<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" media="screen" href="/~d/styles/rss2enclosuresfull.xsl"?><?xml-stylesheet type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~d/styles/itemcontent.css"?><rss xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" version="2.0"><channel><title>thefirststep is #1 motivation blog</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/</link><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ThefirststepIs1MotivationBlog" /><description>I will help you to get breakthrough in your life !!!</description><language>en</language><managingEditor>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</managingEditor><lastBuildDate>Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:57:24 PDT</lastBuildDate><generator>Blogger http://www.blogger.com</generator><openSearch:totalResults xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/">24</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/">1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/">25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><feedburner:info xmlns:feedburner="http://rssnamespace.org/feedburner/ext/1.0" uri="thefirststepis1motivationblog" /><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/" /><media:category scheme="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd">Education/Training</media:category><itunes:owner><itunes:email>noreply@blogger.com</itunes:email></itunes:owner><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:subtitle>I will help you to get breakthrough in your life !!!</itunes:subtitle><itunes:category text="Education"><itunes:category text="Training" /></itunes:category><item><title>About iPhone</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/about-iphone.html</link><category>Success Stories</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:00:30 PDT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-8886019537238640938</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/ScHta12l1oI/AAAAAAAAADU/kChZECioSzk/s1600-h/apple-iphone-in-hand-thumb.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 282px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/ScHta12l1oI/AAAAAAAAADU/kChZECioSzk/s320/apple-iphone-in-hand-thumb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314790080662328962" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;T&lt;/span&gt;he &lt;b&gt;iPhone&lt;/b&gt; is an internet-connected &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimedia" title="Multimedia"&gt;multimedia&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone" title="Smartphone"&gt;smartphone&lt;/a&gt; designed and marketed by &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc." title="Apple Inc."&gt;Apple Inc.&lt;/a&gt; with a flush &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-touch" title="Multi-touch"&gt;multi-touch&lt;/a&gt; screen and a minimal hardware interface. The device does not have a physical keyboard, so a &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_keyboard" title="Virtual keyboard"&gt;virtual keyboard&lt;/a&gt; is rendered on the touch screen instead. The iPhone functions as a &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_phone" title="Camera phone"&gt;camera phone&lt;/a&gt; (including &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_messaging" title="Text messaging"&gt;text messaging&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_voicemail" title="Visual voicemail"&gt;visual voicemail&lt;/a&gt;), a &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_media_player" title="Portable media player"&gt;portable media player&lt;/a&gt; (equivalent to an &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod" title="IPod"&gt;iPod&lt;/a&gt;), and &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet" title="Internet"&gt;Internet&lt;/a&gt; client (with &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email" title="Email" class="mw-redirect"&gt;email&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser" title="Web browser"&gt;web browsing&lt;/a&gt;, and local &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi" title="Wi-Fi"&gt;Wi-Fi&lt;/a&gt; connectivity). The first generation phone hardware was &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_band" title="Quad band" class="mw-redirect"&gt;quad-band&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_System_for_Mobile_Communications" title="Global System for Mobile Communications" class="mw-redirect"&gt;GSM&lt;/a&gt; with &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolution" title="Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution"&gt;EDGE&lt;/a&gt;; the second generation also adds &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Mobile_Telecommunications_System" title="Universal Mobile Telecommunications System"&gt;UMTS&lt;/a&gt; with &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Speed_Downlink_Packet_Access" title="High-Speed Downlink Packet Access"&gt;HSDPA&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-3G_PR_8-0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-3G_PR-8" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;9&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; &lt;p&gt;Apple announced the iPhone on January 9, 2007.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-9" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;10&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; The announcement was preceded by &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_rumor_community" title="Apple rumor community"&gt;rumors and speculation&lt;/a&gt; that circulated for several months.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-10" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;11&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; The iPhone was initially introduced in the &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States"&gt;United States&lt;/a&gt; on June 29, 2007 and has since been introduced worldwide. It was named &lt;i&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_%28magazine%29" title="Time (magazine)"&gt;Time&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/i&gt; magazine's "Invention of the Year" in 2007.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-11" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;12&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; On July 11, 2008, the iPhone 3G was released. It supports faster &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G" title="3G"&gt;3G&lt;/a&gt; data speeds and &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS" title="Assisted GPS"&gt;Assisted GPS&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-3G_PR_8-1" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-3G_PR-8" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;9&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; On March 17, 2009, Apple announced the iPhone firmware version 3.0, due to be released in summer 2009.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-12" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;13&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;span class="mw-headline"&gt;History and availability&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;Development of iPhone began with Apple &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_executive_officer" title="Chief executive officer"&gt;CEO&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs" title="Steve Jobs"&gt;Steve Jobs&lt;/a&gt;' direction that Apple engineers investigate touchscreens.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-keynoteMacworld_13-0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-keynoteMacworld-13" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;14&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; Apple created the device during a secretive and unprecedented collaboration with &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT%26T_Mobility" title="AT&amp;amp;T Mobility"&gt;AT&amp;amp;T Mobility&lt;/a&gt;—Cingular Wireless at the time—at a development cost of US$150 million over thirty months. Apple rejected the "design by committee" approach that had yielded the &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_ROKR_E1" title="Motorola ROKR E1"&gt;Motorola ROKR E1&lt;/a&gt;, a largely unsuccessful collaboration with &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola" title="Motorola"&gt;Motorola&lt;/a&gt;. Instead, Cingular gave Apple the liberty to develop the iPhone's hardware and software in-house. Numerous codenames and even fake prototypes were devised to keep the project secret.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-CNN_secrets_14-0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-CNN_secrets-14" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;15&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-15" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;16&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; &lt;p&gt;Jobs unveiled iPhone to the public on January 9, 2007 in a &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevenote" title="Stevenote"&gt;keynote address&lt;/a&gt;. Apple was required to file for operating permits with the &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Communications_Commission" title="Federal Communications Commission"&gt;FCC&lt;/a&gt;, but such filings are available to the public, so the announcement came several months before the iPhone received approval. The iPhone went on sale in the United States on June 29, 2007. Apple closed its stores at 2:00 pm local time to prepare for the 6:00 pm iPhone launch, while hundreds of customers lined up at stores nationwide.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-Original_release_0-1" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-Original_release-0" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;1&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; On launch weekend, Apple sold 270,000 iPhones in the first thirty hours.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-AppleQ32007_16-0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-AppleQ32007-16" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;17&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; The original iPhone was made available in the &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK" title="UK" class="mw-redirect"&gt;UK&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France" title="France"&gt;France&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany" title="Germany"&gt;Germany&lt;/a&gt; in November 2007, and &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland" title="Ireland"&gt;Ireland&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria" title="Austria"&gt;Austria&lt;/a&gt; in spring of 2008.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;On July 11, 2008, Apple released the iPhone 3G in twenty-two countries, including the original six.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-iPhone_3G_launch_countries_17-0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-iPhone_3G_launch_countries-17" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;18&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; Forty-eight more are expected to follow in the months afterwards.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-3G_countries_18-0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-3G_countries-18" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;19&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; Apple sold 1 million iPhone 3Gs in its first 3 days on sale,&lt;sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-19" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;20&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; enough to overload Apple's United States iTunes servers.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-3G_launch_activation_problem_20-0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-3G_launch_activation_problem-20" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;21&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Over 3 million units were sold in the first month after the 3G launch, in a "blistering sales pace". The phenomenon of popular willingness to upgrade to the 3G so soon after purchase of an earlier model was attributed to Apple's popularity and its frequent imitators.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-cad_21-0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-cad-21" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;22&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; The anomalously high demand for the first-generation iPhone was reflected in free-market prices for older models that began to rise steadily within days of the 3G launch resetting the price baselines.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-bw_22-0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-bw-22" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;23&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;On October 21, 2008, Apple announced sales of 6.89 million iPhone 3Gs in the fourth quarter of 2008, totaling 13 million iPhones to date.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-23" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;24&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; iPhone sales from that quarter surpassed &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_In_Motion" title="Research In Motion"&gt;RIM&lt;/a&gt;'s &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry" title="BlackBerry"&gt;BlackBerry&lt;/a&gt; sales of 5.2 million units. By revenue, Apple is the third largest mobile phone manufacturer, after &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia" title="Nokia"&gt;Nokia&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung" title="Samsung" class="mw-redirect"&gt;Samsung&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-24" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;25&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; Within Apple's fiscal fourth quarter, up to September 30, 2008, the iPhone represented 39 percent (&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_dollar" title="United States dollar"&gt;US$&lt;/a&gt;4.6 billion) of the company's total quarterly revenues, although some of this income is &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deferral" title="Deferral"&gt;deferred&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-25" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;/span&gt;26&lt;span&gt;]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;span style="text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Read More&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone#cite_note-25" title=""&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-8886019537238640938?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-19T00:00:30.345-07:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/ScHta12l1oI/AAAAAAAAADU/kChZECioSzk/s72-c/apple-iphone-in-hand-thumb.