Own Your Power

This disaster has touched many of our lives, whether we have family or friends in Haiti. It’s something unfathomable and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the numbers of lives lost and injured. The number of people who have still not heard from loved ones and need our prayers. We really need to help as much as we can.

I received an email from a Own Your Power member and I wanted to share it, since many of us want to give, but it’s good to do your research since unfortunately there are some people taking advantage of this tragedy with scams. Please see what our member Lashelle Wooten had to say:

“Hello all.  Like most of us, my heart and prayers go out to the families in Haiti.  I was anxious to figure out what I could do that would actually DIRECTLY help the families there.  So, I called my friend Michelle Karshan (who some of you know).  Michelle has lived in Haiti for much of the last 20 years working with the government to improve international relationships and living conditions in Haiti.  She is also the founder and executive director of Chans Alternativ  (Alternative Chance), an advocacy organization for criminal deportees in Haiti.  In my world, she is a foremost expert on what has happened in Haiti and what is happening now during this tragedy.  Her advice to me which I am passing along to you is that the two most important things we can do for Haitians in Haiti and abroad are 1) share our thoughts of support and prayers with any and all Haitians in any way we can communicate it to them and 2) send money by donating to organizations that are doing DIRECT work with this unimaginable situation in Haiti.

Here are Michelle’s suggestions for organizations she KNOWS from her work in Haiti over the past two decades:

Partners In Health (Paul Farmer’s organization) – PIH.org

http://www.pih.org/youcando/donate.html

Red Cross International – (Haiti is not in America)

http://www.icrc.org/eng

I have also been told that Wyclef Jean’s charitable organization is doing very direct impact services.  There site is:

http://www.yele.org/ (THEY’VE RAISED  2 million so far!)

We can all send this email to our friends, family and colleagues and email blast lists.  If we can invite 200 people to a party, let’s invite all those folks to donate whatever they can to help OUR people.

Please pass this on!

News Update:

“TENS OF THOUSANDS OF EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS NEED EMERGENCY SURGICAL CARE NOW!!!!!” the group said in the statement. It did not describe the basis for that estimate.

The reasons are varied:

• Both national and international authorities suffered great losses in the quake, taking out many of the leaders best suited to organize a response.

• Woefully inadequate infrastructure and a near-complete failure in telephone and Internet communications have complicated efforts to reach millions of people forced from their homes.

• Fears of looting and violence have kept aid groups and governments from moving as quickly as they would like.

• Pre-existing poverty and malnutrition put some at risk even before the quake hit.

Governments have pledged nearly $1 billion in aid, and thousands of tons of food and medical supplies have been shipped. But much remains trapped in warehouses, or diverted to the neighboring Dominican Republic. Port-au-Prince’s nonfunctioning seaport and many impassable roads complicate efforts to get aid to the people.

Aid is being turned back from the single-runway airport, where the U.S. military has been criticized by some of poorly prioritizing flights. The U.S. Air Force said it had raised the facility’s daily capacity from 30 flights before the quake to 180 on Tuesday.

About 2,200 U.S. Marines established a beachhead west of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to help speed aid delivery, in addition to 9,000 Army soldiers already on the ground. Lt. Cmdr. Walter Matthews, a U.S. military spokesman, said helicopters were ferrying aid from the airport into Port-au-Prince and the nearby town of Jacmel as fast as they could.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the military will send a port-clearing ship with cranes aboard to Port-au-Prince to remove debris that is preventing many larger aid ships from docking.

The U.N. was sending in reinforcements as well: The Security Council voted Tuesday to add 2,000 peacekeepers to the 7,000 already in Haiti, and 1,500 more police to the 2,100-strong international force.

“The floodgates for aid are starting to open,” Matthews said at the airport. “In the first few days, you’re limited by manpower, but we’re starting to bring people in.”

The WFP’s Alain Jaffre said the U.N. agency hoped to help 100,000 people by Wednesday.

Hanging over the entire effort was an overwhelming fear among relief officials that Haitians’ desperation would boil over into violence.

“We’ve very concerned about the level of security we need around our people when we’re doing distributions,” said Graham Tardif, who heads disaster-relief efforts for the charity World Vision. The U.N., the U.S. government and other organizations have echoed such fears.

Occasionally, those fears have been borne out. Looters rampaged through part of downtown Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, just four blocks from where U.S. troops landed at the presidential palace. Hundreds of looters fought over bolts of cloth and other goods with broken bottles and clubs.

USGS geophysicist Bruce Pressgrave said nobody knows if a still-stronger aftershock is possible.

“Aftershocks sometimes die out very quickly,” he said. “In other cases they can go on for weeks, or if we’re really unlucky it could go on for months” as the earth adjusts to the new stresses caused by the initial quake.

READ FULL ARTICLE:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_haiti_earthquake

Brought to you by:  Fitness Trainer, Shondelle Solomon-Miles

The New Year is still young, and if you’ve decided to make this your year for losing the weight and tightening your abs, you’re in luck.

