Saturday, June 30, 2007

Why Is Failure The Steppingstone To Success?

Copyright 2007 Kent Jacobson a.k.a. Mr. SuccessHow does failure benefit you? I think it is quite simple, forevery failure you experience you learn what does not work or abehavior you know not to repeat. Do not be afraid of failure. Thepervasive misperception is that failure is somehow bad for you. Ithink failure is just the opposite and have identified 8 reasonswhy failure is your steppingstone to success.1. Failure fuels determination2. Failure forces creativity3. Failure makes you use you mind4. Failure facilitates change5. Failure separates the strong from the weak6. Without failure you have no motivation to try again7. Without failure there is limited opportunity to learn8. Without failure you become complacentThe notion is basic, failure is the change agent to you becomingsuccessful; do not let the negative perception surrounding itbring you down. You are in charge of your life and turning thefailure into a positive experience.============================================================Kent Jacobson, a.k.a. "Mr. Success" is a trusted authority in thesuccess field and provides valuable success information for freethrough his website at: http://www.Shortcut2Success.com . You canalso read Kent's Success Blog to find more success secrets at:http://www.Shortcut2Success.com/blog ============================================================Read More Articles From Kent Jacobson a.k.a. Mr. Success:http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/d/index.shtml#Kent_Jacobson_a.k.a._Mr._Success

Friday, June 22, 2007

How To Have Healthy And Normal Cholesterol Levels?

A lot has been written in recent years about blood cholesterollevels. Not all that long ago, it was thought that eating foodshigh in cholesterol caused you have have high blood cholesterollevels, and this in turn could lead to heart disease, heartatacks, and other heart related problems. And because of thesebeliefs and fears, people were encouraged to eat foods superlow in fat. The problem with that philosophy and teaching is that it was abit too generic and broad. There are actually types of fat thatare good for you. In fact, these so-called "good fats" areessential for proper nutrition and health. There are also "badfats" however, which can be a contributing factor to health andheart related problems. Cholesterol levels in your blood now have a similardistinction. Where once it was believed that you need to haveyour total cholesterol levels below a certain number - such as200mg - now it's becoming clear through scientific studies andresearch that this isn't always a good measuring stick.Instead, there is "good" and "bad" cholesterol. And thosenumbers are what's important, along with the ratio of one toanother. LDL cholesterol is considered the "bad" type, and that standsfor low-density lipoprotein. Without going into a lot ofmedical and scientific terminology, let's suffice it to saythat LDL cholesterol can have harmful reactions in the humanbody. In contrast, there's HDL, or high-density lipoprotein,which creates beneficial reactions in the human body. If you find it difficult to remember which one is supposed tobetter and which isn't, think of LDL cholesterol as the one youwant to keep low - use the L at the beginning as a remindertrigger - and HDL is the one you want to keep higher(H=Higher). The ratio between your LDL and HDL cholesterollevels is important too. Now unfortunately testing is still a bit imprecise. In somecases, medical professionals will still do a generalcholesterol test which gives you the overall levels. It'sbecoming more common though, to at least estimate the LDL toHDL cholesterol ratios, or total cholesterol to HDL levels, butboth of these are estimates instead of actual measurements. Some say that LDL levels should fall at or below 100mg, whilenewer recommendations are calling for less than 70mg. Whentotal cholesterol to HDL is measured, it's said a 5:1 ratio orless is best. Now you can get cholesterol from foods. Primary sources ofcholesterol are from animal products such as eggs, peanuts,flax seeds, and beef. Some cholesterol can be found in plantsas well, but it's usually a much smaller amount. Most peopleassume - and books even teach - that there is no cholesterol inplants at all. This is a misunderstanding however, because theAmerican FDA does not require it to be on food labels if thereis less than 2mg per serving. Keep in mind though, that eating foods which containcholesterol does not mean you'll automatically have cholesterolrelated health problems. Some of these problems can be caused by- or at least contributed to - by poor eating habits in general,poor exercise, and genetics. Cholesterol levels can be hereditary. Like many health problemstoday, it's been found that some genetic backgrounds have muchhigher risks for certain health problems than others do.About The Author: If you're concerned about keeping yourcholesterol levels on a healthy track, you should considertrying herbal supplements designed specifically for this. Visithttp://www.1healthybody.com/ for more information on this now!

Friday, June 1, 2007

Tea: Can Tea Reduce Your Stress Level?

