Posts Tagged end

By Mike Stanton-Rich

Who has not had their time and energy consumed by an organization or club? Let’s face it; many organizations are geared toward consuming every available hour that a person has to offer. Many organizations I encounter, from churches/religious groups, to charitable organizations, to volunteer groups, to clubs, most are kept running by a small number of persons who are extremely committed to the cause, and who work tirelessly to keep it going.

Observe most of the groups to which you belong and you discover a handful of people doing most of the work that keep the wheels turning. In the occasional sports club or leisure group I have been involved, it was one or no more than two people who kept the group corralled. If asked why members of the total group don’t participate in the administration of the club, there unanimity: “I don’t have time for the meetings.”

What a delight it is to discover other models of doing business, to discover organizations that are designed for full involvement, but not consumption of its members.

This kind of organization is light on meetings and heavy on team delegation. Every once in awhile I come across this kind of group and there are keys to their effectiveness:

Lots of emphasis on team and small group responsibility- These groups put motivated people in charge of a task, give them support, and get out of the way. It makes for fewer meetings, and often more gets done. Small groups of three to four people tackling a specific task will almost always bring better results than a whole board or committee dealing with the issue.

Emphasize future programs and coming events vs. past happenings- Effective groups spend more time on planning the future, and less dissecting the past. There is always the need to evaluate, but the reason for evaluation is an improved future. Give me an organization focused on the future, and I will show you one that has great potential.

Do as much work by phone/email as possible- Many meetings can be pre-empted by the exchange of emails or phone call and coming to a group consensus without ever scheduling a time and place. Take advantage.

Set meeting end times and stick to them- It is amazing what can get done in a short amount of time when there is an expectation of an end time for a meeting.

Practice humor and joy as a part of meeting times- When you have to meet face to face, a meeting should be led with a sense of humor and with a light touch. People will come back to a joyful experience.

See if these hints might lead to more leisure in your life.

About the Author: Mike Stanton-Rich is “The Leisure Guy.” Armed with a Ph.D. in Leisure Studies and years studying stress and burnout, he writes regular articles and features about enhancing work and leisure. Catch his latest at: http://www.theleisureguy.com

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=10080&ca=Business+Management

Original post: Organize For More Leisure

By Ellen Kreidman, Ph.D.

A marriage vow is supposed to be an inviolate thing, a binding commitment between two people to spend the rest of their lives together. This includes through better or worse, richer or poorer and in sickness or good health; we all know the drill. Every married couple repeats the vows or variations on them and, at the time, the vast majority of these people mean what they recite and fully intend to honor those vows. The unwritten assumption is that there are always ups and downs in any marriage, but on the whole, the relationship is assumed to be strong enough to survive these bumps and should in fact become stronger for them.

Yet, it’s a fact of life that nearly half of all American marriages end in divorce. In Canada, it’s over a third of all marriages. In some European countries, divorce rates actually exceed fifty percent! For a society that generally considers marriage the pinnacle of adult relationships and the foundation for a family, these aren’t statistics to be proud of.

Traditional Marriage Counseling has not been particularly successful for many people and that shortcoming is reflected in the dismal marriage failure statistics. It’s not necessarily a lack of commitment on the part of the spouses who are trying to work their way through a difficult time; in fact, traditional marriage counseling can become a multi-year exercise that requires a significant investment in time, money and emotion. People are enduring this in the hope of piecing their marriages back together. Still, that extraordinarily high divorce rate remains.

Many marriage counselors end up creating a dependency, where couples are afraid to make any move without first consulting their therapist. Spouses tend to be of different temperaments and therapy sessions can be overwhelming for one of the partners, creating or amplifying an existing emotional imbalance in the relationship. Sessions tend to focus on the problems, the negatives in the relationship, and that frequently means singling out one partner for their transgressions. There can be a great deal of emotional energy created in a traditional therapy session, but all too often it’s negative energy: resentment or anger. How can that negativity help the couple struggling to save their marriage?

If you are in a troubled marriage, instead of automatically turning to the phone book and stepping onto the therapy treadmill, perhaps you should Save Marriage Counseling as a last resort; at least traditional marriage counseling.

What is it that makes a married man or woman take the risk of engaging in an extramarital affair? While many people assume it’s simply boredom, money or outright sexual attraction, often the root cause can be traced back to the fact that everyone likes to feel special. Consciously or subconsciously, people get married in the first place in large part because they feel special when they’re with their partner. When that partner no longer makes them feel special, they begin to seek a bond with others in an attempt to recapture that “special” feeling.

