Clipmarks | NS-Clips's Self Improvement collection

50 feel-better boosters

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:55:18 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: www.lifeoptimizer.org

Read a book

Volunteer

Give someone a compliment

Dress well

Say please and thank you

Look for the best in others

Keep a gratitude journal

Eat well

Exercise

Smile

Meditate

Get a massage

Set goals

Take action

Call your best friend

Visualize success

Focus on your successes

Learn from your failures

Accept what you can`t change

Start a conversation with a stranger

Sing

Reconnect with an old friend

Go for a walk

Spend time with friends and family

Enjoy a great meal

Listen to some great music

Journal

Rejoice in the successes of others

Laugh

Forgive yourself

Get enthusiastic about something

Slow down

Spend time in nature

Pamper yourself

Be spontaneous

Watch a sunset

Spend time with children

Do something creative

Play a game

Ask for help

Daydream

Give someone a hug

Breathe deeply

Take a bath

Get into a happy environment –

Do some gardening

Think of some pleasant memories

Focus on the good in the world

Complete an unfinished task

Decide to be happy

7 Ways to Move Beyond Procrastination

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:46:16 GMT

clipped by: egsnyder

Clip Source: www.positivityblog.com

Personal Development with The Positivity Blog

Clip Source: www.positivityblog.com

7 ways to move beyond procrastination

Almost everyone is held down by what some call “the silent killer”. Procrastination strikes everywhere. We all want to avoid the pain or discomfort of doing something we feel is boring, stupid, pointless, hard, complicated, risky, possibly really emotionally painful and so on.

But even though we know that we will have to do it eventually and that we’re just deluding ourselves we still put it of. Often with reasons we know deep down are weak and we really just made up. We get stuck in a vicious circle of doing too little of both what we want and what we don’t want. We get stuck. Here are 7 ways to squash procrastination and move forward.

1. Recognize that there is more pain in procrastinating than not

2. Force yourself to do it before you really absolutely have do it…

3. Create a flow

4. Get some leverage

5. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time…

6. Change your beliefs

7. Make a small deal with yourself

Tags: procrastination

7 Habits to master winning against the odds

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:43:07 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: www.successsoul.com

1. Learn to accept responsibility for your actions. ~

Finger pointing is one of the most repugnant of all character flaws. With illusive self-image, we tend to live in denial to admit that the desired outcome has not arrived at the time limit we imposed on our efforts.

I can help take someone from failure to success but I can’t take them from excuses to success because if you’re making excuses you haven’t yet realized where the real problem lies.
~ John Maxwell

2. Admit your mistakes. ~

3. Develop mental toughness. ~

Your mental toughness is a gauge of your ability to persist in the face of adversity.

4. One goal at a time. ~

Untangle the web of conflicting goals and start working at one goal at a time.

5. Develop your inner self. ~

6. Focus on what you can control. ~

Our impulsive thoughts always tend to waste our life-energy by focusing on things that we cannot control.

7. Never stop learning. ~

Learning is a life long process.

Readability Formulas

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:58:13 GMT

clipped by: NS-Clips

Clip Source: www.readabilityformulas.com

We offer many free articles on the history and development of readability formulas and how to use readability formulas to assess the reading level of your documents.

Learn about Formulas:
> New Dale-Chall Formula
> Flesch Reading Formula
> The Fry Graph
> SPACHE Formula
[ View All ]

Clip Source: www.readabilityformulas.com

Many business owners constantly seek new ways to save money and increase profits. One such money-saving measure is to use readability formulas on all text and materials. Readability formulas let you know if your text is readable by your target audience (your customers, suppliers, employees, etc). Studies show that readable text matched to the grade-level of your readers can increase their interest and improve your results to get your message across. Here’s how:

EMPLOYEE INSTRUCTION MANUALS.

INTERNAL REPORTS.

BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE.

PRODUCT/SERIVE SPECS SHEETS.

9 Steps to Achieving Flow (and Happiness) in Your Work

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:57:58 GMT

clipped by: NS-Clips

Clip Source: zenhabits.net

9 Steps to Achieving Flow (and Happiness) in Your Work

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” - Buddha

Choose work you love

Choose an important task

Make sure it’s challenging, but not too hard

Find your quiet, peak time

Clear away distractions

Learn to focus on that task for as long as possible

Enjoy yourself

Keep practicing

Reap the rewards

“To be able to concentrate for a considerable time is essential to difficult achievement.” - Bertrand Russell

Parents blame kids’ failing test scores on Wikipedia

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:00:44 GMT

clipped by: NS-Clips
clipper's remarks: Another case of misuse of a wonderful resource and giving the resource a bad name!

One comment at the site says this:
"My university docks marks if you quote or reference Wikipedia. The nice thing about it is that it usually presents the “facts” in a general and easy to read manner, but provides references for more in depth study. Wikipedia should be an aid to study, but not used as a study resource exclusively. That’s what peer reviewed journals and books are for. In my high school days there was a similar problem with Encarta."

Clip Source: www.crunchgear.com

Parents blame kids’ failing test scores on Wikipedia

Dumb kids in Scotland are failing tests not because they’re dumb, or because they haven’t properly prepared, but because Wikipedia is evil and mean and “littered with inaccuracies.” Shucks, and I thought Wikipedia was to be trusted 100 percent of the time.

Right, so the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, which just sounds like a fun group, hated on Wikipedia the other day because Scottish test scores are going down and they’ve seemingly pegged Wikipedia as the culprit. Too much opinion presented as fact, too much out-and-out wrong information for the SPTC’s liking.

