How to Exercise Your Eyes

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

We all know how important it is to keep our bodies fit by doing things like going to the gym, jogging, and swimming. But, did you know that you can exercise your eyes as well? Eye exercising will keep your eyes healthy and help minimize eyestrain.

Steps

1. Sit comfortably on a chair. Rub your hands together until they feel warm. Close your eyes and cover them lightly with your cupped palms. Avoid applying pressure on your eyeballs. Place your palms so that the nose remains uncovered, and the eyes remain behind the slight hollow of the palms. Make sure that no light rays enter the eyes, and leave no gaps between fingers or between the edge of the palms and the nose. You may still see other lingering traces of colors. Imagine deep blackness and focus on the blackness. Take deep breaths slowly and evenly, while thinking of some happy incident; or visualize a distant scene. After your eyes see nothing but blackness, remove your palms from your eyes. Repeat the palming for 3 minutes or more.
2. Close your eyes tightly for 3-5 seconds, then open them for 3-5 seconds. Repeat this 7 or 8 times.
3. Close your eyes and massage them with circular movements of your fingers for 1-2 minutes. Make sure you press very lightly; otherwise, you could hurt your eyes.
4. Press three fingers of each hand against your upper eyelids, and hold them there for 1-2 seconds, then release. Repeat 5 times.
5. Sit and relax. Roll your eyes clockwise, then counter-clockwise. Repeat 5 times, and blink in between each time.
6. Sit about 6 inches (150 mm) from the window. Make a mark on the glass at your eye level (a small sticker, black or red, would be perfect). Look through this mark and focus on something far away for 10-15 seconds; then focus on the mark again.
7. Hold a pencil in front of you at arm’s length. Move your arm slowly to your nose, and follow the pencil with your eyes until you can keep it in focus. Repeat 10 times.
8. Look in front of you at the opposite wall and pretend that you are writing with your eyes, without turning your head. It may seem difficult at first, but with a bit of practice it is really fun. The bigger the letters, the better the effect.
9. Imagine that you are standing in front of a really big clock. Look at the middle of the clock. Then look at any hour mark, without turning your head. Look back at the center. Then look at another hour mark. Do this at least 12 times. You can also do this exercise with your eyes closed.
10. Focus on a distant object (over 150 feet or 50 m away) for several seconds and slowly refocus your eyes on a nearby object (less than 30 feet or 10 m away) that’s in the same direction. Focus for several seconds and go back to the distant object. Do this 5 times.
11. Focus on an object in the distance (as far as possible) with a low contrasting background. Do this for a few minutes every half hour or so. This does not improve your vision, nor does any other technique. It can, however, maintain your best eyesight level during the day and prevent significant further vision deterioration.

Tips

• It’s more important to do the exercises regularly than to do them for a long time. Even 30-60 seconds of eye movement every hour is very helpful. For example, when your computer takes its sweet time to do something, most people just stare at the poor thing and waste the time, but you can make a few circles with your eyes. Even the first day you do this, you should notice that, when you finish working, your eyes aren’t as tired as usual.
• Taking short breaks from near work (e.g. staring at a computer monitor) to stare out to the distance also relieves some strain.
• Palming is a good method to help your eyes feel better. You close your eyes and put your palms over them, this will rest your eyes.
• Blink the eyes many times.
• Splash your eyes with cold water repeatedly when feasible, and especially when your eyes are strained.

Warnings

• Consult your optometrist (eye doctor) before doing any of these exercises. The last thing you want to do is add further strain to your eyes, or damage them permanently.
• When doing these exercises, make sure that you’re not facing anybody, or that they know you’re doing eye exercises. Otherwise they might think you’ve gone nuts.
• Doing these exercises when you wear contacts may cause them to suction to your eyeball. They might also move around and possibly become folded and/or dislodged, which can be extremely uncomfortable as well.
• Do not apply pressure on your eyes.
• Wash your hands before doing these exercises to avoid getting irritants in your eye.

Things You’ll Need

• Pencil
• Eyes
• Eye drops (Eyes may become dry)

Related wikiHows

• How to Take Care of Your Eyes
• How to See in the Dark
• How to Get a Job When You Are Blind or Visually Impaired
• How to Get Rid of Black Circles Under Your Eyes
• How to View Stereograms
• How to Exercise While Sitting at Your Computer
• How to Avoid Getting Dry Eyes from the Computer
• How to Cure Puffy Eyes

External Links

• Eye Exercises… Eye Therapy For Better Eyes, Eyesight And Vision Correction.
• [1]
• Eyezercise.com – Eye Exercises for Natural Vision Improvement
• Eyesight improvement the natural, affordable and easy way
• Eye Exercises for Eye Relaxation and Natural Vision Correction
• http://www.totemdog.com/eyesite
• http://www.rebuildyourvision.com
• http://www.CureYourEyes.com/blog
• http://www.HealMyEyes.com

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Exercise Your Eyes. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Not having a Social Media Plan is like going for a long Hike in the Mountains without any Food and Water.