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>Obama Race Speech</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/obama-race-speech.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:48:21 PDT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-2260513705544930492</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/ScHqqLELjdI/AAAAAAAAADM/nAa0vu7M7Rg/s1600-h/barack_obama.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/ScHqqLELjdI/AAAAAAAAADM/nAa0vu7M7Rg/s200/barack_obama.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314787045519625682" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;"&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;W&lt;/span&gt;e the people, in order to form a more perfect union."   &lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution - a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part - through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign - to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;read more&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/18/obama-race-speech-read-th_n_92077.html"&gt;http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/18/obama-race-speech-read-th_n_92077.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-2260513705544930492?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-18T23:48:21.893-07:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/ScHqqLELjdI/AAAAAAAAADM/nAa0vu7M7Rg/s72-c/barack_obama.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>Free Top Search Keywords List - How To Use It</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/free-top-search-keywords-list-how-to.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:24:18 PDT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-4508822003733750089</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/ScHk53NHWSI/AAAAAAAAADE/__wANe3w1CU/s1600-h/top-search-engine-ranking-images.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 163px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/ScHk53NHWSI/AAAAAAAAADE/__wANe3w1CU/s200/top-search-engine-ranking-images.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314780717996529954" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;" id="lsummary"&gt;&lt;span class="head_12_blk"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;H&lt;/span&gt;ere Is A Little Training Guide On How To Use The Best &lt;a href="http://luisgalarza.blogspot.com/2007/06/free-top-search-keyword-list-for-seo.html"&gt;Free Top 500 Search Keywords List&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: normal;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;OK, you just got the top 500 keywords list from the last 48 hours, very nice. But, what can you do with it?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Well, when you starting a online business one of the first things you need to do is find and research for a small but profitable niche market.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Why a niche market?&lt;/span&gt; Because for someone just starting out as a online marketer you need to know that small niches on the web means a lot of money, and for you to go after a global market or a general market you need to have a few millions of dollars that you don't care loosing ready to be invest in strong advertising because you are going to compete against big boys like Google, Amazon.com, eBay, Expedia, etc... But, if you don't have that kind of money, like me, you need to find a small profitable niche where you can start with little or no money and less risk of failing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;That's why I decide to include the top search keywords list as a marketing tool for my readers. Here is what you can do with this keywords:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;1.- Find A Niche On-Demand&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You can use the keyword list and see what people is looking for online, the go to a SEO keyword generator like the free &lt;a href="http://inventory.overture.com/" rel="nofollow"&gt;Overture Keyword Tool&lt;/a&gt; and type the main keyword from the list that you are interest or want to start a business on and find the long tail. For example, if the main word is "Myspace", you will find long tail key phrases like "Myspace Templates", or "Sexy Myspace Layouts", or even better "Free Myspace Templates For Girls" ,etc... With a small niche you have better chances to get top ranking on search engine which mean a ton of free web traffic.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;2.- Start Building A New Web Business&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After finding the right niche market for you, now is time to plan how you want to make money from online. Here are some ideas: Start your own ezine (List Building) and sell advertising or recommend affiliate programs; &lt;a href="http://www.marketingtips.com/trafficsecrets/t/879338" rel="nofollow"&gt;Start a blog&lt;/a&gt; about it and make money with affiliates, or Google Adsense; Or start a good content site and make money with Adsense.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;3.- Blog The Long Tail&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you already have a blog and you are trying to monetize your traffic, first you need to bring more targeted visitors to the blog, and you can do this by blogging about top search long tail keywords, or make the main keyword or the long tail phrase to relate with your post that can also bring extra traffic to your site but will not be targeted to the main content of you blog. But, the AdSense will be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;4.- Conquer A Niche Tail By Tail&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When you build a content site or blog targeting a small niche and win the market and top search engine position, you can start another site or blog and go for another small niche on the same market. But, don't move to the next one until you are number one or at least be in the top 5 positions on the most popular search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask.com.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;5.- SEO For Other Relevant Keywords&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you already have an establish online business website and have at top 10 search engine position on least 1 or 2 of your main keywords, don't stop there... Why? Because SEO is changing all the time and you can loose your position and traffic anytime, that's why is good to keep optimizing your site for more relevant top keywords.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Remember the keywords list post will be updated daily so don't forget to copy and paste into a text file and to bookmark that post for future checks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By &lt;a href="http://luisgalarza.blogspot.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Luis Galarza - Internet Marketing Training Blog&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-4508822003733750089?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-18T23:24:18.883-07:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/ScHk53NHWSI/AAAAAAAAADE/__wANe3w1CU/s72-c/top-search-engine-ranking-images.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>freedownload freeware mig33</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/freedownload-freeware-mig33.html</link><category>Software</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:48:56 PDT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-2673438707436230895</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/ScHfJYGboGI/AAAAAAAAAC8/A-1k2oF5ICo/s1600-h/untitled1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 217px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/ScHfJYGboGI/AAAAAAAAAC8/A-1k2oF5ICo/s320/untitled1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314774387455139938" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Product Name: mig33&lt;br /&gt;Platforms: Java (J2ME), Pocket PC, BlackBerry &lt;br /&gt;Product Type:     Freeware report not freeware | confirm freeware&lt;br /&gt;Date Added:     2007 Feb 13  &lt;br /&gt;Date Updated:     2009 Feb 5 &lt;br /&gt;User Rating:     7.89 (1225 votes)&lt;br /&gt;download :&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://download11.getjar.com/downloads/web/pub/38544/mig33.jar"&gt;&lt;url&gt;http://download11.getjar.com/downloads/web/pub/38544/mig33.jar&lt;/url&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-2673438707436230895?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-18T23:48:56.796-07:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/ScHfJYGboGI/AAAAAAAAAC8/A-1k2oF5ICo/s72-c/untitled1.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>Promote Your Business - 8 Steps to Success!</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/promote-your-business-8-steps-to.html</link><category>Business</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:49:35 PDT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-7152669187399115325</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbjMfKcP-BI/AAAAAAAAAC0/kTdd4avQvWI/s1600-h/download-hero-20090217.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 162px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbjMfKcP-BI/AAAAAAAAAC0/kTdd4avQvWI/s200/download-hero-20090217.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312220596234352658" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;T&lt;/span&gt;here are potentially hundreds of ways you could promote your new Web design business and build up your portfolio. Assuming your target clients are located in a small geographic area -- for example your home town -- there are a number of ways you can drum up their all-important custom.&lt;br /&gt;1. Get listed&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is one of the most basic methods of business promotion. List yourself in as many business directories, yellow pages, and local business Websites as you can find. Many of these will list your company for free, though some might require you to pay a small fee. This type of promotion is well worth the time and investment, as most people consult these publications when looking for a designer, plumber, electrician etc. You see the point.&lt;br /&gt;2. Contacts&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's not what you know, it's who you know. This little phrase holds a great deal of water in the small-scale Web design industry. When you're first starting out, you'll find that a lot of your work comes in via word of mouth promotion. It's therefore very important to make connections early. Do a few free sites for local charities, community groups and organisations - this is a great way to build up your portfolio and also spread your name around potential client firms. Eventually you'll be approached by 'a friend of a friend of so-and-so' who wants a site designed. This is an example of 'viral marketing' and is one of the most effective methods you can use to promote any business.&lt;br /&gt;3. Your Business Website&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This site is it - your big chance to knock the socks off of your potential clients! Here's your opportunity to show them what you can do, to tell them exactly how your company can help them and why they should choose you over the competition. Never forget that first impressions count, and if your portfolio isn't the best you can make in terms of design, layout and content, you're selling yourself short straight away.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A Website for your business is very important. Hey, it's what you do, isn't it? Aim for a crisp, clean design that emphasises your professionalism and skill. Give your potential clients as much information as you think they'll need. Remember, this is most likely going to be your first point of contact with a potential client, and could determine right away whether or not the contract goes to your company, or Joe Bloggs Inc down the road.&lt;br /&gt;4. The Almighty Business Card&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yes, we're living in the 21st century, and yes, it's the digital era, the age of technology, the future and all that, but let's be honest: nothing beats a business card for quick, effective promotion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let's take an example: You're out with some friends at a suave local get-together. You start chatting to a friend of a friend; the topic of conversation turns (as always) to work; she asks what you do; you tell her you build Websites for a small to medium sized companies in your area. Eureka! It turns out she's the owner of Jane's Boutique, a fashionable designer clothing outlet in town. What's more, she's been toying with the idea of investing in an e-commerce enabled Website for her business, so she can accept orders online and break into mail order. This gets better and better. So you tell her you'd certainly be interested in helping her out (for a fee of course) and that she should give you a call. Now, do you:&lt;br /&gt;"A. Scribble your details on a napkin that she's most likely going to pull out of her pocket and blow her nose on without realising what it is, or " "B. Pass her one of your high quality, professionally printed business cards that contains every method to contact you imaginable, including of course the URL of your business Website, which she'll place in her purse and most likely use to contact you? "&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The moral of the story? Sometimes, the old-fashioned methods work best.&lt;br /&gt;5. Advertise&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of course, you could always go the traditional route and advertise. Targeted advertising is the key here; billboards and the sides of buses simply won't cut it. Try placing an advert in the local newspaper, or target your market even further by advertising in publications specifically published for small business owners in your local area. These will vary depending on where you are and what the local economy is like, so take some time to research the various advertising mediums available before you commit yourself to anything.&lt;br /&gt;6. Free Gifts, Bribery and Smarm&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This method does take some capital investment to start with, but can yield good results if it's done properly and is correctly targeted. Invest in some branded mouse-mats, pens, coasters etc to promote your business. Try to aim for items that executives would keep on their desks. Desk calendars are especially good for this purpose because they'll be in use for a whole year if you're lucky, and cardboard ones are fairly inexpensive. The advantage of these items over traditional business cards is that they're more likely to be kept, plus your contact/business information generally remains on open view, as opposed to being in a wallet, purse or filing system somewhere.