Getting a flat midsection really boils down to two things: 1) Getting rid of the fatty layer that is covering your abdominal muscles; and 2) Tightening and toning your abdominal muscles.

The following 7 Tight Abs Tips are your Fast-Track ticket to getting a flat, attractive midsection this year.

Tight Abs Tip #1: Perform challenging strength training abdominal exercises at least three times each week. Your abs are like any other muscle in your body—they need to be consistently challenged in order to become stronger and tighter.

Tight Abs Tip #2: Stop eating junk. Processed foods, refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup do NOT belong in your diet if, especially if you want tight abs. Cutting these items from your diet will allow your body to maintain stable blood sugar levels, alleviating your body’s need to store excess sugar away in fat cells.

The fat stores created by excess sugar intake most often accumulate around your waist, covering up your abdominal muscles. Cut these items from your diet and replace them with real whole foods such as lean meats, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and fruits.

Tight Abs Tip #3: Stop doing long and slow cardio workouts. Instead, use HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) for your cardio workouts. HIIT training uses intense bursts of cardio peppered throughout your workout. This is a sure-fire way to rev up your metabolism and to get your fat stores to shrink.

Tight Abs Tip #4: Use resistance with your abdominal exercises. Crunches are great, but your body quickly becomes accustomed to the motion, rendering it less effective. Hold a medicine ball or dumbbell at your chest as you perform your crunches—this will force your abs to work harder, and will achieve better results.

Tight Abs Tip #5: Don’t be fooled. The market is flooded with ‘lose weight’ products and products that claim to flatten your stomach. Never waste your time or money on:

1. So-called packaged health food that comes with weight loss claims. If it’s processed in a package with a bunch of chemical additives then it will not help you achieve flat abs.
2. Abdominal exercise gimmicks as sold on late night infomercials – all you really need is your own body weight, an exercise ball and dumbbells or a medicine ball.
3. So-called weight loss supplements. The magic pill for flat abs doesn’t exist, so you’d be wasting your health and money on a bogus product.

Tight Abs Tip #6: Target your lower abs. It’s easy to neglect the lower abs, but they are an important part of the equation. Incorporate the V-Up into your exercise routine:

Tight Abs Tips #7: Challenge your core often. Don’t limit your abdominal exercise to the gym, incorporate core strengthening during daily life and throughout each workout. A strong core is the foundation for flat, tight abs.

There you have it! Seven tips that, when diligently applied, will help you shed the fat and tighten your abs.

But, keep in mind that your results will be seriously hindered if you do the same exercise routine over and over. Your abs need a progressive challenge in order to transform. This means new exercises, different resistance and increased challenge.

Call or email today to get started on a program that will challenge you, motivate you and transform your body.

Availability is limited — act now and achieve a slimmer you once and for all this year.

FOR MORE INFO!

Email: shondelle@synergizeweightloss.com
Phone: 954-924-4465
Web: http://www.SynergizeWeightLoss.com

Having a hard time selling your place or just need a new look? Not sure what to do? You’ll definitely want to get to know Gabriella aka Gabi! She’s the founder of Staged by Gabi, Inc. which for the last 3 1/2 years has focused on the following:

- Staging to sell

- Staging to move in

- Home makeover

Find out why she loves what she does!

What does your company do?

- Neutralize & simplify décor

- De-clutter

- Organize

- Rearrange furniture & much more…

Any interesting fact(s) you can share about your industry?

A National Association of Realtors survey shows:

Homes that sold:

- in 4 weeks or less averaged 1% MORE than list price.

- in 12 weeks 5% LESS

- over 24 weeks 10% LESS than list price.

For example: if your list price is $300,000, after 12 weeks your first price drop can be $15,000. After 6 months, it can be $30,000.

What are the benefits of staging?

- Staged homes are recognized as Ready to Sell

- 94.8% of ASP Staged Homes sell on average in 37 days or less

- Staged homes sell on average for 6.3% more than homes that aren’t staged

On a $300, 000 home, this translates to $18,900 that you could gain!

Most popular problem you help people solve?

As a professional home stager I help homeowners preserve their properties’ equities.

What year did you kiss Corporate America goodbye and why do you hope to never go back?

I started to work for myself in 2006. I always have an entrepreneur spirit & believe it will take me far. My husband also is a business owner. It’s really nice to work at home & spend our time together every day. We even go to yoga 2-3x a week at lunchtime. How great is that!?

How do you stay motivated?

Since I can remember, I‘ve always had a restless mind. No matter what I do I’m always into something. Cooking up new ideas day & night. Did I mention I’m very stubborn? Usually that’s a bad thing, but in business its the opposite. I keep pushing over the limit..

Biggest pet peeve in business?

Some Realtors still cannot see the benefits of staging. It should be obvious that If they sell their listing fast, there’s no price reduction, so their commission is higher. It’s a no-brainer. But its still a new industry, so part of my job is to educate people about staging.

What’s a bold move you took that turned your business around?

