Have you ever noticed how some people captivate everyone they speak to? No matter what they look like or how much money they have, they can walk into a room and instantly be the center of attention. When they leave, people think highly of them and want to emulate them. That’s charisma, a sort of magnetism that inspires confidence and adoration.

Like beauty, luck, and social position, charisma can open many doors in life. Unlike these other qualities, anyone can become more charismatic.

1. Improve your posture. Good posture will give the impression of self confidence (even if you don’t feel that way on the inside). While walking, maintain a relaxed yet definitive upright posture: spine long, shoulders back, head level with the ground. This may feel awkward or overpowering to you when you first practice it, but keep trying.
2. Relax the muscles in your face to the point where you have a natural, pleasant expression permanently engraved there. Face the world and show everyone you’re not afraid.
3. Make a connection. When your eyes come in contact with another person’s, nod and smile subtly with a subdued joy shining forth. Don’t worry about the other person’s reaction and don’t overdo it.
4. Remember people’s names when you meet them for the first time. This takes an enormous amount of effort for most people. Repeat the person’s name when stating your name to that person will help you to remember it better. For example: “Hi Jack, I’m Wendy.” Follow through with small talk and repeat the person’s name. Repeat it once more when you say goodbye. It’s not just about helping you to remember that person. The more you say a person’s name, the more that person will feel that you like them and the greater the chance they’ll warm up to you.
5. Be interested in people. If you meet a new acquaintance, for example a coworker, a classmate, a friend of a friend, etc. find out about their immediate family and interests. Be sure to ask after the names of family members and remember them. Be careful in that subject though you don’t want to be nosy. If you ask too much they will become uncomfortable. Also ask after their particular interests in life. These two topics will ensure much better small talk than just harping on about school or work. Most people don’t like to think about those things at social occasions unless they have to. Even if it is about networking, you should understand fully the worth of taking a break from talking shop. It is important to refrain from talking up about yourself. Be purely interested and impressed by the person with whom you are speaking.
6. Orient topics toward the audience. This means taking into account topics that interest those around you, even if you are not so keen on them. If you are in a sporty crowd, talk about last night’s game or the meteoric rise of a new team. If you are amongst a group of hobbyists, draw out their hobbies and make remarks related to fishing, knitting, mountain climbing, movies, etc. Nobody expects you to be an expert. It is your level of interest and willingness to engage in topics that makes you an interesting person to be around. Exercise an open mind. Let others do the explaining. If someone mistakenly thinks you know more about the topic, be genuine and simply say that your knowledge is limited but that you are hoping to learn more about it.
7. Praise others instead of gossiping. If you are talking with someone or you are talking in a group of people, and up pops the subject of another person in a positive or negative way, be the one to mention something you like about that person. Hearsay is the most powerful tool in gaining charm because it is always viewed as 100% sincere. It has the added benefit of creating trust in you. The idea will spread that you never have a bad word to say about anyone. Everyone will know that their reputation is safe with you.
8. Don’t Lie. A lie is something you say for which there is some direct evidence somewhere out there that contradicts it. If you tell Mary that you like Jane and Billy that you don’t like Jane, Mary and Billy will talk and your reputation will be ruined. No one will believe a word you say.
9. Issue compliments generously, especially to raise others’ self esteem. Try to pick out something that you appreciate in any situation and verbally express that appreciation. If you like something or someone, find a creative way to say it and say it immediately. If you wait too long, it may be viewed as insincere and badly timed, especially if others have beaten you to it. If you notice that someone is putting a lot of effort into something, compliment it, even if you feel that there is room for improvement. If you notice that someone has changed something about themselves haircut, manner of dress) notice it, and point out something you like about it. If you are asked directly, be charming and deflect the question with a very general compliment.
10. Be gracious in accepting compliments. Get out of the habit of assuming that the compliment is being given without genuine intent. Even when someone makes a compliment out of contempt, there is always a germ of jealous truth hiding in their own heart. Be effusive in accepting the compliment. Go beyond a mere “thank you” and enjoin this with “I’m glad you like it” or “It is so kind of you to have noticed.” These are “compliments in return.” Avoid backhanding a compliment. There is nothing worse to a person complimenting than to receive the response “Oh well I wish I was as ______ as you/that situation.” That is tantamount to saying, “No, I am not what you are saying I am, and your judgment is wrong.”
11. Control your tone of voice. The tone of your voice is crucial. Most people feel insecure somewhere inside and have an inability to accept praise. For this very reason, when you praise, do it subtly and glibly. When you say, “you look nice today” it should be in the exact same tone that you would use to say “it’s a nice day.” Any variation from your normal tone will arouse suspicion about your sincerity. Practice giving compliments into a recorder and play it back. Does it sound sincere? Practice until you get it right.. It might not sound right to you, in that case, ask someone for judgement.

Tips

• Developing charisma is an art. The general guidelines above can help you be more charismatic, but your charisma must come from within you and must reflect you as an individual or it will appear fake. Fortunately, everyone has the ability to be charismatic, and it simply needs to be coaxed out. Practice and take note of what works and what needs improvement.
• Don’t mimic others. People with well developed charisma have a remarkable ability not only to sway people’s opinions but also to cause others to emulate their personalities and even gestures. At the same time, however, research has shown that charismatic people do not emulate other charismatic people. Their individuality sets them apart.
• Have a message. Don’t be afraid to be controversial, to push the envelope. If you believe in something or feel strongly about it, communicate that in a respectful way. Your charisma will help people be accepting of your ideas.

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“The real problem of leisure time is how to keep others from using yours.” - Arthur Lacey

Are there a hundred different things you wish you could do with your life someday — anything from exercising to meditation or yoga to writing that novel you always wished you could write to reading more to relaxing and watching the sunrise? But perhaps you never have the time, like most people.

The truth is, we all have the same amount of time, and it’s finite and in great demand. But some of us have made the time for doing the things we love doing, and others have allowed the constant demands and pressures and responsibilities of life to dictate their days.