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This will help get your company name and details out to your target audience, and will hopefully get your name and details seen by the right people.&lt;br /&gt;7. Dealing Effectively with the Public&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dealing with people is very, very, very, very important in Web development or indeed any other type of consultancy work. How you deal with potential and existing clients can be just as important as your level of technical skill or design competency. Remember: your clients are the reason you're in business -- without them you might as well pack up and start selling vacuum cleaners door to door. Treat your clients with patience and respect, and try as hard as you possibly can to make them happy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Besides the obvious, it's also a good idea to interact with your clients on a more personal level. Ask them how they are when you meet them, and send them a thank you card when a project is completed. Christmas cards, frequent project updates and other little niceties can make a client feel valued, wanted and appreciated, which will probably lead them to offer you more work in the future, or refer you on to other potential projects. If they do refer you to another paying client, remember to say "thank you".&lt;br /&gt;8. Your Brand Image&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You do have a brand image, right? The establishment of a brand is a key factor in any business's promotional activities. Create a corporate image for your company, and incorporate it into all your stationary, documents and business Website -- these techniques echo professionalism and class. If done well and designed in-house, it can also be a good way to demonstrate your design skills. Business stationery is al so worth a mention here. It's well worth designing at the very least a professional looking letterhead and invoice that you can use to correspond with and bill clients.&lt;br /&gt;Overall&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Getting your business name recognised in appropriate circles is one of the biggest hurdles a fledgling company is going to face, but with a little fore-thought and some shameless self-promotion it's not as hard to get noticed as you may think. Good luck, and happy promoting!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.sitepoint.com/articlelist/127" title="Find out more about this author"&gt;Adrian Thompson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-7152669187399115325?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-12T01:49:35.972-07:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbjMfKcP-BI/AAAAAAAAAC0/kTdd4avQvWI/s72-c/download-hero-20090217.png" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>6 Steps to Success in Business</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/6-steps-to-success-in-business.html</link><category>Business</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:49:55 PDT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-3412706970179909605</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbjLAkljZPI/AAAAAAAAACs/zP4vwlO11cc/s1600-h/stair2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbjLAkljZPI/AAAAAAAAACs/zP4vwlO11cc/s200/stair2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312218971165123826" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;F&lt;/span&gt;or success in business spiritually as well as materially follow these six steps.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Step #1. Discover your Purpose in business. Why are you going into business? Are you in business for the sole reason to make money or are there other reasons to be in business. Remember the words of Joshua:  But as for me and my household we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15b) At the outset ask God to show His MINISTRY PURPOSE for you in business. Some ideas:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;e.g. What kind of "brick layer" are you? It’s a job; it’s a living or is it a great cathedral?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Step #2. Plan your business start up or expansion carefully. Taking these seminars is a good start. Now use the material you are receiving here to carefully plan your business activity. A Proverb says:  The plans of the diligent lead to profit, as surely as haste leads to poverty. (Proverbs 21:5)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thus this proverb can be expanded to read: The plans of diligent people who plod carefully lead to profit and prosperity as surely as the lack of planning by people who are lazy, careless and hasty leads to loss and poverty.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Step #3. Be prepared to work hard! Business owners spend long hours at their business and rarely get to take time off. The hard work starts even before you start the business. Planning is hard work and it must be done well for your plans to succeed. Another Proverb says: Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. (Proverbs 10:4) Now try your version:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Step #4. Stay with it and persevere through difficulty Studies have shown that the true potential of a business is not seen until after at least three years of business activity. So stick with it through thick and thin! A verse from Galatians is particularly relevant here not only for persevering in business but also for persevering in righteousness: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9) Too many small business people give up too soon. Somebody else reaps the seeds that they have sown because they have not persevered until the time of the harvest.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Step #5. Proceed in wisdom. Wisdom is the skill for living. Learn from your mistakes and grow in your knowledge and understanding in your business activity. Serving God first in business is the equivalent of fearing God. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." (Proverbs 9:10)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Step #6. Honor God in time and money. Those who really do fear God and serve him in business will prove their heart attitude is to honor God by tithing regularly a portion of their business income and by observing a regular Sabbath in their work activity. "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; so that your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." (Proverbs 3:9-10) For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. (Exodus 31:15a) God delights to honor those who honor him. Another proverb says: Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. (Proverbs 23:4)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Be Success!&lt;br /&gt;Budiyanto Tandean&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-3412706970179909605?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-12T01:49:55.199-07:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbjLAkljZPI/AAAAAAAAACs/zP4vwlO11cc/s72-c/stair2.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>How to Join Facebook? (8 steps)</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-join-facebook-8-steps.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:23:20 PDT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-1394333836576883249</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbjGOsQ4JqI/AAAAAAAAACk/lODlBrw-0_U/s1600-h/facebook.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbjGOsQ4JqI/AAAAAAAAACk/lODlBrw-0_U/s320/facebook.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312213716185917090" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Now You can make friends,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="snap_preview"&gt; &lt;p&gt;Million peoples was joined this social network community and found them old friends there.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Now, its time for you to join Facebook!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;This is my simple tutorial about How To Join Facebook, please enjoy :&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 1&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Visit the Facebook website (http://www.facebook.com), and then klik Sign Up button&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 2&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fill in your full name, a valid email address and birthday date. Dont forge to add your high school/college/work status in the “I am” section.&lt;br /&gt;For another status, you can select “None of the above”&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 3&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Choose your password. Enter an easy password to remember. Its needs at least six characters.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 4&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Complete the image verification check. Identify the words or numbers displayed and type them in.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 5&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dont forget for read the “Terms of Use” and “Privacy Policy.” Check the box to mark your agreement with the terms of both.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 6&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Click on the “Sign Up Now!” button at the bottom of the page and wait for redirection to a thank you page.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 7&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Check your email inbox and click on the confirmation page from Facebook.&lt;br /&gt;They will send link confirmation for your registration.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Step 8&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Welcome to Facebook Networks =)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-1394333836576883249?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-12T01:23:20.112-07:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbjGOsQ4JqI/AAAAAAAAACk/lODlBrw-0_U/s72-c/facebook.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>JASON MRAZ - I'M YOURS LYRICS</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/jason-mraz-im-yours-lyrics.html</link><category>Music</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:29:12 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-4577631692813647103</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNlo6GxRTI/AAAAAAAAACc/FX67WLk-M5E/s1600-h/Jason+Mraz+-+I%27m+Yours.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNlo6GxRTI/AAAAAAAAACc/FX67WLk-M5E/s200/Jason+Mraz+-+I%27m+Yours.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310700139066770738" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Well you done done me and you bet I felt it&lt;br /&gt;I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted&lt;br /&gt;I fell right through the cracks&lt;br /&gt;Now I'm trying to get back&lt;br /&gt;Before the cool done run out&lt;br /&gt;I'll be giving it my bestest&lt;br /&gt;And nothing's going to stop me but divine intervention&lt;br /&gt;I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn some&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I won't hesitate no more, no more&lt;br /&gt;It cannot wait, I'm yours&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well open up your mind and see like me&lt;br /&gt;Open up your plans and damn you're free&lt;br /&gt;Look into your heart and you'll find love love love love&lt;br /&gt;Listen to the music of the moment babay sing with me&lt;br /&gt;We're just one big family&lt;br /&gt;And It's our God-forsaken right to be loved love loved love loved&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So I won't hesitate no more, no more&lt;br /&gt;It cannot wait I'm sure&lt;br /&gt;There's no need to complicate&lt;br /&gt;Our time is short&lt;br /&gt;This is our fate, I'm yours&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Scooch on over closer dear&lt;br /&gt;And i will nibble your ear&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror&lt;br /&gt;And bending over backwards just to try to see it clearer&lt;br /&gt;But my breath fogged up the glass&lt;br /&gt;And so I drew a new face and laughed&lt;br /&gt;I guess what I'm be saying is there ain't no better reason&lt;br /&gt;To rid yourself of vanity and just go with the seasons&lt;br /&gt;It's what we aim to do&lt;br /&gt;Our name is our virtue&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But I won't hesitate no more, no more&lt;br /&gt;It cannot wait I'm yours&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well open up your mind and see like me&lt;br /&gt;Open up your plans and damn you're free&lt;br /&gt;Look into your heart and you'll find that the sky is yours&lt;br /&gt;Please don't, please don't, please don't&lt;br /&gt;There's no need to complicate&lt;br /&gt;Cause our time is short&lt;br /&gt;This oh this this is out fate, I'm yours!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-4577631692813647103?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-07T22:29:12.467-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNlo6GxRTI/AAAAAAAAACc/FX67WLk-M5E/s72-c/Jason+Mraz+-+I%27m+Yours.gif" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">2</thr:total></item><item><title>Sam Walton : 10 Rules for Building a Successful Business</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/sam-walton-10-rules-for-building.html</link><category>Success Stories</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:32:09 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-5320943440945989157</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNYNt_c0KI/AAAAAAAAACU/gv6Ap3Lctko/s1600-h/sam-walton.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 157px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNYNt_c0KI/AAAAAAAAACU/gv6Ap3Lctko/s200/sam-walton.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310685378307215522" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;S&lt;/span&gt;am Walton grew up poor during the Great Depression, yet rose to start the biggest retail store Wal-Mart. In Sam Walton's "Running a Successful Company: Ten Rules that Worked for Me," learn Walton's winning formula for business.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sam Walton 1918 - 1992&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, grew up poor in a farm community in rural Missouri during the Great Depression. The poverty he experienced while growing up taught him the value of money and to persevere.