The point is that you may survive, but it will be a very challenging and frustrating experience that could have otherwise been avoided. In my last post, I wrote about how planning starts with a VISION. In this post, I want to emphasize the importance of PLANNING. When most people think of planning, they yawn, BORING! Who wants to get boggled down with details?! “Let’s just go for it, make it happen and we will adjust along the way. Besides, it’s more fun and adventurous to have some spontaneity in our lives!” I swear, I used to say that and believe that with all my heart, and I still do in some areas of my life, but NOT when it comes to business. Unfortunately, I have had to learn through too many failures to understand why PLANNING is key to a successful business. So let’s dive into some key factors that are fundamental to having a solid social media plan. For the purpose of this blog post, I will be referring to small businesses:

• Know your target audience – Who are you selling to? Who’s attention do you want? Let’s narrow it down further. What  is your buyer persona?  That means, what are your buyers’ preferences, tastes, likes and dislikes. For example, my company, Hware sells software tools that help small businesses. Therefore, I look for entrepreneurs, and Work-at-Home folks to connect with online and try to make myself useful to them. I am laser-focused on the kind of person I want to interact with online. It’s  not that I don’t or won’t engage with anyone other than my ideal client, it’s just that I am very specific and clear about who I need to be talking to online for my business. More importantly, if your target audience is not online, then you are wasting your time being online. You need to be where they are. That’s where market research comes in.
• Spend some time doing some Market Research – It is crucial to find out where your customers hang out. Are they on Twitter or LinkedIn? Are most of them not using social networking sites and still prefer e-mail? The point is that you need to have a clear understanding of where they are so that you can communicate with them.  Occasionally, I enroll my online audience in surveys, which gives me insight into what they need. I then provide them with the results of the polls. By engaging my audience and asking for feedback, I gain tremendous knowledge on who they are, what their challenges are, and how I may better serve them. Here are a few online survey tools: Poll Daddy,  Survey Monkey and Twtpoll (for Twitter). The surveys need to be short, simple and convenient for the participant, otherwise, they will be reluctant fill it out.

• Know your online STAG: I call these your Strengths, Talents, Attributes, and Gifts. You must find and own your STAG and become like the beautiful statuesque male deer I live with here in the foothills of Northern California. They know their own power and beauty.  They grace the land with great ease and confidence. When you know your STAG, you will attract, engage, and be like a magnet to your online Fans, Friends, and Followers. When you are clear about your STAG, it will show in your energy, your presence. We all feed off of each other’s energy and your customers are no different. They will know if you are moving with ease and confidence and when you are putting their best interests first and foremost. (I will write more about STAG in future blog posts.) An example of using your STAG is let’s say that you are better at talking than writing; then perhaps you may want do more vlogging (video blogs) than blogging. The point is that you are playing to your strengths and when you work from a place of strengths, it always much easier.
• Remember that your Social Media Plan - should come under the umbrella of your marketing plan and your marketing plan falls under your business plan and your business plan should be part of your long-term strategic plan, (which I will write about in more detail another time.) So many people get overwhelmed with social media, but it is important to keep things in perspective. Social media is just one aspect of your overall business and as an entrepreneur/self-employed, you wear many different hats – social media is your marketing hat.

On my next blog post, I will delve into more detail about social media planning. I will be writing about some specific automation tools to help systematize and simplify your online presence.

Brenda Horton is Co-owner of Hware, a software company that designs business planning tools for small businesses. She will be hosting a FREE and LIVE Webinar on Social Media STRATEGIES for beginners on September 2nd.

If you would like to be a subscriber to Hware’s blog click on Email or RSS.

Your PLAN must start with a VISION.

I stopped by my Realtor friend’s office yesterday and she shared with me how she felt overwhelmed with all the social media stuff. She said that she did not understand what the Acid Rain website was all about. I said, “You mean, Active Rain.” A social networking site for the real estate community. If I were a grain of sand for everytime someone has said that to me, I’d be a beach. There is so much confusion and curiosity about social media. It is a HUGE topic that makes people feel like it is one more thing — like a necessary evil that they have to learn. I feel their pain. That is why I am writing a series of blog posts specifically for the social media newbie.