It’s time to move from the second group back into the first. Reclaim your time. Create the life you want and make the most of the free time you lay claim to. It’s not hard, though it does take a little bit of effort and diligence.

Not all of these will be applicable to your life — choose the ones you can apply and give them a try:

1. Take a time out. Freeing up your time starts with taking a step back to take a good look at your life. You need to block off at least an hour. Several hours or half a day is better. A whole day would be awesome. A weekend would be even more ideal, though not necessary practical for many folks. With this block of time, take a look at your life with some perspective. Is it what you’ve always wanted? How would you get to where you’ve always wanted to be? What do you enjoy doing, but don’t have enough time to do? What things actually fill up your day? Are there things you could drop or minimize to make more time? We’ll look at some of these things in the following items, but it starts with taking a time out to think and plan.

2. Find your essentials. What is it that you love to do? Make a short list of 4-5 things. These are the things you want to make room for.

3. Find your time-wasters. What do you spend a lot of your time on that isn’t on your essential list? Take a close look at these things and really think about whether they’re necessary, or if there are ways to reduce, minimize or eliminate these things. Sometimes you do things because you assume they’re necessary, but if you give it some thought you can find ways to drop them from your life. Figure out what you do simply to waste time — maybe surfing certain sites, watching TV, talking a lot at the water cooler, etc. You’re going to want to minimize these time-wasters to make room for the more important stuff, the stuff that makes you happy and that you love to do.

4. Schedule the time. As you sit down and think about your life and what you want to do, versus what you actually do, you will be looking at ways to free up time. It’s crucial that you take a blank weekly schedule (you can just write it out on a piece of paper, or use your calendar) and assign blocks for the things you love — the stuff on your essentials list. If you want to exercise, for example, when will you do it? Put the blocks of time on your schedule, and make these blocks the most important appointments of your week. Schedule the rest of your life around these blocks.

5. Consolidate. There are many things you do, scattered throughout your day or your week, that you might be able to consolidate in order to save time. A good example is errands — instead of running one or two a day, do them all in one day to save time and gas. Another example is email, or any kind of communication — batch process your email instead of checking and reading and responding throughout the day. Same thing with meetings, paperwork, anything that you do regularly.

6. Cut out meetings. This isn’t possible for everyone, but in my experience meetings take up a lot of time to get across a little information, or to make easy decisions that could be made via email or phone. As much as you can, minimize the number of meetings you hold and attend. In some cases this might mean talking to your boss and telling her that you have other priorities, and asking to be excused. In other cases this might mean asking the people holding the meeting if you can get the info in other ways. If so, you’ve saved yourself an hour or so per meeting (sometimes more).

7. De clutter your schedule. If you have a heavily packed schedule, full of meetings and errands and tasks and projects and appointments, you’re going to want to weed it out so that it’s not so jam-packed. Find the stuff that’s not so essential and cancel them. Postpone other stuff. Leave big blank spaces in your schedule.

8. Re-think your routine. Often we get stuck in a routine that’s anything but what we really want our days to be like. Is there a better way of doing things? You’re the creator of your life — make a new routine that’s more pleasant, more optimal, more filled with things you love.

9. Cut back on email. I mentioned email in an earlier point above, regarding consolidating, but it’s such a major part of most people’s lives that it deserves special attention. How often do you check email? How much time do you spend composing emails? If you spend a major part of your work day on email, as many people do (and as I once did), you can free up a lot of time by reducing the time you spend in email. Now, this won’t work for everyone, but it can work for many people: choose 2-3 key times during the day to process your inbox to empty, and keep your responses to 5 sentences.

10. Learn to say no. If you say “yes” to every request, you will never have any free time. Get super protective about your time, and say “no” to everything but the essential requests.

11. Keep your list to 3. When you make out your daily to-do list, just list the three Most Important Tasks you want to accomplish today. Don’t make a laundry list of tasks, or you’ll fill up all your free time. By keeping your task list small, but populated only by important tasks, you ensure that you are getting the important stuff done but not overloading yourself.

12. Do your Biggest Rock first. Of the three Most Important Tasks you choose for the day, pick the biggest one, or the one you’re dreading most, and do that first. Otherwise you’ll put that off as much as possible and fill your day with less important things. Don’t allow yourself to check email until that Big Rock is taken care of. It starts your day with a sense of major accomplishment, and leaves you with a lot of free time the rest of the day, because the most important thing is already done.

13. Delegate. If you have subordinates or coworkers who can do a task or project, try to delegate it. Don’t feel like you need to do everything yourself. If necessary, spend a little time training the person to whom you’re delegating the task, but that little time spent training will pay off in a lot of time saved later. Delegating allows you to focus on the core tasks and projects you should be focusing on.

14. Cut out distractions. What is there around your workspace that distracts you from the task at hand? Sometimes it’s visual clutter, or papers lying around that call for your attention and action, or email or IM notifiers on your computer that pop up at the wrong time, or the phone, or coworkers. See if you can eliminate as many of these as possible — the more you can focus, the more effective you’ll be and the less time you’ll waste. That equals time saved for the good stuff.

15. Disconnect. The biggest of distractions, for most people, is the Internet. My most productive times are when I’m disconnected from the grid. Now, I’m not saying you need to be disconnected all the time, but if you really want to be able to effectively complete tasks, disconnect your Internet so you can really focus. Set certain times of the day for connectivity, and only connect during those periods.

16. Outsource. If you can’t delegate, see if you can outsource. With the Internet, we can connect with people from all over the world. I’ve outsourced many things, from small tasks to checking email to legal work to design and editing work and more. That allows me to focus on the things I’m best at, the things I love doing, and saves me a lot of time.

17. Make use of your mornings. I find that mornings are the absolute best times to schedule the things I really want to do. I run, read and write in the mornings — three of the four things on my Essentials List (spending time with family is the other thing on the list). Mornings are great because your day hasn’t been filled with a bunch of unscheduled, demanding, last-minute tasks that will push back those Essentials. For example, if you schedule something for late afternoon, by the time late afternoon rolls around, you might have a dozen other things newly added to your to-do list, and you’ll put off that late-afternoon Essential. Instead, schedule it for the morning, and it’ll rarely (if ever) get pushed back.

