Achieve Your Goals

In late December, I was talking to my family about New Year's resolutions. I asked them what resolutions they had, and their responses surprised me. Apparently, they do not make resolutions anymore. They were so convinced that resolutions were useless, that they have stopped making them. Although in one way, I admired the honesty of this approach, in another way I was somewhat shocked. Achieving your goals is one of the most important things in life, and just because you meet with some failures does not mean you should stop setting concrete goals. After all, you have no chance of learning how to achieve your goals if you never set them!
There are many different ways of setting goals. A lot of people have one method by which they claim you can achieve your goal, but in my experience different methods work for different people. Some people, for example, rely heavily on religious faith to achieve their goals. They will tell you that to achieve your goals, you need Christ, or some other commonly known religious figure at the center of your life.
This may work for them, but it is not the only way to achieve your goal. Other people have a much more concrete approach to setting and achieving goals. They say that, to achieve your goals, you have to think and act like a highly successful person. They use psychological tricks and personal affirmations to help achieve your goal. In many ways, these affirmations work much like religious faith does for those who are more interested in it. Rather than using faith in God to achieve your goals, these people advocate using faith in yourself.
Still other people say that the best way to achieve your goals is through therapy and counseling. They say that the reason people are dysfunctional is because they have certain deep conflicts holding them back from achieving goals in their lives. They advocate all kinds of different therapies to achieve your goals, from solution focused therapy, to psychotherapy, to life coaching.
In my personal life, I believe that the best way to achieve your goals is to combine elements from all of these approaches. If I feel alienated from myself and my goals, sometimes I will make a list and figure out what I have to do, and other times I will pray to God for guidance, or seek out a therapist. The best way to achieve your goals is to figure out what works for you, and for me it depends on the goals, and on what is holding me back.

ADT Security Alarms

There you were, sound asleep in your bed. The house is completely dark, and the night is still. Just another sleep break before that morning sun rises and sends you back to the office. Then it happens. You hear the front doorknob rattle furiously. You immediately perk-up in your bed. You were awoken because this is not an okay, run-of-the-mill sound. It's an odd noise that triggered your brain, letting it know that something is wrong. You spring from the bed, and dash to the door. As you reach it, it creeps open. Now you're standing face-to-face with a criminal. God knows what his intentions are. Okay stop! This is a very bad and scary scenario. In fact, I would bet cash that no one would want this happening to them. Well, there are a few things you can do about it. Let's start with high-tech ADT security alarms. These days you need to go that extra mile with security.
There's a show on television now that's entitled "It takes a thief." This reality series is about home security. The two guys on the show test yours. One is an ex-thief, I believe. He tries his very best to break into your home. This is basically to show you what's wrong. He pinpoints all of your home's weak areas. I think this is a great idea. It's much better to know these things in advance, before a real burglar comes along, or worse. Now, it's not specifically about ADT security alarms. These are just an example of something you can take advantage of to better secure your home. One thing I did learn from this show is that your security system is only good if it's rigged and used properly. You can have the most expensive, advanced alarm system on the market today, but it's worthless if you don't meet all the requirements with locks, secure windows, and all keys out of reach.
If you're considering ADT security alarms or any security system for that matter, I'd do some window shopping first. You may also want to check with an unbiased professional regarding ADT security alarms and several others. Sure, you want your home to be secure and safe for your loved ones, but you don't necessarily have to break the bank to accomplish this.

Jennifer Paige In Japan

Jennifer Paige fan site

Jennifer Paige was born on September 3 1973 in Marietta, Georgia, U.S.A. Her love for singing was obvious since she was only 5. By the age of 8 she was singing duets with her brother and was giving shows in coffeehouses and restaurants. Her first piano lessons came at 10 and she started tasting rock and pop genres. Jennifer admits that her first influences came from Gospel. Her love for the arts brought her to the famous Cobb Country Center where she got individual training in dance, performing arts, voice, drama. Her studies helped her star raise.