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After attending the University of Missouri, he immediately worked for J.C. Penny where he got his first taste of retailing. He served in World War II, after which he became a successful franchiser of Ben Franklin five-and-dime stores. In 1962, he had the idea of opening bigger stores, sticking to rural areas, keeping costs low and discounting heavily. The management disagreed with his vision. Undaunted, Walton pursued his vision, founded Wal-Mart and started a retailing success story. When Walton died in 1992, the family's net worth approached $25 billion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today, Wal-Mart is the world's #1 retailer, with more than 4,150 stores, including discount stores, combination discount and grocery stores, and membership-only warehouse stores (Sam's Club). Learn Walton's winning formula for business.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rule 1: Commit to your business. Believe in it more than anybody else. I think I overcame every single one of my personal shortcomings by the sheer passion I brought to my work. I don't know if you're born with this kind of passion, or if you can learn it. But I do know you need it. If you love your work, you'll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you — like a fever.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rule 2: Share your profits with all your associates, and treat them as partners. In turn, they will treat you as a partner, and together you will all perform beyond your wildest expectations. Remain a corporation and retain control if you like, but behave as a servant leader in your partnership. Encourage your associates to hold a stake in the company. Offer discounted stock, and grant them stock for their retirement. It's the single best thing we ever did.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rule 3: Motivate your partners. Money and ownership alone aren't enough. Constantly, day by day, think of new and more interesting ways to motivate and challenge your partners. Set high goals, encourage competition, and then keep score. Make bets with outrageous payoffs. If things get stale, cross-pollinate; have managers switch jobs with one another to stay challenged. Keep everybody guessing as to what your next trick is going to be. Don't become too predictable.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rule 4: Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners. The more they know, the more they'll understand. The more they understand, the more they'll care. Once they care, there's no stopping them. If you don't trust your associates to know what's going on, they'll know you really don't consider them partners. Information is power, and the gain you get from empowering your associates more than offsets the risk of informing your competitors.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rule 5: Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. A paycheck and a stock option will buy one kind of loyalty. But all of us like to be told how much somebody appreciates what we do for them. We like to hear it often, and especially when we have done something we're really proud of. Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free — and worth a fortune.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rule 6: Celebrate your success. Find some humor in your failures. Don't take yourself so seriously. Loosen up, and everybody around you will loosen up. Have fun. Show enthusiasm — always. When all else fails, put on a costume and sing a silly song. Then make everybody else sing with you. Don't do a hula on Wall Street. It's been done. Think up your own stunt. All of this is more important, and more fun, than you think, and it really fools competition. "Why should we take those cornballs at Wal-Mart seriously?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rule 7: Listen to everyone in your company and figure out ways to get them talking. The folks on the front lines — the ones who actually talk to the customer — are the only ones who really know what's going on out there. You'd better find out what they know. This really is what total quality is all about. To push responsibility down in your organization, and to force good ideas to bubble up within it, you must listen to what your associates are trying to tell you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rule 8: Exceed your customer's expectations. If you do, they'll come back over and over. Give them what they want — and a little more. Let them know you appreciate them. Make good on all your mistakes, and don't make excuses — apologize. Stand behind everything you do. The two most important words I ever wrote were on that first Wal-Mart sign: "Satisfaction Guaranteed." They're still up there, and they have made all the difference.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rule 9: Control your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage. For twenty-five years running — long before Wal-Mart was known as the nation's largest retailer — we've ranked No. 1 in our industry for the lowest ratio of expenses to sales. You can make a lot of different mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you're too inefficient.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rule 10: Swim upstream. Go the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom. If everybody else is doing it one way, there's a good chance you can find your niche by going in exactly the opposite direction. But be prepared for a lot of folks to wave you down and tell you you're headed the wrong way. I guess in all my years, what I heard more often than anything was: a town of less than 50,000 population cannot support a discount store for very long.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-5320943440945989157?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-07T21:32:09.232-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNYNt_c0KI/AAAAAAAAACU/gv6Ap3Lctko/s72-c/sam-walton.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>Six Memory Tips</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/six-memory-tips.html</link><category>Brain Power</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:19:30 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-8683029565293444783</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNVVDuggNI/AAAAAAAAACM/ybbsA7tk4G8/s1600-h/head.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNVVDuggNI/AAAAAAAAACM/ybbsA7tk4G8/s200/head.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310682205865935058" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;T&lt;/span&gt;hese memory tips are for people young and old. It is true that memory loss often comes with old age, but that doesn't mean it's always a result of getting older. Often there are specific causes, and a declining ability to remember things can be halted and sometimes reversed. You can start with these six tips.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;1. Learn to relax more.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cortisol, which at high levels interferes with the part of the brain that handles recent memories, is released when you are stressed. That crucial brain has even been shown to shrink after long periods of chronic stress. What can you do? Start by taking several deep breaths through your nose several times daily, while letting the tension drain from your body. You might also learn to meditate, and practice regularly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;2. Quit smoking and avoid smoke.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cigarettes are linked to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and even before there is a diagnosis, there may be reduced blood flow to the brain. This means reduced oxygen to the brain, which decreases brain function in general, and memory specifically.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;3. Reduce brain toxins.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Most illegal drugs are toxic to the brain, but so are many prescription medications. These drugs have been associated with memory loss after prolonged use: Lithium, digitalis, reserpine, Inderal (propanolol), Aldomet (methyldopa), and Tagamet (cimetidine), as well as some high blood pressure medications.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;4. Eat well.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Many nutritional factors affect memory and general brain function. For example, brain function can be negatively impacted by a deficiency in vitamin B-12, folate and niacin (Vitamin B-3). Think your memory lapses might be due to deficiencies? You can have a blood test to check the levels of these vitamins in your system, or try taking some good supplements to see if that brings improvement.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;5. Get brain exercise.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You Can Remember!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Learn memory improvement techniques from the World's Greatest Mentalist: Mike Teitelbaum All of us have the potential to possess remarkable memory function - including photographic memory. Memory is a skill that anyone can improve - and benefit from! This package has books and software. Plug into your potential and start enjoying the benefits today!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;6. Protect that brain case.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Severe head trauma can cause loss of brain function. No surprise there. But the evidence is growing that the cumulative effect of repeated minor injuries can do the same kind of damage. Put on that helmet when bicycling or in any situation where your head might get hurt&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;source : www.increasebrainpower.com&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-8683029565293444783?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-07T21:19:30.829-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNVVDuggNI/AAAAAAAAACM/ybbsA7tk4G8/s72-c/head.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">2</thr:total></item><item><title>Unlock Your Creativity</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/unlock-your-creativity.html</link><category>Brain Power</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:15:25 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-6859419565903224589</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNT6-1kuAI/AAAAAAAAACE/b-dfrPX0DDE/s1600-h/unlock.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 159px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNT6-1kuAI/AAAAAAAAACE/b-dfrPX0DDE/s200/unlock.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310680658365167618" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;U&lt;/span&gt;nlock your creativity? That's a good way to put it, because it seems that though we are all creative as children, we lock away our imagination and playfulness as adults. Here's a look at how to reverse that, using examples from my own life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you've been a reader of my newsletter, you know that I believe in being "systematically" creative. In other words, I often recommend that to regularly have new ideas and solutions you learn a technique or two or ten, and then use them repeatedly. I usually also demonstrate the different techniques with examples that I invent as I am writing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some of you have written and asked that I have more "real life" examples of creativity. Specifically, it seems that you want real examples of creative solutions to everyday problems, and the techniques that lead to them. That's what I'll try to do here.&lt;br /&gt;Unlock Your Creativity - Examples&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Technique: Ask "What If"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Get in the habit of asking "what if" questions. It's a great way to get new ideas. When I worked as a manager of a fast food restaurant in the 1980's I asked "What if we had bus loads of customers coming in?" Of course that got me thinking about how to make that happen. In a minute or two I realized that bus loads of hungry teenagers passed through town all the time. They came to play basketball or other sports against local teams. How could I get them to visit our restaurant?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My idea: I got a schedule of games and sent a letter to the coaches of each of the next four teams that would be coming to town. I invited him to bring his team to our restaurant, and offered him a free meal if he did. It costs just four stamps and envelopes. Two took me up on my offer, bringing a bus load of hungry kids each time. The profit from dozens of meals made it worth a giving the coach a free meal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Technique: Look For Essentials&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Always try to get at the essential qualities of things and systems. A natural question for this is "What's important here?" That was my thinking process years ago as I looked at how to make a super-lightweight insulating layer to wear backpacking.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Looking at at winter vests, I saw that the filling was the most important part. Could I get rid of the shell material, which was most of the weight? I cut a piece of polyester batting (used for filling pillows and blankets normally) to wear as a tunic, with a hole for my head. My outer shell blocked the wind and held the batting in place, so there was no reason for other materials. At four ounces, it was probably the lightest insulating vest to ever go across the glaciers to the top of Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador (20,610 feet high and far below freezing - I went in 2001).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Technique: Create A Problem To Solve It&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Think of ways to cause a problem or make it worse in order to solve it. That is roughly the mental process that cured my insomnia as a young man. I realized that I could stay awake all night if I kept thinking about interesting things. What if I thought about things that were tedious and boring?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More specifically, I invented a technique for stopping any rational thought. If in my mind I saw a car, I would see it go into a tree. If a sentence started to make sense, I inserted random words. I essentially short-circuited any linear or logical thought, and soon my mind shut down. I fell asleep.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Technique: Play With Words&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Playing with words is another great creativity technique. That's how I coined the term "metaphorology," which I defined as "The study and conscious use of metaphors as a "thinking technology," as well as a kind of "science of personal transformation." It resulted in my website Metaphorology.com. Others had used the term before, but it was new to me (and not yet in dictionaries). Not much of a money maker yet, but I enjoy writing the pages.