Procrastination Emancipation

It's early January as I sit down to research and write this newsletter. I launch my web browser, surf over to MSN.com, surprised to find the feature article displaying a picture of Santa Claus with the caption "It's not too late to have your presents arrive on time." Somebody's been procrastinating - either Bill Gates or me (maybe I didn't refresh my browser). Or maybe my computer is trying to give me the hint to stop procrastinating and set about the task of writing this newsletter. Nah... Bill Gates must be the guilty one!

When it comes to procrastination, most of us are quick to acknowledge the problem and are s...l...o...w... to do something about it. I surf over to dictionary.com and look up the definition of procrastination, hoping it means something other than I'm lazy.

pro·cras·ti·nate:

v. intr.

To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.

v. tr.

To postpone or delay needlessly.

Hmmm... this is getting serious. I better stop shillyshallying and get some help. Didn't realize I was delaying needlessly.

Off I go in search of solutions to my problems. It doesn't matter that it's now lunch time - no point in delaying. Ignoring my grumbling stomach, I search relentlessly for the magic pill to make me stop procrastinating. You see, this isn't the first time I've procrastinated but I'm hoping it will be the last.

Three hours later, I'm a procrastination expert. My eyes are blurry, my head is spinning but I'm committed to a ten step program to stop procrastinating. I have been freed from oppression - I have broken the bonds and liberated myself from the control of procrastination.

I stand proudly at my desk and declare my Emancipation from Procrastination, freeing myself from the bonds of laziness.

I have a dream, that one day my habitual procrastination, as noted by my mother - whose voice comes back to haunt me with labels such as disorganized, scattered and lazy - will be transformed into an empowering situation where the endless to do lists and procrastination temptations will be forever banished to the annals of accomplishment. I have a dream today where I recognize that I walk not alone on this path to procrastination but am in fact in excellent company (see Bill Gates above).

This will be the day when I sing "My list, 'tis of thee, endless list that plagues me, of thee I sing. List of tasks I don't like to do, list of thorns in my side, from every desktop, let the work begin."

And if I'm to change the pattern of procrastination. this must become true.

After hours of research, I've finally understood that one of the big reasons I've been procrastinating is that I'm focusing only on finishing. So I'll begin to concentrate on starting. All I need to do is keep starting, and the finishing will take care of itself. Which brings me to another thing my mother used to say... but I think I'll leave that thought unfinished.

Energized and ready to tackle the daunting task of writing this month's newsletter, I'm excited to have broken free from the shackles of procrastination that bound me.

Free at last! free at last!... now if only I could find my pen.

Maybe I'll do this tomorrow....

Easel - Every Committed Painter Should Own One

Owning a well-built easel made out of tough materials is one of the best painting tools a committed artist or hobbyist must have. This short article provides the reasons why an easel is just as valuable to an artist today, as it was during the era of Michelangelo and Van Gogh.

An easel provides the painter with the right physical perspective of viewing the canvas at the angle and height at which it will eventually be hung. By placing the canvas on the easel, the painter is free to step back and gain a better perspective of the project, allowing the artist to correct any mistakes before they are made, so as to avoid possibly ruining the painting.

An easel also displays the painter's masterpiece to the best advantage to onlookers and guests in the studio. An easel is also a great defensive mechanism for your work shop. An easel is a protective area for the unfinished canvas.

There are only two steps in selecting an easel. Simply evaluate where and how you plan to use the easel. Do you prefer to paint only in the studio? Then consider investing in a studio easel. Most of these are bulky, sturdy contraptions, but not very portable.

On the other hand, if you like the idea of painting whenever the mood hits, choose the versatile French easel. This kind of easel was constructed to be extremely portable. It is so portable, it can even be folded up for quick transportation. In the folded-up position it doubles up as a sketch box to allow you to carry your art supplies in.

Once you have made the decision on where and how you will use the easel, all you really need to do is pick the one that meets your needs and budget. Either way you look at it, an easel should be as necessary to your artistic workplace as the paint on your desk or the ink in your pens.

Consulting - Uncover 5 Creative Secrets to Make Money With Consulting Companies

You are a creative person consulting with businesses who need your talents and skills. As you realize more and more your talents and that they are seen as valuable by business, you easily see who to connect with in the corporate structure to bring in more revenue for yourself. You know what's important to your prospects and what results they are looking for. Keeping this in mind as you continue to run your business, read through this article to uncover 5 creative secrets to make money with consulting companies.

1. Learn by watching and researching. Go to websites published within your niche. Read through the copy on the website. Request marketing material from them. Study your market and then start partnering with people in it.

2. Continue to do things that build your relationship with a prospect. First, understand what is important to the company executives. Then, send them articles of interest. Slowly and methodically, build your relationship with them.

3. After you've built your relationship, start offering ideas that help solve their problems. Invite them to your website, teleseminars and seminars. Tempt them with a free eBook to get their email address and contact name.

4. After you get their email address and contact name, continue to send them electronic information products relevant to their niche. Keep establishing your credibility and expertise.

5. Start showing them how you are the best choice to provide solutions to their problems in various ways. Be there when they choose to search for a consultant to help them and it will be you.

Photographic Memory Books Are They Really Effective?

Photographic memory books essentially teaches people techniques to improve their memory skills. The techniques used in most photographic memory books are to help people develop memory abilities, not through capturing a mental picture of what they see, but by learning certain techniques to make recalling the information possible. The most fundamental means of learning for children is through repetition and association and photographic memory books teaches techniques that adults and older children can use to remember a variety of information. There are several different photographic memory techniques used by people to help train their brain to retain important information for longer.