After High School she started touring with a Top 40 band. When they got to Las Vegas, Jennifer Paige met actress/singer Crystal Bernand who convinced her to come to L.A. That was what Jen did. She came to L.A. in 1995. She hooked up with another band called Joe's Band. Her 3 years tour with Joe's Band was successful and the highlight of this period was the show they gave in Atlanta in August 1996 in front of 50000 (!!) crowd, during the Olympic Games. In 1997 she teamed with producer Andy Goldmark (who have worked with Elton John, Natalie Cole etc). Goldmark and Jen created a dance version of Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools". She attracted the German Indie Label Edel Records which was looking for a pop persona in order to strengthen their presence in America. When the President of Edel, Jonathan First, heard Jennifer's demo tape, he was so impressed that immediately flew to L.A. in order to sign her.

Paige record her first self titled LP in 1997 for Edel. The album was a huge success. It was released in August 1998. The song "Crush" was a Top Hit. Her producer, Goldmark took a copy of Crush and send it to the Legendary Radio station KIIS. He wanted this song to be Jennifer's introduction to the audience. KIIS directors were enthusiastic with Crush and said Andy "we really wanna play this!!".KIIS was a highly influential Station and this promotion was good for Paige. Crush became the most requested song for KIIS and success was so strong that even Jennifer Paige was surprised. In her interviews she says about Crush: "It's just deep enough, and just light enough. It's silly, but not too silly. It strikes a good balance and doesn't take itself too seriously. And I think the world needs a few more songs like that".

More On Jennifer Paige

Windows Live

Windows Live



There are so many places that you can blog these days. Today lets look at Windows Live , a free blogging and networking platform. With so many options out there you might ask why would I want to use something that is related and owned by Microsoft. That is a great question in my opinion.



The main reason is that this site has a neat networking feature of being able to add friends. While this doesn't sound like much, it can help businesses reach new customers. If you look at this Arlington Heights real estate profile that was just created you will see that at the top there is a section called friends. This list shows the friends of the member and many people will check out this list and read other peoples blogs.



This free exposure can help you build up contacts that you would have never been able to reach on your own. For the little amount of time and effort needed it is worth taking some time to play with this free blogging platform. For more ideas about how to build up your online presence visit WebNewsForUs a site that helps real estate agents generate more exposure online and off.

Stop Smoking

What does it take to stop smoking cigarettes? Self-Hypnosis? A patch? A sympathetic friend? An admonishment from your doctor? A simple switch to pumpkin seeds?
If you are one of the millions who smoke cigarettes, it is no doubt that these questions have floated through your mind time and again. No matter what approach you take to try to stop smoking cigarettes, one thing I have learned is this: You cannot do it using will power alone. Will power may be a component of the solution, but it does not get to the heart of the matter.
In order to stop smoking, you have to cease beating yourself up about it.
Something fundamentally needs to shift in you. The craving needs to disappear. If you have tried being harsh on yourself and that tough approach has not worked, then you have to go easy on yourself. Try going to the opposite extreme and see what happens.
Will power is a feeling of over-effort, a determination to be in control. Will power goes hand in hand with being harsh on yourself. It is an honorable way to tackle things, but unfortunately, it is one that is uncomfortable and usually offers just a temporary solution.
You have to seek deeper. IN order to truly stop smoking cigarettes you have to look within and remove your negative attitudes first. In order to quit the smoking habit, you must first attain a very high degree of self-acceptance for the fact that you do smoke.
"But I already accept myself for smoking!" you may be screaming. Hmmm. Look carefully. Be honest. Be radically honest! If there is even a slight degree of uncomfortableness about not having quit smoking, then you are judging yourself in some way. Judgment locks the craving in place. It has a locking effect because the craving in you is a natural "rebel." If you judge the craving, then that makes the craving fight back even stronger. The "craver" in you rebels and makes you want the cigarettes more intensely
On the other hand, if you let the craving be ok as it is, not being harsh on it, giving it room, not fighting against it, it MUST subside over time. Try it. You have nothing to lose. Smoke slowly. Let your self enjoy every inhale. Let yourself relax with ever exhale. Once you have mastered this practice of acceptance, THEN put your attention on quitting. I am certain you will notice a difference.
At the very least, you will not be as unhappy about learning to stop smoking cigarettes as you were before. Beating yourself up for smoking or for not being able to quit smoking is just as much of a killer as the smoking itself. Beating yourself up kills your mood.
So, take the Zen approach instead. Let yourself feel at peace with the smoking, and then take appropriate action to quit smoking (a patch, a pumpkin seed, or whatever). Make self-acceptance your truest goal, and your goal to stop smoking cigarettes will come much more easily.