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Perhaps you've heard of "viral marketing." This great metaphor describes marketing that spreads from person to person automatically. You might write an ebook that promotes your website, for example, and allow business websites to use it as a bonus with their products, and their customers can give it away as well, so it is spread around without any additional effort on your part. Playing with that metaphor, I plan to find the most "infectious" qualities involved, to see if I can make this work even better (I'll let you know).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Unlock Your Creativity Systematically&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Those are just a few examples of how I have applied creative thinking techniques to my own life. Most of these methods were "programmed" into me on an unconscious level after using them consciously for a while. As a result I often don't know where an idea came from. But not being able to identify the process in my mind doesn't mean there isn't one operating there.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Try this: consciously use one of the techniques discussed on the pages of this website, or in my ebook "Problem Solving Power." After a few weeks of consistent use, it will become second nature. Then "program" yourself with another. That's one way to unlock your creativity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Be Creative,&lt;br /&gt;Budiyanto Tandean&lt;br /&gt;Motivator&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-6859419565903224589?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-07T21:15:25.388-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNT6-1kuAI/AAAAAAAAACE/b-dfrPX0DDE/s72-c/unlock.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>IQ Questions</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/iq-questions.html</link><category>Brain Power</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:08:25 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-2832418057136155494</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNSl86D9iI/AAAAAAAAAB8/uZGjA8jt64Y/s1600-h/iq-puzzle.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 118px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNSl86D9iI/AAAAAAAAAB8/uZGjA8jt64Y/s200/iq-puzzle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310679197558240802" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;T&lt;/span&gt;he following "IQ questions" will not be part of an intelligence test. They are simply some questions that I was recently asked by an entrepreneur who is hoping to put together a program to make people smarter. I have paraphrased them a bit and removed the ones related only to business. My answers will give you an idea of what this newsletter and the website are all about.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Is there a scientifically proven way to raise one's IQ?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There have been studies done (mostly with children) showing an IQ increase from certain activities, including musical training and physical activities involving hand-eye coordination. My own IQ score has increased over 20 points. However, this may reflect only a small actual change in intelligence. An IQ score, unfortunately, is partly determined by how one feels that day, whether one has learned test taking skills, and by the type of test.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I seem to recall some research showing that even a cup of coffee can increase IQ scores on standard tests. The point here is that while one's intelligence can be increased, IQ scores can be raised even more easily. A higher score doesn't necessarily mean there is a clear improvement in the brain itself, and variable scores suggest the limitations of the tests.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of course, those varying scores also suggest something else. Whatever your long term or "average" intelligence quotient is, your "functional IQ" changes from day to day. We don't need science to prove that. We all recognise our own good and bad days when it comes to thinking clearly and effectively.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We also can see from our own experiences that there are things which help us think better. That 's why I report on many techniques which are "unproven" scientifically, as long as they are safe to try and have some evidence for them. This does not reflect an anti-science bias. I think we need more scientific thinking in this world, not less. But everything ever "proven" by science was true, and possibly useful, before it was scientists looked into it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Can a human being with an average IQ become a genius?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From all the research I have read about, this seems extremely unlikely. The actual capacity of the brain probably can't be improved very much at this point in history. I suspect there will be biological technologies in the future that will change this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Why do people want to increase their intelligence?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To get more respect form others and similar personal reasons seem to be common motivations. Also, I often get emails from subscribers who want to be smarter in order to advance at work. I personally think there are far more efficient ways to do that than increasing ones IQ, which leads us to the next IQ question:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How would a higher IQ improve one's life?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A higher IQ probably won't do much directly to improve one's life, anymore than larger muscles will. Just as being physically stronger has its applications, so does being smarter. But neither is directly beneficial without other changes, or without actually applying in useful ways the new power gained.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Using the computer metaphor, the brain is hardware and the mind is the software. All the latest research shows that the brain can grow new neurons. This and other research shows that we can improve our hardware, and even raise our level of intelligence to some extent. But the world is full of unhappy and unsuccessful smart people - they are like computers with a lot of processing power but no decent programs installed for using it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think the real key is in the "software programs." These are the learned techniques for thinking more efficiently, more creatively, and more powerfully in general. They make it possible to use brainpower in better ways - ways that are directly applicable to life's challenges.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was recently talking about what I do to a math teacher from a local college (and he almost certainly has a high IQ). He said, "Are you saying there are techniques for having new ideas?" Somehow in all of his education, he hadn't come across this, and he was skeptical. I quickly outlined one technique and he was able to immediately use it to produce more creative ideas.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That is the power of good software. The practical gains in real life from developing a higher IQ are minimal in my opinion (at least for now). Developing better ways to think is what offers the most hope for improvement in all areas of life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Can the work of becoming smarter or thinking better be simplified?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is one of the most important questions, both from the standpoint of selling a program, and motivating people to actually do what needs to be done. The answer is clearly yes, we can make improving the brain and mind simpler with some work. Well-explained exercises, easy to follow steps, Cds to listen to while driving - there are many ways to simplify the process. I hope the entrepreneur who asked me these "IQ questions" will make the product or program he creates simple and easy to use. I hope to do the same when I create my own comprehensive brainpower program at some point in the future.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-2832418057136155494?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-07T21:08:25.208-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNSl86D9iI/AAAAAAAAAB8/uZGjA8jt64Y/s72-c/iq-puzzle.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>Creative Concepts</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/creative-concepts.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:02:36 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-5046864231905719056</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ztm5lsEbM0g/SbNRCiQiFnI/AAAAAAAAAAM/C1Cem2kaxqU/s1600-h/CreativeCommunitiesBook.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 287px; height: 232px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ztm5lsEbM0g/SbNRCiQiFnI/AAAAAAAAAAM/C1Cem2kaxqU/s320/CreativeCommunitiesBook.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310677489597683314" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;T&lt;/span&gt;his is your quick guide to how to have more creative concepts for your business, job, and life in general. You can practice the following techniques alone, but doing so with others helps a lot. Brainstorming with a group of creative people for the first time may make you feel mentally slow, but soon you'll find that you are coming up with more and more new ideas of your own. In fact, you'll start to adopt the creative thinking habits of the other thinkers in the group.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With or without others, though, you have to learn a few techniques to use for generating creative concepts. Here is one such technique to get you started.&lt;br /&gt;Making Crazy Assumptions&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A few crazy assumptions can lead to not only more creative concepts, but more useful ones as well. The basic idea is to make silly or unexpected assumptions related to the subject or problem you are working on, and then look for a way to make sense of these. For an example, I will use only ideas that I can come up with as I write this, in order to show that this process can really work right now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'll start with the following problem: An environmental organization needs new ways to get volunteers for a series of projects they're working on. Some crazy assumptions that come to mind: They can pay them a million dollars to volunteer; they can force people to participate; aliens will come from outer space to do the work for them. These are not useful ideas by themselves, but now we go to work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The first assumption (pay a million dollars) leads to the idea for an ad campaign which says, "Want to clean a river for a million dollars?" It would certainly get attention, but can we make sense of this thought? Hmm... a wealthy patron could donate $215,000 for a bond that matures to be worth a million dollars in thirty years. They could have a drawing to win the bond in a year, and anyone who volunteers a certain number of hours is put into a drawing for that "million dollars." They would get free publicity and many new recruits nationally perhaps.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The assumption that they could force people to participate sounds crazy, but what more creative concept can we turn this into? Think about who is already "forced," or "enslaved," like prison inmates. Could they make a deal with local jails to allow inmates incarcerated for non-violent offenses to volunteer on the various environmental projects? The inmates might be happy to get outside, and it could even look good on their record when it's time for parole.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, the idea of aliens from outer space doing the work is just wacky, but again we just see where it leads. It makes me think about aliens from other countries, and how they might volunteer. Could the group get lawyers with immigration law experience to offer free "immigration workshops" to those who put in some&lt;br /&gt;hours on the groups environmental projects? This could at least attract those legal immigrants with issues that need to be resolved. They get the legal help they need, and the good press they get from volunteering to help the environment might help their cause.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This was five minutes of mental work, and I have no idea how useful these ideas would actually be. But you can see how the process works. You should initially create as many ideas as you can, spending maybe an hour or more at this part. Having a hundred ideas in an evening is not impossible, especially if you know a dozen or more techniques like the one outlined here. After taking notes on many ideas, you pick through what you've created, looking for the few creative concepts which might actually be of some use.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-5046864231905719056?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-07T21:02:36.109-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ztm5lsEbM0g/SbNRCiQiFnI/AAAAAAAAAAM/C1Cem2kaxqU/s72-c/CreativeCommunitiesBook.gif" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>Quote's Collection 1</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/quotes-collection-1.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2009 20:23:27 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-4870173447225642534</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNIJNWNQhI/AAAAAAAAAB0/vCmt6bpmJog/s1600-h/quote_poems6.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 163px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNIJNWNQhI/AAAAAAAAAB0/vCmt6bpmJog/s200/quote_poems6.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310667708638773778" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;T&lt;/span&gt;he nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.&lt;br /&gt;--- Thucydides&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels.&lt;br /&gt;--- Goya&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;When a task cannot be partitioned because of sequential constraints, the application of more effort has no effect on the schedule. The bearing of a child takes nine months, no matter how many women are assigned.&lt;br /&gt;--- Frederick P. Brooks, Jr., &lt;i&gt;The Mythical Man-Month&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals could believe them.