Techniques

Photographic memory techniques are set of techniques taught to people to help develop a better memory. Many techniques in the photographic memory books focus on what prompts the individual to retain information as well as how to recall specific information when it is needed. With photographic memory techniques the focus is on learning the information as opposed to memorizing it, making recall at a later date possible.

List building, word association and story-telling are a few of the most common photographic memory techniques developed to help people remember a list of words, such as phone numbers, grocery list or a list of numbers, in specific order.

By using proven techniques in photographic memory books the brain can be trained to work without interference of interruptions and distractions and to retain more information and hence improve memory. There are several techniques in photographic memory books used by people to help train their brain to retain important information and if the photographic memory techniques are used properly, they can help recall the information when it is needed.

There are no doubt that the techniques taught in photographic memory books are quite effective if apply correctly.

Hammer Strength Machine - Picking Up Where Free Weights Fail

Free weights are wonderful tools when it comes to training chest. The barbell, used in flat, decline, and incline bench presses, is the foundation for nearly all of the championship chests we see today. Bench pressing provides the pectorals, shoulders, and triceps with plenty of stimulation for growth. Dumbbells are highly useful as well, allowing for strength development, but also the development of stabilizer muscles. They also allow you to utilize a greater range of motion, and go 'deeper' on many motions. However, there is a point in some workouts where free weights fail to be useful, and may often become dangerous when used with enough weight to adequately stimulate the pectorals to grow. That is when Hammer Strength machines become useful. Let's check out some of their useful features!

Variety

You can select Hammer Strength machines that simulate the exact arc and direction of the flat, incline, and decline bench presses. Additionally, you can move between the various machines and find different machines that present various grips and angles on the same movement.

Safety

Have you ever visited youtube.com and searched for weightlifting accidents? Give it a shot sometime. It's very likely you'll be both terrified and amused at the same time. Many of the brutal accidents which are viewable are directly related to irresponsible form or lifting too much weight. However, some accidents do occur due to muscle failure, an injury, or failure to balance. Hammer Strength machines present the added bonus of being able to fail at any time with zero risk of injury. It's important to use free weights in the beginning of your workout. But as the muscle group fatigues and you wish to continue training, the risk of dropping a weight increases greatly. Using a machine takes away all risk of injury!

Balance

When you're moving a barbell with 2 or 3 plates per side, your primary focus is usually upon balancing it while you push. You can move the weight up at any pace, but if you stop balancing it for even a moment, it's likely you're about to be on a stretcher header to the emergency room! Hammer strength machines require no balance to lift. You just push the weight with everything you have, and let the muscles take a complete beating. Balance is taken care of by the machine. All you have to do is show up with your brute strength!

Down-the-Rack

Training to failure is wonderful for making muscular gains. When bench pressing, it can be pretty hard to reduce the weight when training on your own. You'd have to stand up, remove collars and weight from each side, reset collars, then lay back down and complete more reps. When using hammer strength machines, it's as simple as repositioning a pin, something that can be done from your seated pressing position, with little to no disruption of your training set. Toss in the safety factor (who wants to train to failure with a loaded barbell over your head?) and you begin to see another reason why Hammer Strength machines are just so popular.

Astronomy and The Early Church: The Biggest Mistake The Church Ever Made

Would you deny an idea you know is true because you will die if you do not? Probably or even most certainly. It is the year 1633 and the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei is fighting for his life because he expressed ideas that were ahead of the time. We can now look at the reasons why this happened.

The belief before 1500

The Christian church held the view that the Earth was so special that God had placed it in the centre of the universe. This might have been the idea because of a misinterpretation of an unknown Bible text. Furthermore, few people questioned the church ideas and scientific ideas were only correct if it was in line with that of the Christian believers.

The Medieval View

The medieval view was based on what you could see and from that viewpoint; the Earth was indeed the centre of the universe and surely that of the solar system. After all the Sun appeared to circle the Earth daily.

Aristotle

This Greek philosopher supported the idea of an Earth centred Universe and Ptolemy expanded the theory.

The Scientific Revolution

During this time a few people started to challenge old ideas. They based their ideas on observing the natural world. They also made new theories based on experimentation. The Polish astronomer Copernicus led the way He knew his ideas would not be accepted and did not publish this until 1543, the last year of his life.

Brahe and Kepler

Brahe only observed the planets and recorded their movements while Kepler started doing the mathematical work to figure out what exactly governed the planetary motion. Kepler showed that Copernicus was correct. The Planets revolved around the sun.

Galileo

In 1581 the seventeen year old Galileo started to challenge the work of Aristotle and managed to prove that they were wrong. As early as 1616 the church warned Galileo not to defend the ideas of Copernicus. Then in 1633 Galileo stood before the court and under pressure had to declare the ideas of Copernicus was false.

Galileo was in a predicament He had the guts to say something, which he knows, is true. Unfortunately, this idea is in direct opposition to a most important fundamental principle on which the Church had built its reputation. The Roman Catholic Church was so strong that it had its own court, the Roman Inquisition.

Summary

The study of Astronomy has opened the world for us and pointed out that many of the things we believed in were false. Still our ideas were channelled by the church of the time and if you questioned that belief you were in for a lot of trouble. The bright mind of Galileo was silenced and he had to declare that the Earth was the centre of the Universe. Today we know Galileo was correct and the church was wrong. Sadly, Galileo died in 1642 while under house arrest.