Tea: Can Tea Reduce Your Stress Level?Copyright (c) 2007 Jon M. StoutGolden Moon Teahttp://www.GoldenMoonTea.comOur lives are busier today than ever. We work longer hours andhave hectic family lives, too. All of this activity can lead tohigher stress levels, and the physical symptoms that accompanysuch high stress levels.High levels of stress can lead to headaches, vision troubles,joint stiffness and other physical symptoms. Over time, thesesymptoms can turn into more significant physical problems. Longterm exposure to extreme stress causes serious back and neckproblems, psychological problems and even high blood pressure insome people.In addition, stress causes our bodies to release the hormonecortisol. Cortisol often causes weight gain; meaning that toomuch stress can often make you fat. There are two importantpieces to managing stress in your life.The first piece to managing stress is reducing it where you can.Take a look at your life and remove the things causing you stresswherever possible. For example, does your high traffic commutecause you to arrive at work already stressed out? Considerpublic transportation, carpooling, working from home or alteringyour hours to avoid traffic.Is your family life too hectic with sports and activities?Consider reducing the number of activities your familyparticipates in. Keep the ones that bring the most pleasure, butallow your family a few nights at home with no activities.The second part of preventing stress from causing you physicaland emotional difficulties is managing the stress you can'tavoid. No matter how hard we try, none of us will be able tocompletely rid our lives of stress.So, get rid of stress where you can, but then learn to manage thestress you have left. How you react to stressors in your life iscritical, and it is something you can have some control over.Employing stress reduction techniques on a regular basis can havea powerful influence on your ability to manage stress. Some ofthe most popular stress reduction techniques include:Exercise - Not only is exercise good for the body, it's good forthe mind, too. Exercise can relieve physical symptoms of stresslike tight muscles and can relieve psychological symptoms, too,since focusing on the physical and rhythmic elements of exercisecan often relieve the stress that's weighing on your mind.Yoga and Stretching - Yoga and its relaxing stretches can be agreat way to soothe the mind and work out the kinks in the body.Like other forms of exercise, yoga helps free your mind from yourstresses and worries, too.Meditation - Many people swear by their meditation routine.Meditation teaches your mind to "turn off". Whether yourmeditation consists of 5 minutes of sitting in a quiet room withyour eyes closed or a more complex routine including music andguided meditation, it's a very successful stress reductiontechnique. When you teach your brain to "turn off' for a fewminutes, you'll also find that you've taught it to focus moreintently when needed. This can be beneficial when you need toconcentrate to work out problems.There are numerous other stress management techniques that workfor many people. Pilates, crafts and hobbies, music and dance canall be great ways to relieve stress. The key is making the timeto do the things that help you to cope with the stress in yourlife.Watch What You Eat and DrinkWhen you're under stress, your diet can either help or hurt you.Eating nutritious foods can make you feel better. On the otherhand, foods full of sugar and fat can weigh you down, making youfeel worse than before. So, eat a healthy diet to stay at yourbest even when stress is getting you down.Some studies have suggested that you can benefit from drinkingtea when you're under stress. In particular, a study conductedby the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine and NaturalProducts in China studied the effects of tea on women understress. Fifty five Chinese women were studied over a period oftime while under a regimen of oolong tea. The women's stressorsand physical symptoms of stress were monitored.The women were divided into three groups. One group receiveddaily doses of oolong tea, one group received barley tea and thethird group received water. Barley tea is a very popular beveragein Asia and is made from barley kernels rather than the camelliasinensis plant, where regular tea comes from. Barley tea isconsidered to be an overall healthy beverage.During the study, participants received their test beverage twicein the morning and twice in the evening. They were also subjectedto work and deadlines designed to cause stress.The results of the study concluded that the women who consumedtea showed reduced signs of physical stress related symptoms likeheadaches, stiffness in the neck and back and eye fatigue. Thoseparticipants receiving oolong tea showed greater benefit thanthose receiving barley tea. However, participants receivingbarley tea showed greater benefit than the participants receivingwater.In addition to relief in physical symptoms, participantsreceiving oolong tea also showed a reduction in the amount ofcortisol released by the brain.This study's conclusions provide powerful help to those of ustrying to reduce the stress in our lives. Simply ensuring that wedrink tea on a regular basis may help us to cope with the stressin our lives more easily and may help us reduce the physicalproblems that go along with stress.We may even be able to decrease the amount of cortisol releasedby our bodies during stress, avoiding the weight gain that sooften accompanies periods of high stress in our lives.Tea is a delicious and healthy beverage. It has no side effectsand is generally well tolerated by everyone. There's no reasonwhy we can't all add tea to our diets to help us manage stressmore effectively.-------------------------------------------------------Jon M. Stout is Chairman of the Golden MoonTea Company. For more information about tea,(http://www.goldenmoontea.com/greentea) green tea (http://www.goldenmoontea.com/blacktea) and black tea go to http://www.goldenmoontea.com