18. The Golden Right-after-work Time. Other than mornings, I find the time just after work to be an incredible time for doing Essential things. Exercise, for example, is great in the 5-o’clock hour, as is spending time with family, or doing anything else relaxing.

19. Your evenings. The time before you go to bed is also golden, as it exists every single day, and it’s usually completely yours to schedule. What do you want to do with this time? Read? Spend time with your kids? Work on a hobby you’re passionate about? Take advantage of this time.

20. Lunch breaks. If the three golden times mentioned above don’t work for you, lunch breaks are another good opportunity to schedule things. Some people like to exercise, or to take quiet times, during their lunch breaks. Others use this time to work on an important personal goal or project.

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The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful.” – Dalai Lama

Life could be so much better for many people, if they would just spot their negative thinking habits and replace them with positive ones.

Negative thinking, in all its many-splendored forms, has a way of creeping into conversations and our thinking without our noticing them. The key to success, in my humble opinion, is learning to spot these thoughts and squash them like little bugs. Then replace them with positive ones. You’ll notice a huge difference in everything you do.

Let’s take a look at 10 common ways that negative thinking emerges — get good at spotting these patterns, and practice replacing them with positive thinking patterns. It has made all the difference in the world for me.

10 Deadly Sins of Negative Thinking

1. I will be happy once I have _____ (or once I earn X).

Problem: If you think you can’t be happy until you reach a certain point, or until you reach a certain income, or have a certain type of house or car or computer setup, you’ll never be happy. That elusive goal is always just out of reach. Once we reach those goals, we are not satisfied — we want more.

Solution: Learn to be happy with what you have, where you are, and who you are, right at this moment. Happiness doesn’t have to be some state that we want to get to eventually — it can be found right now. Learn to count your blessings, and see the positive in your situation. This might sound simplistic, but it works.
2. I wish I were as ____ as (a celebrity, friend, co-worker).

Problem: We’ll never be as pretty, as talented, as rich, as sculpted, as cool, as everyone else. There will always be someone better, if you look hard enough. Therefore, if we compare ourselves to others like this, we will always pale, and will always fail, and will always feel bad about ourselves. This is no way to be happy.

Solution: Stop comparing yourself to others, and look instead at yourself — what are your strengths, your accomplishments, your successes, however small? What do you love about yourself? Learn to love who you are, right now, not who you want to become. There is good in each of us, love in each of us, and a wonderful human spirit in every one of us.

3. Seeing others becoming successful makes me jealous and resentful.

Problem: First, this assumes that only a small number of people can be successful. In truth, many, many people can be successful — in different ways.

Solution: Learn to admire the success of others, and learn from it, and be happy for them, by empathizing with them and understanding what it must be like to be them. And then turn away from them, and look at yourself — you can be successful too, in whatever you choose to do. And even more, you already are successful. Look not at those above you in the social ladder, but those below you — there are always millions of people worse off than you, people who couldn’t even read this article or afford a computer. In that light, you are a huge success.

4. I am a miserable failure — I can’t seem to do anything right.

Problem: Everyone is a failure, if you look at it in certain ways. Everyone has failed, many times, at different things. I have certainly failed so many times I cannot count them — and I continue to fail, daily. However, looking at your failures as failures only makes you feel bad about yourself. By thinking in this way, we will have a negative self-image and never move on from here.

Solution: See your successes and ignore your failures. Look back on your life, in the last month, or year, or 5 years. And try to remember your successes. If you have trouble with this, start documenting them — keep a success journal, either in a notebook or online. Document your success each day, or each week. When you look back at what you’ve accomplished, over a year, you will be amazed. It’s an incredibly positive feeling.

5. I’m going to beat so-and-so no matter what — I’m better than him. And there’s no way I’ll help him succeed — he might beat me.

Problem: Competitiveness assumes that there is a small amount of gold to be had, and I need to get it before he does. It makes us into greedy, back-stabbing, hurtful people. We try to claw our way over people to get to success, because of our competitive feelings. For example, if a blogger wants to have more subscribers than another blogger, he may never link to or mention that other blogger. However, who is to say that my subscribers can’t also be yours? People can read and subscribe to more than one blog.

Solution: Learn to see success as something that can be shared, and learn that if we help each other out, we can each have a better chance to be successful. Two people working towards a common goal are better than two people trying to beat each other up to get to that goal. There is more than enough success to go around. Learn to think in terms of abundance rather than scarcity.

6. Dammit! Why do these bad things always happen to me?

Problem: Bad things happen to everybody. If we dwell on them, they will frustrate us and bring us down.

Solution: See bad things as a part of the ebb and flow of life. Suffering is a part of the human condition — but it passes. All pain goes away, eventually. Meanwhile, don’t let it hold you back. Don’t dwell on bad things, but look forward towards something good in your future. And learn to take the bad things in stride, and learn from them. Bad things are actually opportunities to grow and learn and get stronger, in disguise.

7. You can’t do anything right! Why can’t you be like ____ ?

Problem: This can be said to your child or your subordinate or your sibling. The problem? Comparing two people, first of all, is always a fallacy. People are different, with different ways of doing things, different strengths and weaknesses, different human characteristics. If we were all the same, we’d be robots. Second, saying negative things like this to another person never helps the situation. It might make you feel better, and more powerful, but in truth, it hurts your relationship, it will actually make you feel negative, and it will certainly make the other person feel negative and more likely to continue negative behavior. Everyone loses.

Solution: Take the mistakes or bad behavior of others as an opportunity to teach. Show them how to do something. Second, praise them for their positive behavior, and encourage their success. Last, and most important, love them for who they are, and celebrate their differences.