&lt;br /&gt;--- George Orwell&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;Intelligence is like a four-wheel drive. It allows you to get stuck in more remote places.&lt;br /&gt;--- Garrison Keillor &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;Do one thing every day that scares you.&lt;br /&gt;--- Eleanor Roosevelt &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;My ability to keep cool in a crisis is based entirely on not knowing all the facts.&lt;br /&gt;--- Garrison Keillor &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;The one common experience of all humanity is the challenge of problems.&lt;br /&gt;--- R. Buckminster Fuller &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.&lt;br /&gt;We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.&lt;br /&gt;--- Albert Einstein &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.&lt;br /&gt;--- Samuel Johnson &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.&lt;br /&gt;--- Samuel Johnson &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;Iron rusts from disuse,&lt;br /&gt;stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen;&lt;br /&gt;so does inaction sap the vigors of the mind.&lt;br /&gt;--- Leonardo da Vinci &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few engage in it.&lt;br /&gt;--- Henry Ford &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;In the field of observation, chance favors the prepared mind.&lt;br /&gt;--- Louis Pasteur &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.&lt;br /&gt;--- T. S. Eliot&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:-1;"&gt;The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency; a reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disappoint them.&lt;br /&gt;...&lt;br /&gt;A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.&lt;br /&gt;--- Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay “Self-Reliance”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-4870173447225642534?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-07T20:23:27.228-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbNIJNWNQhI/AAAAAAAAAB0/vCmt6bpmJog/s72-c/quote_poems6.gif" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total></item><item><title>Mc Donalds, Apple, Nike success stories</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/mc-donalds-apple-nike-success-storie.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2009 05:54:27 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-2646979622694627250</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbJ8PtSxseI/AAAAAAAAABs/2891jkudaXM/s1600-h/Mc_Donalds.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbJ8PtSxseI/AAAAAAAAABs/2891jkudaXM/s200/Mc_Donalds.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310443519921467874" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;W&lt;/span&gt;hat does McDonalds, Apple and Nike have to do with you and your business? &lt;p&gt;In 1954, when Ray Kroc drove into the very first McDonalds Restaurant, he saw fast service! Ray took the idea and ran with it. It wasn’t long and other companies were following Ray’s business model. McDonalds restaurants served more than 58 million people a day in 2008.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;For almost 30 years, Apple has maintained its lead in computer, consumer electronics, and innovative software. In 2008, Fortune Magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States. Devoted Apple customers boosted sales for 2008 to over $32 billion dollars world wide.&lt;span id="more-355"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;In 1968 Nike co-founder Phil Knight was selling shoes out of the back of his truck. Now, thanks to brilliant branding and taking the lead in the fitness revolution, Nike’s 2008 sales topped $18 billion dollars. Nike is clearly the leader in shoe sales.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Here are three dynamic companies. Here are three companies that are the leaders in their niche. Here are three companies that other companies emulate. Here are three companies that are outstanding models for others.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Ray Kroc, Steve Jobs, and Phil Knight all started out on the bottom rung and have climbed the ladder of success. They started with the basics and expanded with their own branding and creativity.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;You are about to embark on an adventure. The adventure of making money using the Internet. So how are you going to do that?&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;You are going to do what McDonalds, Apple, Nike and thousands of other companies have done. Find a niche, follow a working model and expand.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The business model you will be learning is pretty basic. I will be guiding you to the best resources for this simple, but very successful formula.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Start a blog as a home base.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Make money from your blog.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Expand.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;Source : http://www.newbielifeline.com/2009/02/13/macdonalds-apple-nike-business-models/&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-2646979622694627250?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-07T05:54:27.560-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbJ8PtSxseI/AAAAAAAAABs/2891jkudaXM/s72-c/Mc_Donalds.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>Tips : How To Be Smart !!!</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/tips-how-to-be-smart.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:26:00 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-2621931698891072236</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbDP6DHw0ZI/AAAAAAAAABk/C-g2rvvEvzY/s1600-h/idea1.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 177px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbDP6DHw0ZI/AAAAAAAAABk/C-g2rvvEvzY/s200/idea1.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309972556847042962" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;E&lt;/span&gt;verybody wants to become smart in today’s world as it does not remain that easy to survive any more. From kids in school to adults in corporate world, being smart is the need of the hour, to fight and sustain in the rat race of the contemporary world. Though some people are born with such qualities, it should not be considered a norm. Everyone can become smart by acquiring the required skills. For this, one has to follow some simple tips, which will bring about a change in his/her lifestyle and personality, eventually making them smart enough. To know how to become smart, read the tips given below. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="text"&gt; &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Tips to Become Smart&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;ul type="disc"&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;To become smart set important goals for yourself once a week. Make sure you do the important things first. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Try to improve your vocabulary by reading good books. This will make your language rich, enhancing your skills. You can even read one word at a time in the dictionary and grow intellectually gradually.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Excel in your education by getting good grades. Excellence in your educational field gives you confidence as well as knowledge. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Watch news and be aware about the recent events taking place around the world. This will increase your general knowledge and current affairs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Grab more information on subjects like interesting facts, funny and inspiring quotations, good books and movies, scientific studies and interesting inventions. This will give you information to help you in interacting with other people and sound interesting and intelligent.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Be organized and plan each day. For remembering your schedule, keep a notebook or small digital planner and maintain a record of the due dates for important events. A weekly planner or a monthly calendar can also be used, wherein you can note down birthdays and big events. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Being a good listener is very important, when it comes to being smart. Listen carefully to others' opinions on controversial things or otherwise. It’s not necessary to agree with them but try to extract the maximum knowledge from others. Keep an open mind and socialize freely. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Be nice to people around and show genuine care towards their well being. It is a sign of maturity, class and intelligence, which will make people to look up to you. It’s a good way to feel confident.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Be friendly with people you find smart and who follow the above practices. It will help you in following the path with determination. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Exercise your brain by solving puzzles. This will make you sharp and your reflexes quick. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Practice math sums mentally to increase your speed. Learn varied tricks for doing complicated things to keep yourself ahead of others.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Try as much as possible to feel in control of your life.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Be happy for others on their achievement and encourage them by congratulating.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-2621931698891072236?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-05T23:26:00.913-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SbDP6DHw0ZI/AAAAAAAAABk/C-g2rvvEvzY/s72-c/idea1.gif" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>Leadership Mentality</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/leadership-mentality.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2009 05:54:46 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-4073149967287462615</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/Sa-tQUlffII/AAAAAAAAABc/leH4HpA1MJ4/s1600-h/leadership-training.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 141px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/Sa-tQUlffII/AAAAAAAAABc/leH4HpA1MJ4/s200/leadership-training.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309652981608578178" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;L&lt;/span&gt;eaders must demonstrate the following qualities in order to counsel effectively. &lt;ul type="disc"&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Respect for employees&lt;/b&gt; - This includes the belief that individuals are responsible for their own actions and ideas. It includes an awareness of a person's individuality by recognizing their unique values, attributes, and skills. As you attempt to develop people with counseling, you must refrain from projecting your own values onto them. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Self-Awareness&lt;/b&gt; - This quality is an understanding of yourself as a leader. The more you are aware of your own values, needs, and biases, the less likely you will be to project your feelings onto your employees. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Credibility&lt;/b&gt; - Believability is achieved through both honesty and consistency between both the leader's statements and actions. Credible leaders are straightforward with their subordinates and behave in such a manner that earns the subordinates' respect and trust. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Empathy&lt;/b&gt; - or compassion entails understanding a subordinate's situation. Empathetic leaders will be better able to help subordinates identify the situation and then develop a plan to improve it. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;The reason for counseling is to help employees develop in order to achieve organizational goals. Sometimes, the counseling is directed by policy, and at other times, leaders should choose to counsel to develop employees. Regardless of the nature of the counseling, leaders should demonstrate the qualities of an effective counselor (respect, self-awareness, credibility, and empathy) and employ the skills of good communication. &lt;p&gt;While the reason for counseling is to develop subordinates, leaders often categorize counseling based on the topic of the session. Major categories include performance counseling, problem counseling, and individual growth counseling (development). While these categories help leaders to organize and focus counseling sessions, they must not be viewed as separate and distinct types of counseling. For example a counseling session which mainly focuses on resolving a problem may also have a great impact on improving job performance. Another example is a counseling session that focuses on performance may also include a discussion of opportunities for growth. Regardless of the topic of the counseling session, you should follow the same basic format to prepare for and conduct counseling. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Steps for counseling&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;ol type="1"&gt;&lt;li&gt;Identify the problem. Ensure you get to the heart of the problem. Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota, invented a technique called the &lt;b&gt;Five Whys&lt;/b&gt;. When confronted with a problem you ask "why" five times. By the time the fifth why is answered, you should be at the root cause of the problem. For example: &lt;ul compact="compact"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Tom's work has not up to standards&lt;/b&gt;&lt;li&gt;Why? - After discussing it with Tom it turns out he has too much of a workload&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Why? - Tom is considered one of the experts, hence he often gets extra work dumped on him&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Why? - Susan, the other expert, was promoted and no one else is capable of replacing her&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Why? - We failed to train and develop the other team members&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Why? - We did not see the necessity of cross-training&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;   &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Analyze the forces influencing the behavior. Determine which of these forces you have control over and which of the forces the worker has control over. Determine if the force has to be modified, eliminated, or enforced. