treated with the wrong drugs, it can become extensively resistant.

There are about 60,000 people with XDR-TB strains like the Nepalese man who's in isolation, Falzon says.

That means there are other people with XDR-TB traveling the world at any given time. Like the Nepalese man, until he got to the U.S., Falzon says, "many of these XDR cases aren't even diagnosed."

Shots - Health News

Quick TB Test Builds Up Arsenal Against Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Shots - Health News

Old Drug Gets A Second Look For TB Fight

Shots - Health News

A Troubling Rise In Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

To give some idea of the public health challenge, such cases present, Dr. Kenneth Castro of the CDC's division of TB elimination tells Shots that over 700 people were thought to be exposed to the Nepalese man while he was in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol.

"Out of those, 60 percent or so are back in their country of citizenship which then leaves many others that are being sorted through to determine if (their exposure) was real or not," Castro says.

But at least those potential contacts were known. Falzon says it's almost impossible to trace people who may have had close contact with the man during his complicated itinerary.

"We cannot trace down a bus tour which happened within, let's say, the space of a few weeks," Falzon says. "And it's very difficult to get details. The person (in detention) doesn't speak English."

The long-haul flight he took from a country on the Persian Gulf to Brazil, which exposed fellow travelers sitting within a couple of rows of his seat, occurred months ago. "We're trying to track down the exact details of that flight and the persons who were exposed," the WHO official says.

TB is spread through droplets in the air released by coughing or sneezing. It requires close and prolonged exposure, so a shorter flight, for instance, is not thought to pose a danger.

Castro says there's no reason to think XDR-TB is more contagious than less-resistant or drug-susceptible strains. "The alarm bells have to do with the consequences of the disease," he says — that is, the two-year, toxic, costly drug regimen necessary to cure the infection.

One big advantage these days, Castro says, is a lab test that can tell within two days whether a patient's sputum contains TB bacilli with mutations that confer resistance to seven different drugs.

"This is a game-changer," Castro says. The TB organism is notoriously slow-growing, so it used to take six weeks to culture it in laboratory dishes and test its susceptibility to different drugs. "The result is that some folks died before results of drug susceptibility tests came back," he says.

The CDC has recorded 63 cases of XDR-TB from 1993 through 2011 (the most recent data available), more than half of them among foreign-born people.

When illegal immigrants with drug-resistant TB are isolated in ICE detention facilities, things get complicated. They cannot be deported until they're no longer contagious, which can require months of complex treatment. Otherwise, they'd pose a risk to fellow travelers.

But Dr. Edward Zuroweste of the nonprofit group Migrants Clinicians Network says just because such patients are no longer contagious doesn't mean they're cured. This requires at least two more years of treatment — often back in a home country without specialists in treating drug-resistant TB or access to the proper drugs.

Zuroweste's group has a contract with ICE to make sure deportees have appropriate treatment. It checks up on them regularly to see if they're sticking with it. He says 84 percent complete treatment, and the rest either disappear or refuse further treatment.

He says the U.S. and other nations should expect to see growing numbers of these difficult cases. "There's no way to ever isolate the U.S. from an airborne disease," Zuroweste tells Shots. "The world is becoming much smaller and people travel a lot. So what we have to do is attack the disease, not the individual unfortunate enough to contract the disease."

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