8. Your work sucks. It’s super lame. You are a moron and I hope you never reproduce.

Problem: I’ve actually gotten this comment before. It feels wonderful. However, let’s look at it not from the perspective of the person receiving this kind of comment but from the perspective of the person giving it. How does saying something negative like this help you? I guess it might feel good to vent if you feel like your time has been wasted. But really, how much of your time has been wasted? A few minutes? And whose fault is that? The bloggers or yours? In truth, making negative comments just keeps you in a negative mindset. It’s also not a good way to make friends.

Solution: Learn to offer constructive solutions, first of all. Instead of telling someone their blog sucks, or that a post is lame, offer some specific suggestions for improvement. Help them get better. If you are going to take the time to make a comment, make it worth your time. Second, learn to interact with people in a more positive way — it makes others feel good and it makes you feel better about yourself. And you can make some great friends this way. That’s a good thing.

9. Insulting People Back

Problem: If someone insults you or angers you in some way, insulting them back and continuing your anger only transfers their problem to you. This person was probably having a bad day (or a bad year) and took it out on you for some reason. If you reciprocate, you are now having a bad day too. His problem has become yours. Not only that, but the cycle of insults can get worse and worse until it results in violence or other negative consequences — for both of you.

Solution: Let the insults or negative comments of others slide off you like Teflon. Don’t let their problem become yours. In fact, try to understand their problem more — why would someone say something like that? What problems are they going through? Having a little empathy for someone not only makes you understand that their comment is not about you, but it can make you feel and act in a positive manner towards them — and make you feel better about yourself in the process.

10. I don’t think I can do this — I don’t have enough discipline. Maybe some other time.

Problem: If you don’t think you can do something, you probably won’t. Especially for the big stuff. Discipline has nothing to do with it — motivation and focus has everything to do with it. And if you put stuff off for “some other time”, you’ll never get it done. Negative thinking like this inhibits us from accomplishing anything.

Solution: Turn your thinking around: you can do this! You don’t need discipline. Find ways to make yourself a success at your goal. If you fail, learn from your mistakes, and try again. Instead of putting a goal off for later, start now. And focus on one goal at a time, putting all of your energy into it, and getting as much help from others as you can. You can really move mountains if you start with positive thinking.

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“A successful investor is not one who never loses, but who stays invested in the market.”

Contrary to popular belief, one does not have to earn a lot of money to become wealthy. Here are some simple Mantras to secure your financial freedom!

Dont procrastinate on wealth creation – Many people procratinate on saving money. They always wait for the next year, next increment, next bonus to start savings and then the cycle repeats again. You do not need to start investing large amounts, start small. Even a years delay makes a huge difference as wealth compounds with time.

Prepone Investments, Postpone expenses - Set targets on how much you want to invest and invest it as soon as you get the money. Do not spend first and save (whatever is left) later.

You do not need crores – It’s a myth that you need lots of money to start investing. Even small amounts over time become large due to the magic of compounding.

Go for the long term – Especially in Equity it is important to invest for the long term. They give the best returns in the long term. For short term look at debt.

Invest Regularly – This is very important. You can invest in SIP’s which average out your risk. For eg. investing 10,000 rupees a month would yield 1 crore in 15 years at a annual rate of 20%.

Don’t link your lifestyle to stock market - When the stock market is rising, our notional wealth increases. Soon we start believing that growth of our wealth is real and long term. This false state of suddenly feeling wealthy leads to change in lifestyle. One of the perils of increasing expenses on your lifestyle during stock market boom is that we get used to comforts and luxuries in life. When economic situation turns bad we will then struggle to curtail our expenses. In fact in reality while markets are rising, we should control our expenses and let our wealth grow. On the other hand when equity markets are down, our wealth is not growing in real terms. Things are also cheaper generally during such periods.

Ignore Rumours - If you are confident about the company you have invested in, leave it. Ignore rumours.

Research & Learn – Learn about budgeting, credit, and debt. Learn how credit cards work! If you get into debt early it can sabotage your progress. Whenever you buy a stock or fund, don’t do it on a tip or whim, but do solid research to back up your buy. Investing can be very interesting and rewarding!

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These are some simple and great ways to destress after a tough day or event!

Work really well for me.

1. Deep breathing. Take a deep breath. Hold it. Now let it out … slowly. Try counting to 10 as you let out your breath. Feel the tension and stress flowing out of you with your breath. Repeat 3-10 times, as necessary.
2. Self-massage. I like to massage my shoulders, neck, head, lower back. It helps a lot. Even better: get your honey to do it for you! Another great relaxation technique is to tense up and then relax each muscle in your body, one at a time, starting from your toes up to your head.
3. Take a walk. When I’m in the middle of stress, I like to take a walk around the building. I also do the deep breathing and self-massage mentioned above as I do so. It’s a great way of letting go of tension and allowing yourself to re-focus.
4. Exercise. This morning, I went to the beach at 5:30 a.m. and went for a swim. It was beautiful at the beach at around sunrise, and the swim was invigorating. Yesterday I went for a bike ride, and the morning before it was a short but refreshing run. Tomorrow I think I’ll do another short run. It really gets the stress out of your system and gives you some quiet time to think when you exercise.
5. Get outdoors. Even if I didn’t do the swim, just being there at the beach, with my decaf coffee was calming. It’s nice to connect with nature and take in the beauty around you. While you’re there, stretch, yawn, take some deep breaths, and enjoy.
6. Disconnect. Turn off the phones, turn off the computer, and shut off the outside world for a little while. These things just raise your stress level. Go offline and forget about the online world! You can do it! Except for Karmic Mantra. That’s the only blog you’re allowed to read when you decompress.
7. Take a day off. That’s what I’m doing today. Don’t tell my boss. I have lots of vacation and sick leave saved up, so it’s not a problem, actually. I’m just going to veg out and allow myself to calm down and center.
8. Meditate. You don’t need to be trained to have a short, relaxing meditation session. Just sit somewhere quiet, close your eyes, relax, and focus on your breathing. Try to concentrate on it coming into your body, and then going out. When other things pop into your head (they will, inevitably), just acknowledge them (don’t try to force them out) and allow them to leave, and then focus again on your breathing. Do this for as long as you can, and then take a couple of cleansing breaths, and get up a new person.
9. Read. I like to throw myself on the couch with a good book. Well, not necessarily a good book — a page-turner. Something that will engross me completely, take my mind off everything else. John Grisham works well for me, as does William Gibson. And Terry Pratchett. Or Ann Patchett, for that matter. And Stephen King. Just get lost in their world.
10. Love. I like to spend time with my kids or my wife. Just snuggle with them, focus on them, forget about the world. They are all that’s important, and sometimes I need that reminder.
11. Take a nap. One of my favorites. Just take a 30-minute nap, and you’re re-set! A nap is like a restart button for life.