I bought an extended cargo van & started to build my own inventory, so I could team up with a retirement community. I gained lots of experience & have had a constant stream of work for the last 1 1/2 years

One thing that you would change if you could?

I would love to be more open, outgoing & not afraid or be uncomfortable in public. This is because I care too much about what people think about me. I know if I could change, my career would skyrocket very fast. (I’m working on it.)

What’s your favorite area on www.ownyourpower.ning.com?

I love that I can friend anyone & most of the members would friend me back:) It’s easy to network with members. Everybody is so nice

What’s a unique talent that you have that might surprise us?

I create handmade greeting cards.I’m very spiritual & have special intuitions about things or people. Sometimes I see things before they happen.

It’s sadly time for your last meal on earth…what would it be?

It would be a very popular Hungarian desert called Somloi or tiramisu.That would brighten up my last day

If you could do it all over again, what is the biggest mistake you’d avoid next time around? Not to put everything into one basket. I did not focus on marketing because I was very busy getting work from a company. Now the big corporation filed bankruptcy

Most exciting moment that you got your time to shine? When I staged a vacant home for a builder, somebody stopped by for the open house. Apparently, this person worked for the New York Times & featured my project with 2 pictures in the paper. I did many projects for a retirement community, and through them different local newspapers mentioned my projects

What was your last barter and what was if for?

My friend is a pro photographer. She created my head shot. I love it so much:) She asked me if I could help her to pick out the best pictures for one of her projects, so I was happy to help her

What’s in your cd player/ipod right now?

Yoga, meditation music, and “The Swell Season”, the couple from the movie “Once”. I’m the kind of person who likes to take every opportunity & meditate or even in the car just brainstorm about my business. I’m an “idea maker”. I’m a constant thinker. Here is something that I can listen to anytime…

If you could have superpowers, what would you want?

I would love to be a Genie. I’d create a river where there is the Sahara, peace where there is war & paradise where there is poverty.

Reach out to Gabi! and add her as a friend in our community!

Staged By Gabi, In

stagedbygabi@gmail.com

551-265-9151

This has got to be one of my favorite You Tube Videos of all time. If you’re a coach it will move you, if you are have a coach, you’ll know that this is just a confirmation and if you don’t have a coach, YOU NEED TO GET ONE!

Everyone DESERVES coach.:) If you want to learn more about how coaching can help you personally and professionally, call me! I’m here for you…I have individual and group rates to fit any budget!

8 77-545-7352.

By E-Myth Business Coach

Sometimes we get into ruts. We get used to doing business “our way” and we close ourselves off to the possibility that there might be another way. Maybe even… a better way.  We repeat the same patterns and produce the same results and our business coasts along but never grows or evolves.  

Take for example, a contractor client of ours who attended one of our Leadership Intensive Seminars. He’d been in the business for more than 15 years and he’d never – not once – left the business behind. On the few vacations he had taken in that time, he’d always called to check in. He even cut a trip short once because he felt he couldn’t leave a situation to somebody else on his staff to handle. He was extremely proud of the company he’d built and he felt he was the only person who could run it.

Then somebody gave him The E-Myth Revisited on CD and he listened to it in his truck while driving to and from jobs. And then suddenly it dawned on him. After 15 years, he realized that he’d hit a wall. That the business wasn’t growing. That his revenues were flat. That the business was running…but not efficiently. He told us about the moment this realization struck him. He pulled over and banged his hands on the wheel of his truck. It was his “ah-ha” moment.

“Ah-ha” moments happen at different times for different people. But inspiration usually strikes at some point. Something happens to make you think that maybe there is a better way. Perhaps you have a truly rewarding experience with a client, or an employee goes above and beyond in a way that makes you rethink how things are being done. Maybe you attend a lecture or read a book. Like our contractor client, you may have felt that way when you read our book, The E-Myth Revisited. A lot of people read it, identify with it, and enjoy a few minutes of enthusiastic determination. And then life gets in the way. Monday comes around and the day-to-day work of running your business begins to make it feel like Groundhog Day.

But let’s face it; Groundhog Day is no place to live. Stay in a rut too long and you could begin to lose interest in your work, feel defeated, and when that happens to a business owner the impact can be devastating. So what’s a business owner to do?

3 Tips to Get You on the Right Track

Here are three things you can do right now to break out of that “doing it, doing it, doing it” cycle. Three things to get you back in touch with the entrepreneur who started your business in the first place.

1. Delegate – Bottom line, you’ve got to let other people do their jobs. It sounds simple, but it can be a very difficult thing for people who are used to running things themselves. But remember, one of the hallmarks of great leadership is effective delegation. You need to make a point of regularly giving responsibility and authority to an employee to complete a task. Doing so develops people who are ultimately more fulfilled and productive. And for the manager or business owner, delegating frees you to attend to the important strategic work of business. You can read more about delegating the right way in our article Delegation vs. Abdication.
2. Rejuvenate – Sometimes the best thing you can do for you and your business is walk away. Get away from your business, from the office…

GO HERE FOR FULL STORY!