One comment on The Scotsman makes a fair, if tired, point:

Easier to blame Wikipedia than the fact that you’re poor parents and your children are out partying or playing video games.
Inaccuracies are found in standard encyclopedias (and newspapers) too. And besides, don’t your schools provide textbooks?

Clip it Green!

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:28:59 GMT

clipped by: NS-Clips

Clip Source: addons.mozilla.org

Clipmarks also gives you a way to help the environment by printing only the parts of a page that you need. By printing just what you need, you'll save ink, paper and trees, thus making a contribution to a cleaner environment.

15 Questions

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:13:13 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: 14. If you could get a message across to a large group of people. Who would those people be? What would your message be?

15. Given your talents, passions and values. How could you use these resources to serve, to help, to contribute? ( to people, beings, causes, organization, environment, planet, etc.)

Clip Source: thinksimplenow.com

1. What makes you smile?

2. What are your favorite things to do in the past? What about now?

3. What activities make you lose track of time?

4. What makes you feel great about yourself?

5. Who inspires you most?

6. What are you naturally good at?

7. What do people typically ask you for help in?

8. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?

9. What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?

10. You are now 90 years old

You are blissful and happy, and are pleased with the wonderful life you’ve been blessed with. Looking back at your life and all that you’ve achieved and acquired, all the relationships you’ve developed; what matters to you most? List them out.

11. What are your deepest values?

12. What were some challenges, difficulties and hardships you’ve overcome or are in the process of overcoming? How did you do it?

13. What causes do you strongly believe in? Connect with?

Fun with and addiction to Video Games

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:08:20 GMT

clipped by: NS-Clips
clipper's remarks: The Teacher draws the line

Clip Source: blogs.jsonline.com

Where is the line between fun and video game addiction? About the same time my student wrote his research paper on video game addiction, the American Medical Association was seriously considering video game addiction a mental illness. They were preparing diagnositc criteria to be included in their manual of mental disorders. This didn't happen, but their concern points to the potential seriousness of video game addiction.

Parenting is about providing balance. Think of video games as the Skittles of life. We know that a steady diet of Skittles will cause your child some serious health problems. An occasional bag of skittles after a nutrionally balanced meal is not a problem. An hour of video games after homework, physical activity, and household chores also not a problem.

Eat 10 Green Breakfasts

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:29:26 GMT

clipped by: NS-Clips
clipper's remarks: Healthy start for the day!

Clip Source: www.thedailygreen.com

10 Ways to Eat Quick, Healthy and Green Breakfasts

Resist the trend to eat the most important meal of the day at the drive-through. These creative and quick breakfast options will get you going and keep you healthy.

Stop at night, instead of the morning

A quick stop at the grocery store on the way home is roughly equivalent to sitting in a line of smog-coughing SUVs in the queue at the drive-through, so make the stop at night to stock up on a week's worth of breakfasts and shed one facet of morning stress.

Quote from Martin Luther King

Mon, 26 May 2008 12:33:26 GMT

clipped by: NS-Clips
clipper's remarks: Very apt saying

Clip Source: depts.washington.edu

Career Advice

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:12:11 GMT

clipped by: NS-Clips
clipper's remarks: Funny but real good one!

Clip Source: www.businessballs.com

Bloom's Taxonomy - Knowledge Attitude and Skills

Tue, 06 May 2008 12:39:33 GMT

clipped by: NS-Clips
clipper's remarks: Framework for developing educational systems

Clip Source: www.businessballs.com

For the

Cognitive
Affective
Psychomotor knowledge attitude skills 1. Recall data 1. Receive (awareness) 1. Imitation (copy) 2. Understand 2. Respond (react) 2. Manipulation (follow instructions) 3. Apply (use) 3. Value (understand and act) 3. Develop Precision 4. Analyse (structure/elements) 4. Organise personal value system 4. Articulation (combine, integrate related skills) 5. Synthesize (create/build) 5. Internalize value system (adopt behaviour) 5. Naturalization (automate, become expert) 6. Evaluate (assess, judge in relational terms)

Tags: optional. separate by commas., educational psychology, instruction design

When I Consider How My Light Is Spent - Milton's sonnet

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:35:24 GMT

clipped by: NS-Clips
clipper's remarks: My favorite sonnet - wonderfully taught by 10th class (1969-70) English teacher and principal of my school - St Thomas' (SPG) High School - Mr. Ignatius Jagannathan.

The line

"And that one talent which is death to hide"

has inspired me to bring out the latent talent in a few of my friends, students and work colleagues.

Clip Source: www.poets.org

When I Consider How My Light Is Spent

by John Milton

When I consider how my light is spent,

   Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,

   And that one talent which is death to hide

Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present

   My true account, lest He returning chide;

   "Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?"

I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent

That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need

   Either man's work or His own gifts. Who best

   Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state

Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed,

   And post o'er land and ocean without rest;

   They also serve who only stand and wait."

The truth about 7% - 38% - 55% communication

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 08:39:17 GMT

clipped by: NS-Clips

Clip Source: coachlisab.blogspot.com

The truth about 7% - 38% - 55%

These statistics supposedly come from Albert Mehrabian's book "Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes," a book about nonverbal communication and body language.

However, Mehrabian's research is, most of the time, misunderstood and misinterpreted.

"Please note that this and other equations regarding relative importance of verbal and nonverbal messages were derived from experiments dealing with communications of feelings and attitudes (i.e., like-dislike). Unless a communicator is talking about their feelings or attitudes, these equations are not applicable. Also see references 286 and 305 in Silent Messages -- these are the original sources of my findings."

Here's an article by Dr. Judith E. Pearson, explaining in more detail how this research has been misused.

Using a story or statistic that is incorrect, just because everyone else uses it, is lazy. And unoriginal.