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Sometimes work can be a drag. You get caught up in trying to be more productive and suddenly your life turns into a series of to-do lists. You gauge your measure of success by how much you accomplish. You even determine how happy you allow yourself to be by how much you’ve gotten done in the day.

We spend a lot of time trying to find ways to be more productive. To do things faster, better, cheaper and spend our time more effectively. But instead of just doing more in less time, maybe we should focus on actually enjoying the work we’re doing instead.

Here are 8 ways to make work seem like less of a chore and more like a gift:

1. Follow your natural rhythms. A lot of the time I resent working is because I’m trying to force myself to do something I don’t feel like doing. Naturally there will always be some things you’re not crazy about doing (like cleaning the toilet). But how often do you force yourself to work more, when you really want to relax? When you force yourself to work when you’ve promised yourself a break, you’ll likely just end up distracting yourself with other things and put off working. Then you get stressed and end up resenting work. Instead, follow your natural rhythms. When you feel like working, work. When you don’t, don’t. Don’t over complicate things.
2. Do, don’t think. I’m going to stay true to this point and not think about writing something elaborate. Just do, stop thinking about it. Fail, make corrections later.
3. Don’t put sugar in your tank. You wouldn’t put sugar in your gas tank right? It doesn’t make much sense to fill your body up with unhealthy fuel either. If you don’t have the energy to get the work you need to done, work will feel forced.
4. Remove hidden roadblocks. What’s making you avoid working? What’s making your work seem like drudgery rather than joyful? It might have something to do with your beliefs about yourself. Maybe you believe you’re not good enough, smart enough or don’t have enough experience. Question your beliefs about what you can and can’t do.
5. Only do your best. Work can easily become a chore when you’re trying to constantly be perfect. The truth is, some of your ideas might not be so great. Others will be mind blowing. If you can accept that and just do your best, you stop judging yourself. Guess what it feels like when you’re no longer picking over everything you do with a fine toothed comb? It feels extremely liberating. It feels like you can actually enjoy your experience, rather than worrying about how everything is going to turn out. That is working effortlessly.
6. Act from your gut. When you think you have a great idea, believe it. Follow it. Chase it until you’re out of breath and can barely hold yourself up. Because if you don’t trust yourself, you’ll regret it later. The best way to live is to follow your intuition and trust life. If nothing else, trust yourself. Because if you can’t trust yourself, how can you trust your mistrust? That’s not very smart is it?
7. Focus on what matters. Our minds are constantly pulling us in different directions. We have to wash the cat, buy more apple cinnamon oatmeal, finish writing that resignation letter to your no-longer-boss at your dead-end job, and all sorts of other things. We have a tendency to follow what’s urgent instead of what’s important. In order to get the important things done, we have to be ruthless at removing distractions. If it takes bringing a laptop (or notepad) to a cafe to write your grandiose novel, then do that. Avoid the vacuum of minutiae urgency. Remove all distractions so you can focus on the important things. I would much rather spend 4 hours working on an important project, then 4 hours spinning my wheels and scratching my head trying to figure out what I did today.
8. Refuse to do what you don’t want to do. I often avoid working because I’m trying to do things I think I “should do.” I think I should read more because it will make me smarter. I think I should buy new clothes because it will make me cooler. I think I should work on this project because it will be good for my resume. Forget what you think you should do (except maybe… paying your rent). Do what you want to do. Other people will understand. In fact, they’ll probably envy you.

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Developing a lean, flat stomach takes time and patience, especially when it comes to those last few kilograms in those hard to lose places. There is only one way to lose fat in the so-called ’stubborn areas,’ and that is with the correct combination strength training (with a extra focus on mid-section), cardiovascular exercise (short, hard workouts), and stable blood sugar (keeps you from adding additional fat and makes it easier for the body to use body fat for fuel).

Spot Reduction is a Myth - The first thing you need to realize is that it is impossible to ’spot reduce’ fat from one specific part of the body. Fat loss occurs systemically, meaning that you can’t control where the fat comes from. When you burn fat for energy, you will draw it from all areas of the body, and the first place you tend to put it on will be the last place it comes off.

Cardio, cardio, cardio - Doing all the abs exercises in the world will do nothing if you have a layer of fat covering it. Doing strength training, or lifting weights, would help, but not as much as aerobic exercise. If you want to add some ab exercises in after the cardio, that’s great, but be sure to work your whole torso, not just the upper abs — that includes the lower abs, lower back and the muscles that wrap around your sides.

For example, Walking, jogging, bicycling, elliptical exercise and stair climbing are all great fat burners. Most give up early in the workout. During the first 10 minutes of aerobic activity, glycogen (stored carbohydrates) is the primary fuel source. Because you don’t burn significant amounts of fat until glycogen stores are depleted, the key to maximum fat loss is to work out aerobically for 30-60 minutes continuously per session.

Diet – Its best to stay away from fried food and too many sugary desserts. Abdominal fat loss is a 50% exercise, 50% nutrition combination. Regardless of how much you workout, if the number of calories you take in is greater than the amount you burn, you’ll still put on abdominal fat.

Eat Small Meals Regularly - You should try and spread your calories out into five small meals a day instead of 2 or 3 big ones so that you don’t overeat in one feeding.