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Plan, coordinate, and organize the session. Determine the best time to conduct the session so that you will not be interrupted or forced to end too early. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Conduct the session using sincerity, compassion, and kindness. This does not mean you cannot be firm or in control. Your reputation is on the line; the problem must be solved so that your department can continue with its mission. Likewise, you must hear the person out. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;During the session, determine what the worker believes causes the counterproductive behavior and what will be required to change it. Also, determine if your initial analysis is correct. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Try to maintain a sense of timing of when to use directive or nondirective counseling (see below).     &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Using all the facts, make a decision and/or a plan of action to correct the problem. If more counseling is needed, make a firm time and date for the next session. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;After the session and throughout a sufficient time period, evaluate the worker's progress to ensure the problem has indeed been solved. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;  There are two types of counseling - &lt;b&gt;directive&lt;/b&gt; and &lt;b&gt;nondirective&lt;/b&gt;. In directive counseling, the counselor identifies the problem and tells the counselee what to do about it. Nondirective counseling means the counselee identifies the problem and determines the solution with the help of the counselor. The counselor has to determine which of the two, or some appropriate combination, to give for each situation. For example, "Put that cigarette out now as this is a nonsmoking area," is a form of directive counseling. While a form of nondirective counseling would be, "So the reason you are not effective is that you were up late last night. What are you going to do to ensure that this does not affect your performance again?" &lt;p&gt;  Hints for counseling sessions: &lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul type="disc"&gt;&lt;li&gt;Let the person know that the behavior is undesirable, not the person.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Let the person know that you care about him or her as a person, but that you expect more from them.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Do not punish employees who are unable to perform a task. Punish those who are able to perform the task but are unwilling or unmotivated to succeed. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Counseling sessions should be conducted in private immediately after the undesirable behavior. Do not humiliate a person in front of others. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Ensure that the employee understands exactly what behavior led to the counseling or punishment.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Do not hold a grudge. When it is over, it is over! Move on! &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;  &lt;h2&gt;Performance Appraisals&lt;/h2&gt;  &lt;h3&gt;Skills + Knowledge + Attitudes = Observable Behavior&lt;br /&gt;Observable Behavior = Performance Appraisal Rating&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;center&gt; &lt;h4&gt;If you don't keep score, you're only practicing."  - Vince Lombardi &lt;/h4&gt; &lt;/center&gt; Performance Appraisals (often called reviews, evaluations, or assessments) are the measurement of a specific range of skills, knowledge, and attitudes in relation to certain objective standards. The ratings are based upon observations or empirical data in relationship to a set of predefined standards. Although we sometimes make decisions based upon our own personal feelings or gut-level instincts, appraisals must be based upon how well a person has performed to a set standard. &lt;p&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;center&gt; &lt;h4&gt;He who stops being better stops being good. - Oliver Cromwell&lt;/h4&gt; &lt;/center&gt;The objective of performance appraisals is to help employees improve their performance and grow as individuals so that the organization can meet its present and future goals in a timely and cost effective manner. Is this how most organizations use them? No. They are used for protection against lawsuits, to justify different levels of pay increases, or to provide once-a-year feedback. In other words, a lot of managers and supervisors view them as an additional burden required by Human Resources. When in fact, they should be viewed as a performance tool. Just as a leader uses speaking skills to encourage the troops and analytical skills to forecast budgets; performance appraisals should be used to encourage great performance and create goals to improve weak competencies. &lt;p&gt;For many, the performance appraisal is tied in to their pay as a reward system. Tony Hope, a visiting professor at the French Business school INSEAD, spoke of rewards at the Institute of Personnel and Development's Compensation conference. He believes that we need to stop this practice as trust and commitment cannot be fostered while cost-control imperatives dominate organizational thinking. "Just as we have seen that knowledge workers don't respond to a regime of command and control in management style, so they won't perform according to pay systems that are individually based," says Professor Hope, "Organizations must hang on to their best people and these people are exactly those that are least impressed by internal competition within tight budgets...New and powerful forces that are shaping organizations mean that people management professionals are going to have to find ways of collectively rewarding effort. It will be less pay for performance and more pay for participation." &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Performance appraisals are normally given at annual or semi-annual time periods. They need to provide specific feedback to the individual as to what competencies need improvement: &lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt; Skills - What areas do I need to train in? &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt; Knowledge - What areas do I need to learn more about? &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt; Attitude - Are my inner drives coinciding with the organization's goals? &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt; Rewards - What am I doing right so I can do more of it? (we all like pats on the back) &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;Source : www.skagitwatershed.org&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-4073149967287462615?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-07T05:54:46.767-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/Sa-tQUlffII/AAAAAAAAABc/leH4HpA1MJ4/s72-c/leadership-training.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>The opportunity to respond</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/03/opportunity-to-respond.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2009 05:55:18 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-8988084083955182977</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/Sa-YXljCrcI/AAAAAAAAABU/_cshSOXI5zw/s1600-h/idea.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 199px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/Sa-YXljCrcI/AAAAAAAAABU/_cshSOXI5zw/s200/idea.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309630016676605378" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:7;"&gt;Y&lt;/span&gt;ou have the opportunity to respond to whatever happens in  your world. And the way you respond determines the quality  of your life.&lt;p&gt;  What matters most is not what happens to you. What matters  most is the way you respond.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  You can respond any way you choose. So choose those  positive, empowering responses that will move your life  forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  It may seem in certain situations that a negative response  is the only possible response, and yet that is never the  case. Always, a positive response is just as possible, just  as realistic, and a whole lot more beneficial.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  Get clear on your purpose and know your intentions. Respond  to whatever happens in a way that moves your life in the  direction you have chosen to go.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;  For the opportunity to craft your own response to each event  in life is indeed the opportunity to set the direction of  your life. Remember always that you have a choice, and use  that choice to add great value to your world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;   -- Ralph Marston&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;source : http://www.greatday.com/&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-8988084083955182977?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-03-07T05:55:18.736-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/Sa-YXljCrcI/AAAAAAAAABU/_cshSOXI5zw/s72-c/idea.gif" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>A Winner's Mental</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/02/winners-mental.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:52:04 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-3188342325319725846</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZu9b2gaPrI/AAAAAAAAABM/RETARXDUgp0/s1600-h/winner-win.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 162px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZu9b2gaPrI/AAAAAAAAABM/RETARXDUgp0/s200/winner-win.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304041272344460978" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;A &lt;/span&gt;winner's is the one who always finds a way out and not find fault with other peoples.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Did you know that since you were born you already to be a winner? why? because when the baby is born and the struggle must eventually be born in the earth. So, you born to be a winner and you must struggle to get the finish line.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are 3 things that will make us have a mental winner:&lt;br /&gt;1. Our minds must be positive&lt;br /&gt;2. Always close to the people enthusiast&lt;br /&gt;3. Learn and practice the life style!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Congratulations have a winner's mental!&lt;br /&gt;Don't look back, step forward and reach a victory !&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budiyanto Tandean&lt;br /&gt;Motivator&lt;br /&gt;contact : thefirststep777@gmail.com&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-3188342325319725846?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-02-17T23:52:04.921-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZu9b2gaPrI/AAAAAAAAABM/RETARXDUgp0/s72-c/winner-win.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">3</thr:total></item><item><title>Begin The First Step</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/02/begin-first-step.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:57:09 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-2451715927502460971</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZdeFc3RwHI/AAAAAAAAAAU/R2JX0M3s5VE/s1600-h/thefirststep.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZdeFc3RwHI/AAAAAAAAAAU/R2JX0M3s5VE/s200/thefirststep.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302810533992448114" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;O&lt;/span&gt;pening this blog is the beginning of your success. Why is the first step necessary? disqualification many athlete experience as a first step.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For a change starting from the first step. Without action the changes will not occur in our lives.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Here's how to start a good first step: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. Decide where you will step (Goal)&lt;br /&gt;2. Have the willingness to go hard&lt;br /&gt;3. Search for people who can help&lt;br /&gt;4. Decide when to start&lt;br /&gt;5. Do it !&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let's make a good first step!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budiyanto Tandean&lt;br /&gt;Motivator&lt;br /&gt;Email: thefirststep777@gmail.com&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-2451715927502460971?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-02-14T17:57:09.124-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZdeFc3RwHI/AAAAAAAAAAU/R2JX0M3s5VE/s72-c/thefirststep.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total></item><item><title>Success Stories of Petronas</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/02/story-success-of-petronas.html</link><category>Success Stories</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sun, 15 Feb 2009 04:15:53 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-6229512156338235268</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZdz_QXWZeI/AAAAAAAAAAs/g5jWXHrrPck/s1600-h/kuala_lumpur_petronas_twin_towers.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 143px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZdz_QXWZeI/AAAAAAAAAAs/g5jWXHrrPck/s200/kuala_lumpur_petronas_twin_towers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302834616813905378" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;P&lt;/span&gt;etronas, acronym of Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a government oil company which was established in Malaysia in 1974. unique, many foreign tourists who know Powerhouse, this is not as oil and gas company, but just Petronas Tower. Petronas towers are two twin buildings in Kuala Lumpur which had been the highest building in the world and become a significant tourism object in Kuala Lumpur. Petronas is also join with Formula One racing car (F1) because he became a major sponsor the Formula One team Sauber and provide fuel and lubricants for the team.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Currently, Petonas have been make a big networking and has 103 subsidiaries. In Malaysia itself, everything can be said Petronas. Petronas is the largest fund in the development of Putra Jaya, Malaysia capital of the new ultra-modern and information-based technology.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Petronas does not only contribute in the sense of community pride for Malaysia, but also in the context of economic development. Petronas is the only Powerhouse Malaysia recorded in the Fortune 500 (ranking 120). In 2006, Petronas profits have been so large, reaching U.S. $ 15 billion, or equal to thirty percent of government revenues Malaysia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Direct or indirect economic contribution is able to lift the Powerhouse income per capital of Malaysia to U.S. 6000% in the year 2006 (Economist, 10/2007) with the number of employees of 33,682 people.