There are Online Marriage Counseling services available that avoid the pitfalls of traditional marriage counseling. Instead of sitting in an office, re-opening old wounds as you are prompted to go though the litany of ways you and your spouse have hurt each other, the alternative is to listen to an expert as they walk through real-life examples and focus on the positive experiences of marriage. It’s all done in the privacy of your own home (or car, or wherever you choose to listen to the CDs), on your timetable and benefits can be realized even if only one of the spouses chooses to take part. Instead of digging through the relationship’s dirt, the emphasis is on learning how to fulfill each other’s needs so that each partner once again feels special. This is a positive approach that can give a marriage a much-needed fresh start. The approach has been proven successful and leading practitioners have been featured in the media, including appearances on Oprah, The View and The Today Show, not to mention leading publications including USA Today, The New York Times and Cosmopolitan.

In the end the choice is up to you: months or years of ongoing, intensive and emotionally-charged therapy, or a short, positive re-enforcement of why you chose to get married in the first place.

About the Author: This article was written by Ellen Kreidman, Ph.D. for LightYourFire.com, who has shown thousands of couples that you don’t need marriage counseling to bring back the feelings you had when you first fell in love. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.lightyourfire.com/

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=262089&ca=Marriage

Go here to see the original: Online Marriage Counseling: A Positive Step Toward Saving Your Marriage

Every bride has a dream wedding in mind. Regardless of whether it is classic or modern, elegant or simple, beach or fantasy, the bride wants to be the center of attention during her wedding. As this is her day to say “I do”, she wants everyone to look and stare at her in awe. But even with this goal in mind, many brides tend to commit various fashion and beauty faux pas. Unfortunately, their mistakes are often caught on tape and are remembered by many for years to come.

If you want to be a bride that will be remembered with awe and inspiration, follow these tips below:

1. Get Easy On The Tan

If you don’t want to look like a roasted pig on your wedding, then you need to take it easy on the tan. You do not have to be as red as a crustacean. If you want some color, be sure to go under the tanning bed at least two weeks before the day of the celebration. The same is true if you want your tan to be sprayed. You don’t want your wedding videos to end up being submitted in America’s Funniest Videos because you look like a tomato saying “I do” on a white serving platter.

2. Get A Facial At Least A Week Before The Wedding

Another mistake that brides commit is having a facial the day before the wedding. As a result, they end up blotchy or with a big red pimple on their big day. There is nothing wrong with having a facial. You want your skin to glow and be absolutely free of acne. However, the day after the facial, your skin is usually raw and prone to breakouts. So what do you have to do? Make sure that you schedule your facial or body scrub several days prior to your wedding day.

3. Take Time To Find That Perfect Dress

Somewhere out there, there is a perfect dress for you that is within your budget. You just have to invest some time and a lot of effort in looking for it. However, you have to make sure that what you choose has a classic cut so that when you look at your pictures 20 years after your wedding, you wouldn’t find it hilariously outdated. Furthermore, take into consideration your venue when choosing a dress. You don’t want to end up looking like a medieval princess in a beach setting.

4. Don’t Date Your Do

Unless your wedding is themed, it would be best to choose a hairstyle and makeup that is timeless. Say no to fuchsia eye shadow or black lipstick if the theme of your wedding is not gothic or ’80s.

5. Eat Something Before The Wedding Ceremony

A lot of brides end up fainting during the wedding or reception because of hunger. You cannot expect your wedding to be on time, so be sure to nibble on something before the ceremony. Again, you don’t want your video ending up in America’s Funniest Video, being laughed upon not only in the US but the rest of the whole world as well.

6. Love Your Body

You don’t have to starve yourself to death or have implants just to be sexy and alluring on your wedding. Don’t make drastic changes with your body a week before your wedding. Learn to accept that you are not meant to be as thin as a stick or as well-endowed as Pamela Anderson.

However, it is perfectly all right to undergo healthy weight loss program months before the wedding if you really want to be healthy. You can also apply a breast enhancement cream, such as Clevastin, to lift your bust or make your breasts look firm and bigger. If you are interested in knowing more about how you can safely make your breasts bigger, simply click on to http://www.clevastin.com/.

Original post: Six Tips to Avoid Fashion and Beauty Mishaps on Your Wedding