Give it Time – If you want to have a flat stomach in 3 weeks, forget it. Losing fat takes time, and it’s unhealthy to lose too much weight too fast. Gradual weight loss is healthier, and more likely to be sustained over time. Go for a lifestyle change, something you can live with for the rest of your life, or you will just yo-yo. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

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Are you worried about looking like a hunchback? Here’s a pain free and effective method for safely assuming a ‘correct’ posture and improving muscle tone.

As a great side benefit, it would improve your self esteem and attitude! You will appear and feel more confident which improves your attitude and mood!

1. Know what good posture is believed to be. Most people think that to “stand up straight” means tensing your back to heave your chest ‘in and up’, and pulling your head back in to your chest. This is not so. The spine has two natural curves that you need to maintain called the ‘double C’ or ‘S’ curves, these are the curves found from the base of your head to your shoulders and the curve from the upper back to the base of the spine. When standing straight up, make sure that your weight is evenly distributed on your feet. You might feel like you are leaning forward, and look stupid, but you don’t. [This needs an image]
2. Using a mirror, align your ears, shoulders, and hips. [This needs an image] Proper alignment places your ears loosely above your shoulders, above your hips. Again, these points make a straight line, but the spine itself curves in a slight ‘S’. You’ll find that this doesn’t hurt at all. If you do experience pain, look at your side view in a mirror to see if you’re forcing your back into an unnatural position. If so, stop it!
3. Do exercises that strengthen the muscles across your upper back and shoulders. These do not have to be strenuous! Try the following, with or without hand weights:
   • Align your ears over your shoulders. Raise both arms straight up, alongside your ears. Remember to keep your ears aligned! Bend forearms toward shoulders to touch your shoulder blades. Do 10 repetitions with both arms, then alternate 10 reps for each arm singularly.
   • Align ears with shoulders. Raise both arms out to sides at shoulder length. Hold for a slow count of ten. Slowly lower arms to sides, counting ten as you lower. Slowly raise arms back to shoulder height, counting to ten as you raise arms. Do ten reps, constantly checking your alignment! If ten reps are too many to start, do as many as you can. You should at least feel a slight fatigue in the shoulder muscles.
   • Be a penguin. While you wait for a web page to load, toast to pop, or the microwave to beep, place elbows at your side, and touch your shoulders with your hands. Keeping your hands on your shoulders, and your ears aligned, raise both elbows (count one, two) and lower them back to your waist (count one, two). Do as many reps as your wait allows. You’ll be surprised how much exercise fits into 30 seconds.
4. Do stretches. This can greatly help if you find that you have a sore back or neck after a while.
   • Tilt (stretch) your head in all four directions over your shoulders (forward, back, left, right), and gently massage your neck. Avoid rolling in a circle, as it may cause further strain.
   • On your hands and knees, curl your back upwards, like a cat, and then the opposite. Think about being able to place a bowl in the hollow of your back.
5. Repeat the exercises a few times each day. Doing them in the morning helps your body stretch out the muscle lethargy of sleep, and periodically throughout the day helps raise your energy level without a heavy workout.
6. Doing yoga is also excellent for posture. You can take a class or find a good workout video.

Sitting

1. Sit in an office chair.
2. Align your back with the back of the office chair. Avoid slouching or leaning forward, especially when tired from sitting in the office chair for long periods. Keep your shoulders straight.
3. Flex your arms at a 75 to 90 degree angle at the elbows. You may have to adjust the office chair.
4. Make sure your neck, back, and heels are all aligned.
5. Keep both feet flat on the floor. If there’s a problem with feet reaching the floor comfortably, a footrest can be used along with the office chair.

Standing

1. Stand with weight mostly on the balls of the feet, not with weight on the heels. Avoid locking your knees.
2. Keep feet slightly apart, about shoulder-width.
3. Let arms hang naturally down the sides of the body.
4. Tuck the chin in a little to keep the head level. Be sure the head is square on top of the neck and spine, not pushed out forward
5. Stand straight and tall, with shoulders upright.
6. Stand against a wall with shoulders and bottom touching wall. In this position, the back of the head should also touch the wall – if it does not, the head is carried too far forward (anterior head carriage).

Walking

1. Keep the head up and eyes looking straight ahead. Avoid pushing your head forward.
2. Keep shoulders properly aligned with the rest of the body.

Carrying Objects

1. Always bend at the knees, not the waist.
2. Use the large leg and stomach muscles for lifting, not the lower back.
3. If necessary, get a supportive belt to help maintain good posture while lifting.
4. When carrying a heavy or large object, keep it close to the chest.
5. If carrying something with one arm, switch arms frequently.
6. When carrying a backpack or purse, keep it as light as possible, and balance the weight on both sides as much as possible, or alternate from side to side.

Driving

1. Sit with the back firmly against the seat for proper back support. The seat should be a proper distance from the pedals and steering wheel to avoid leaning forward or reaching.
2. The headrest should support the middle of the head to keep it upright. Tilt the headrest forward if possible to make sure that the head-to-headrest distance is not more than four inches.

Sleeping

1. A relatively firm mattress is generally best for proper back support, although individual preference is very important.
2. Sleeping on the side or back is usually more comfortable for the back than sleeping on the stomach.
3. Use a pillow to provide proper support and alignment for the head and shoulders.
4. Consider putting a rolled-up towel under the neck and a pillow under the knees to better support the spine.
5. If sleeping on the side, a relatively flat pillow placed between the legs will help keep the spine aligned and straight.

A great side benefit of keeping your head straight, and your ears/shoulders/hips aligned is an improvement in your self-esteem and attitude. If you walk with your head up, you appear more confident, and feel more confident, which improves your attitude and mood, making it easier to walk with your head up.

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“80 percent of success is showing up.” – Woody Allen

You know you need to work out, but you’re having trouble getting up the enthusiasm. How do you find motivation to exercise when you just don’t feel like getting off your butt? I ask myself this question every now and then, and I have the feeling I’m not the only one.

There are a million ways to motivate yourself to exercise, actually, but these are a few that have worked for me.