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just as Saudi Aramco, the success of changing the face Petonas participate Malaysia also came from a melee that changes come from within himself. Ironically, the initiative changes began when Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia - Tun Dr Ismail Al Jaj  do honor visit for about an hour to head Pertamina in Jakarta on a lunch date on March 11 1972. Wikipedia (http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petronas), you will find written evidence of the recognition Petronas own.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the documents can be read by the public is knowledgeable, is mentioned, leader of Petronas, Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah "triumph with Affected property syarikat Indonesia, Pertamina, namely". So, when grand launching on 1 October 1974 Petronas has a role that really special, which is not taken from Shell, the oil company's Dutch origin who have to build factory in Port Dickson since 1962.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So the meeting in the office Pertamina is the support for Petronas in the form of experts who will be supplied by Pertamina. In fact, until now there are quite a lot of Indonesian engineer working in Petronas and placed in the world, both in Africa and in Europe. Ironically, students always be smarter than the teachers themselves. Why be so? The answer is very simple. Malaysia to take the good things from Pertamina and cover "air-air" on the strength of the original Pertamina. What is adopted and modify it?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Taken raw is a system for the contract. Petronas contract for the system to adopt the findings in the Pertamina oil and gas concessions negotiated with foreign oil companies that have technology. Before Pertamina, very little oil and gas companies in Asia (non-Middle East) that is capable of producing a large economic contribution to the country. With this system, does not need to Pertronas practical interest in fiber-in and does not need to search for the model itself.&lt;br /&gt;Then what needs to be taken?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Petronas finally able to prove that they are not simply "blade enclosure." Currently, Petronas has operations in fifty-nine locations located in 323 countries around the world. In 2005, a successful oil and gas reserves outside the domination of his country has reached 5.9 billion barrels, higher than the domestic reserves (4.2 billion barrels).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Source: Rhenald Kasali, DNA mutation Powerhouse, hal.16-19&lt;br /&gt;translated by Budiyanto Tandean&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-6229512156338235268?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-02-15T04:15:53.452-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZdz_QXWZeI/AAAAAAAAAAs/g5jWXHrrPck/s72-c/kuala_lumpur_petronas_twin_towers.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>Learning from stairs</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/02/learning-from-stairs.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:40:04 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-8790794654462644231</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZdgPziAh7I/AAAAAAAAAAk/xn930Q52Gtk/s1600-h/stairs+-+thefirststep.blogspot.com.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZdgPziAh7I/AAAAAAAAAAk/xn930Q52Gtk/s200/stairs+-+thefirststep.blogspot.com.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302812910899201970" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;T&lt;/span&gt;o go up to the next level you must begin from the first step. Without it you will not be go up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Why do many people often fail? because they would not start because of fear of failure. Failure is common, many successful people started from the failure of many.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You made the failure of the first step in your life, so that your step will be solid and not easily shaky. Such as coral reefs, which continues to crash by waves and will not be wobbly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Are you ready to be failure?&lt;br /&gt;Do not worry, failure is common ... !&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budiyanto Tandean&lt;br /&gt;Motivator&lt;br /&gt;email: thefirststep777@gmail.com&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-8790794654462644231?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-02-14T16:40:04.909-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZdgPziAh7I/AAAAAAAAAAk/xn930Q52Gtk/s72-c/stairs+-+thefirststep.blogspot.com.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>Happiness is the key to success</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/02/happiness-is-key-to-success.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:36:37 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-6461233999401947299</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZebmTf7ozI/AAAAAAAAAA0/VQTO7gMteN8/s1600-h/happy-face.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZebmTf7ozI/AAAAAAAAAA0/VQTO7gMteN8/s200/happy-face.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302878168623588146" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;C&lt;/span&gt;onventional wisdom has long stated that success that makes people happy. But according to new research, conventional wisdom is wrong. Happiness, rather than working hard, is the real key to success.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A review of 225 studies in the current issue of Psychological Bulletin, published by the American Psychological Association (APA), has found that cheerful people are more likely to try new things and challenge themselves, which reinforces positive emotion and leads to success in work, good relationships and strong health.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The research, led by author Dr Sonja Lyubomirsky, of the University of California, suggests that happy individuals are predisposed to seek out and undertake new goals in life and this reinforces positive emotions,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chronically happy people are in general more successful across many life domains than less happy people&lt;br /&gt;What's more, chronically happy people are in general more successful across many life domains than less happy people and their happiness is in large part a consequence of their positive emotions rather than vice versa.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The research examined the connections between desirable characteristics, life successes and well-being of over 275,000 people.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Happy people are more likely to achieve favourable life circumstances, said Dr. Lyubomirsky, and "this may be because happy people frequently experience positive moods and these positive moods prompt them to be more likely to work actively toward new goals and build new resources.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"When people feel happy, they tend to feel confident, optimistic, and energetic and others find them likable and sociable. Happy people are thus able to benefit from these perceptions."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Lyubomirsky and co-authors Dr Laura King, of University of Missouri and Dr Ed Diener, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and The Gallup Organization argue that much of the previous research on happiness presupposed that happiness followed from success and accomplishments in life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"We found that this isn't always true," said Lyubomirsky. "Positive affect is one attribute among several that can lead to success-oriented behaviours. Other resources, such as intelligence, family, expertise and physical fitness, can also play a role in people's successes."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Furthermore, she said, evidence from the cross-sectional studies confirm that a person's well-being is associated with positive perceptions of self and others, sociability, creativity, prosocial behaviour, a strong immune system, and effective coping skills.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But she added that happy people are also capable of experiencing sadness and negative emotions in response to negative events, which is a healthy and appropriate response.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Our review provides strong support that happiness, in many cases, leads to successful outcomes, rather than merely following from them," said Lyubomirsky.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Happy individuals are more likely than their less happy peers to have fulfilling marriages and relationships, high incomes, superior work performance, community involvement, robust health and even a long life."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;source : ww.management-issues.com&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-6461233999401947299?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-02-14T20:36:37.262-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZebmTf7ozI/AAAAAAAAAA0/VQTO7gMteN8/s72-c/happy-face.gif" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><item><title>9 Tips to Leading a More Positive Life</title><link>http://thefirststep777.blogspot.com/2009/02/9-tips-to-leading-more-positive-life.html</link><category>Motivation</category><author>noreply@blogger.com (thefirststep)</author><pubDate>Sun, 15 Feb 2009 04:15:10 PST</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3502182249346397291.post-7772132460596038669</guid><description>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZf_UdeUC8I/AAAAAAAAABE/RwjolSYR0VM/s1600-h/attitude.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 144px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZf_UdeUC8I/AAAAAAAAABE/RwjolSYR0VM/s200/attitude.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302987813226286018" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;K&lt;/span&gt;eeping positive in a negative world is sometimes a challenge. Other people are ‘sad sacks’, moaning and groaning about the weather, the lotto results, the traffic, the price increases, the government. It’s easy to pick up on the negativity and the doom and gloom they want to spread, but the other side of the coin, is being positive and a success.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I t takes between 21 and 28 days to change a habit. You alter one and there’s another habit you need to change. Your success is stepping stones in progress, but it's positive and you will succeed. Maybe not overnight, but then you’ve heard the old words “it’s taken my fifteen years to become an overnight movie star.” Our top sports people&lt;br /&gt;have been practising for years. It's the same with our life. Practice leads to improvement. The difference is the movie star and sports heroes have coaches, we just bungle along in life and expect successes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If that's what you want in you life…. here's a few tips that will assist you. Copy them and put them on your office board or at home on the fridge.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;   1. Turn off the television&lt;/span&gt; - Negatively is rife in life. It’s in the media, magazines, people. If you want to be positive you need to rid yourself of negativity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;   2. Achieve Results&lt;/span&gt; - You need to have a goal, dream or desire you’re working towards. Maybe it’s money in the bank, increased cash flow in your business. A holiday, new car or ten new clients. As the saying says in the Wizard of Oz. Any road will take you there, if you don’t know where you’re going.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;   3. Overcome Fear&lt;/span&gt; - Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. There’s a great book Feal the Fear and do it anyway by Susan Jeffries. Imagine not attempting to walk when you were young. You wouldn’t want to live without it now . . . but you didn’t give up. You tried and succeeded. Take small steps to over come your fear.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;   4. Improve your Attitude&lt;/span&gt; - My Attitude postcard reads: Past, Present, Future, Every second you have a choice. Choose Positive and be your own Success Story. It’s true; you can only think one thought at a time. Make it a positive one.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;   5. Gain Confidence&lt;/span&gt; - Walk tall, stand straight, wear your best clothes, use eye contact (careful with some cultures) Smile!. Robyn Henderson the International Networking guru says Fake it until you make it. You might have butterflies in your stomach, but no one can see them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;   6. Improve your communication&lt;/span&gt; - Join Toastmasters and at the same time gain confidence. Attend assertive communication courses, learn about confident communication and remember Hello and Thank You.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;   7. Become Interactive&lt;/span&gt; - Just do it….is the Nike advertisement. Make the appointments and approach new clients, meet new people, join social clubs. Life is for living.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;   8. ‘Do’ Victory&lt;/span&gt; - With every small success reward you. After ten sales calls, have a coffee, after a completing a task well, find a way of patting yourself on your back. Acknowledge that you’ve achieved something.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;   9. Get Enthusiastic&lt;/span&gt; - Find the ‘it’s great to be alive’ feeling. Disco ver your passions, experience and enjoy them. Smell the roses, enjoy good health, eat well and find the vitality in life from within. You’ve got it, but it’s up to you to discover it. Everyone has free will, the choice is yours!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Source : www.attitudespecialist.co.nz/articles/9-tips-positive-life.htm&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3502182249346397291-7772132460596038669?l=thefirststep777.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><app:edited xmlns:app="http://www.w3.org/2007/app">2009-02-15T04:15:10.570-08:00</app:edited><media:thumbnail url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qmhO1tTfZrE/SZf_UdeUC8I/AAAAAAAAABE/RwjolSYR0VM/s72-c/attitude.png" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></item><media:rating>nonadult</media:rating></channel></rss>