• Have fun. If you hate running, don’t go to the track for exercise. Find something you like. The list of different kinds of exercises are nearly endless. The only really important thing is to get your body moving and your heart rate up.
• How you feel after a workout. I always feel great after a good workout. It’s a high. And I let that motivate me the next time.
• Calories burned. If you count calories (and it’s really one of the most effective ways to lose weight), you know that the more you exercise, the more calories you burn — and the bigger your calorie deficit.
• How you’re going to look. Imagine a slimmer, fitter you. Now let that visualization drive you.
• Change it up. Even if you have a routine you enjoy, mix it up from time to time. Try entirely different exercises. You can check out a tape at the library and try yoga or kick boxing for an afternoon. This will not only keep you interested, it will break your muscles out of their routine and help produce better results.
• Get a buddy. Exercising with a friend introduces a positive kind of peer pressure. You will be more likely to go to the gym if you know someone is waiting there for you. Talking and laughing while exercising will also keep you from being bored.
• An exercise log/graph. For some reason, writing it down is extremely important. Really. Do it for a week and you’ll see what I mean.
• Get appropriate clothing. If you don’t have the appropriate clothes for the excercise, it can be irritating, uncomfortable, frustrating, or even unsafe. If you exercise outside after dusk, be sure you have reflective clothing to prevent traffic accidents. Also be sure the clothing looks nice; if you don’t like the way your clothing looks, you may feel uncomfortable, and less likely to exercise.
• Pack Ahead of Time: An iPod, athletic shoes, a towel… whatever. Walking around the house trying to find stuff is a good time to lose your resolve. Put everything together in your gym bag. When you finish working out, take out things that need to be laundered and replace them immediately.
• Have a Goal. What do you want to achieve? Make it specific, make it meaningful, make it obtainable. Be sure to have short-term benchmarks along the way. It’s OK to change your goals if the original plan doesn’t work, but have a goal. Regularly evaluate how you are doing on your goals.
• Success stories. I find the success stories of others incredibly inspirational. If a fitness website has success stories, I’ll almost always read them.
• Reward Yourself. Have a healthy reward when you reach a goal. Buy yourself that cute pair of bike shorts. Go for a weekend hiking tri. Soak in the sauna for your “workout” that day. Buy a new yoga video. Whatever works for you to celebrate in line with your healthy lifestyle!

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Anyone who is overweight will testify that losing weight is not as easy as it seems. The people that are lean, or have gone from fat to skinny will say it’s just a matter of motivation and elbow grease. Although it is not as simple as that. Our environments have waged war on us. Their weapons are sedentary lives and trans fats of mass destruction. All is not lost though, here are some quick simple tips to get ahead!

1. Substitute Water. Our bodies are about 65-70% water. It follows that water would be not only essential, but the best possibly choice of liquids to ingest. In fact, our bodies will sometimes simulate a hunger response, when in reality the body is craving hydration. When hungry, drink a glass or two of water to check if it suppresses your hunger.
2. Chew Your Food. Chewing our food very slowly and deliberately has several benefits that are often overlooked. It gives us the ability to relax, and enjoy our meal. Slow chewing is the first, and highly important, step in a complex system of digestion. Besides, if we eat slowly, we might feel full before finishing the whole meal, and can leave the rest for the next meal.
3. Exercise daily. How silly of me to include something as obvious as exercise. I did a 30 day trial with waking up, and walking for 30 minutes first thing in the morning. My journal records that I was feeling amazing during the period of time that I was following this habit.
4. Publicize your intentions. Start a blog, join a forum, and have other people keep you accountable to help. Tell other people your plan, it would help you get the motivation to go with it!
5. Create a food schedule. Plan your day so that you’re eating at approximately the same time each day. This scheduling will incorporate itself into your circadian rhythm, and aid in digestion.
6. Do not over eat. Know your limit and stop eating when you are full. I have often been a victim of wanting to finish a meal so that it doesn’t go to waste. This has left me with many a stomach ache. Next time, doggy bag it for later, and don’t hurt yourself!
7. Choose your snacks wisely. Put down the Lays® and cheese puffs. Pick up the apple and baby carrots. Make the right decision, I know you can do it.
8. Lifestyle. Remember, it’s not about special diets, or special exercise programs. The real secret is in turning your health into a lifestyle, and focusing on this healthy lifestyle with every choice you make.

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The paper was very easy.
The mcq's were really easy.
Most of the mcq's were from the last 5 lecture.
and from jacobi's method and other's.
then the logical mcq's like
s inverse * s = I
it was repeated twice.
one 5 mark question was from newton's rapson method
one 10 mark question was from lecture 11 page 69 example
best of luck

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Total Question 42

40 MCQS (1 to 20 lecture)

2 Short Questions of 5 Marks each

1.What is competitive intelligence program. Discus three basic missions of competitive intelligence program?

2.Explain Merger & Acquisition with the help of examples. Examples should be multinational or local companies.

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MIDTERM EXAMINATION
7th Dec 2009
MGT101- Financial Accounting
Question No: 1 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Income of the business includes:
► Cash sales only
► Credit sales only
► Credit purchases only
► Both cash sales and credit sales
Question No: 2 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Consider the following:
Beginning inventory 10 units @ Rs. 10 per unit
First purchase 35 units @ Rs. 11 per unit
Second purchase 40 units @ Rs. 12 per unit
Third purchase 20 units @ Rs. 13 per unit
Eighty-five units were sold, what is the value of the ending inventory using the FIFO method of inventory costing?
► Rs.260
► Rs.232
► Rs.284
► Rs.320
Question No: 3 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following is NOT an example of Current Asset?
► Bank Overdraft
► Accounts Receivable
► Notes Receivable
► Prepaid Expenses
Question No: 4 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
We can say that the business is in profit, when:
► Assets exceed Expenditure
► Assets exceed Liabilities
► Income exceeds Expenditure
► Income exceeds Liabilities

Question No: 5 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following essentials are shown in Cash Book?
(1) Date of transaction
(2) Narration of transaction
(3) Cheque number
► (1) & (2) only
► (2) & (3) only
► (1) & (3) only
► (1), (2) & (3)
Question No: 6 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Income of the business includes:

► Cash sales only
► Credit sales only
► Credit purchases only
► Both cash sales and credit sales
Question No: 7 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Economic resources owned by a business and expected to benefit for the future operations are called:
► Expenses
► Assets
► Capital
► Liabilities
Question No: 8 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following account will be credited, when the goods are purchased on cash?
► Stock account
► Cash account
► Supplier account
► Work in process account
Question No: 9 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
If the cost of sales is Rs. 60,000, sales are Rs. 95,000 and operating expenses are Rs.20,000 during the year. What would be the Net Profit?
► Rs.15,000
► Rs. 35,000
► Rs. 55,000
► Rs. 60,000
Question No: 10 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following account balance will be shown on debit side of Trial Balance? (It is assumed that all account balances are shown on normal balance).
► Capital account
► Sundry creditors account
► Accounts payable account
► Cash account
Question No: 11 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following account will be debited, if business bought goods on cash from Mr. Ali?
► Purchases account
► Mr. Ali account
► Cash account
► Sales account
Question No: 12 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
A summarized record of transactions related to individuals or things is called a/an ___.
► Account
► Voucher
► Journal
► Trial balance
Question No: 13 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
When a assets is increased, it is recorded on the:
► Right or debit side of the account
► Left or debit side of the account
► Left or credit side of the account
► Right or credit side of the account
Question No: 14 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Cost incurred for the maintenance of shop is considered as _________.
► Deferred expense
► Capital expense
► Revenue expense
► Preliminary expense
Question No: 15 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Double entry accounting system includes:
► Accrual accounting only
► Cash accounting only
► Both cash and accrual accounting
► None of the given options
Question No: 16 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
The allocation of the cost of a tangible plant asset to expense in the periods, in which services are received from the asset, is termed as:
► Appreciation
► Depreciation
► Fluctuation
► None of the given options
Question No: 17 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Under the reducing balance method of depreciation:

► Amount of depreciation increases every year
► Amount of depreciation remains constant for every year
► Amount of depreciation decreases every year
► None of the given options
Question No: 18 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Consider the following:
Beginning inventory 10 units @ Rs. 10 per unit
First purchase 35 units @ Rs. 11 per unit
Second purchase 40 units @ Rs. 12 per unit
Third purchase 20 units @ Rs. 13 per unit
Eighty units were sold, what is the value of the ending inventory using the FIFO method of inventory costing?
► Rs.260
► Rs.232
► Rs.284
► Rs.320
Question No: 19 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Cost of asset Rs. 1,00,000
Life of asset 5 years
Depreciation for each year Rs. 5,000
Sale price after 5 years Rs.50,000
Profit or Loss ?
► Rs.25, 000
► Rs. 75,000
► Rs. 15,000
► Rs. 1, 00,000
Question No: 20 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
In accounting accumulated depreciation is:
► Treated as a reserve
► Treated as a contra asset
► Treated as a surplus
► Treated as an expense
Question No: 21 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Cash book is a part of:
► Voucher
► General Journal
► General Ledger
► Trial Balance
Question No: 22 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following organization converts raw material into finished goods?
► Trading concern
► Manufacturing concern
► Merchandising concern
► Service concern
Question No: 23 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following account will be credited, if business purchased a vehicle on cash?
► Vehicle account
► Cash account
► Business account
► Bank account
Question No: 24 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following essentials are shown in Bank Book?
(1) Date of transaction
(2) Narration of transaction
(3) Cheque number
► (1) & (2) only
► (2) & (3) only
► (1) & (3) only
► (1), (2) & (3)
Question No: 25 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Commercial Accounting is based on:
► Single entry book keeping
► Double entry book keeping
► Both single and double entry book keeping
► Cash basis of book keeping
Question No: 26 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
A book, in which receipts and payments are recorded, is known as:
► Pass Book
► Cash Book
► Purchase Book
► Sales Book
Question No: 27 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Commercial Accounting is based on:
► Single entry book keeping
► Double entry book keeping
► Both single and double entry book keeping
► Cash basis of book keeping
Question No: 28 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Which of the following account will be credited, when the goods are purchased on cash?
► Stock account
► Cash account
► Supplier account
► Work in process account
Question No: 29 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Following are the inventories of Trading Concern EXCEPT:
► Raw material
► Work in process
► Finished goods
► Merchandise inventory
Question No: 30 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Word “Credit” is derived from ______ language.
► Latin
► English
► French
► Chinese
Question No: 31 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one

"Mr. “A” collected cash from debtors", the journal entry for this transaction is:
► Mr. "A" a/c Dr. and debtors a/c Cr.
► Mr. "A" a/c Dr. and cash a/c Cr.
► Cash a/c Dr. and debtors a/c Cr.
► None of the given options
Question No: 32 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
The assets which have a limited useful life are termed as:
► Limited assets
► Depreciateable assets
► Unlimited assets
► None of the given options
Question No: 33 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
When Capital is increased by an amount, it is recorded on the:
► Left or credit side of the account
► Right or debit side of the account
► Left or debit side of the account
► Right or credit side of the account
Question No: 34 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
Depreciable value of an asset is equal to:
► Cost + scrap value
► Cost + market price
► Cost – scrap value
► None of the given options
Question No: 35 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
The area of accounting concerned with reporting financial information to the interested parties is called:
► Cost Accounting
► Financial Accounting
► Management Accounting
► Tax Accounting
Question No: 36 ( Marks: 1 ) - Please choose one
What would be the affect on the components of the accounting equation, if goods are purchased on cash?
► Increase in cash and decrease in equity
► Increase in cash and increase in goods
► Increase in goods and decrease in cash
► Increase in equipment and increase in equity
Question No: 41 ( Marks: 10 )
How you can distinguish between Sole proprietorship, Partnership and Joint Stock company?

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