Begin with the END in mind.

Let’s put things in perspective. As with all big undertakings in life, you need to have a PLAN. Why do you think the planning industry is so BIG; event planners, wedding planners, financial planners; retirement planners, meal planners, life coaches, fitness trainers…you get the picture. Having a social media plan for your small business, start-up, or your non-profit is no different. Your PLAN needs to start with a VISION: Ask yourself, “What do I want to accomplish with social media? Some people want to use it to grow their business. Some people want to just connect with friends. Non-profits may want to reach their donors with it. The point is that you need to start with the end in mind. What is your intention? It’s important to understand that social media is about networking, as in building relationships and making friends. After people like you and trust you, after they have become your friends, then it is much easier to ask them to buy from you or donate to your cause.

Are you social media conscious?

On my next blog post, I will write in more detail about creating a VISION for your social media plan. I’ll give you a hint. It starts with your target audience, your buyer persona, your ideal client profile.  In the meantime, I’d love to hear about your social media plan if you already have one. Even if you say, “I don’t have a plan, I just like observing and reading what people are saying on the different social networking sites.” That’s is okay too. The fact that you are conscious about what your intentions are with regards to social media is important to identify and understand. I realize this stuff sounds so obvious to those who are power users of social media, but I’m trying to help newcomers to social media connect the dots and make some sense of it. Please make comments on the blog post and let me know if you found this post to be useful.

Brenda Horton owns Hware, a software company that designs easy-to-use web-based, business planning tools for entrepreneurs.

She will be giving a webinar on social media for newbies next month. Be sure to sign up for her blog for notification of the upcoming webinar at www.hware.com/blog

Join Hware’s FAN page at www.Facebook.com/HwareFB

Mastermind Meeting

Monday Mastermind Movers and Shakers

Lately, I have been getting a lot of inquiries about my mastermind group, so I thought I would share my personal experience with my current mastermind group without divulging confidential information.  Everyone has different reasons for business masterminding. They range from networking, accountability, brainstorming, collaboration, support, guidance, sounding board, different perspectives, cheer-leading squad, inspiration, the list is varied.  The main reason I started my mastermind group was to help one another stay focused on building our business using social media. Focus is one of the biggest ongoing challenges many entrepreneurs have. A mastermind group is excellent because of the accountability factor.

Invite more than you want because not everyone will stick

The mastermind group I am currently in started in March 2009 and will continue until late August 2009, a six month commitment. We meet twice a month (every other Monday from 2:00-4:00 pm PST.) I invited 8 people and 4 people made the commitment. It is best to invite more people than you want because not everyone will be able to make the commitment.  At the end of six months, we will reassess to decide if we want to continue for another six months. We will also decide if we want to open up the group to others by inviting them to join. Ideally, it is best to have a minimum of four people and a maximum of eight. We meet in person, although some groups meet via teleconference or the web.

Mastermind Groups must have Focus

The focus of our Mastermind group is “How to grow your business using social media.” We rotate the location of the meeting each time as well so that a different member can host it at their location.  As the leader of this Mastermind group, my role is mainly a facilitator. I start the meeting by having everyone take three deep breaths so that we can get centered and focused. Each person has about 20-30 minutes to talk about their business.  Every meeting ends with the host providing an inspiring quote, video, musical piece, etc. It’s important to end the meeting with an upbeat tone so that people leave feeling good.

Mastermind Groups must have some guidelines

This is a summary of the agenda that I use as a guideline to facilitate our mastermind meetings:

1. Start with something you are grateful for. Gratitude is very important in a mastermind group. It is very easy to dump all your negative stuff on people you are close to but this is not the place. The purpose of the mastermind group is to help brainstorm solutions, not vent on everyone.

2. Review what you achieved from the last two weeks. What have you learned that you can share? What is your “aha?”

3. What are your major challenges right now? What can we do to help you move onto the next step so that you can reach your goals?

4. What is your action plan between now and the next time we meet?

5. What are you doing with social media to grow your business?

Mastermind Group should have members who are helpful

During the week that we do not meet. Each member checks in via phone (10-20 minutes) with a partner. It’s important to partner with people who have skill sets that are complementary to one another. For example, you don’t want to have two techie guys as partners. The techie guy will be better served with someone who has excellent sales and marketing skills and vice versa. The same principle should apply to your overall members of the group. For example, I don’t think it is a good idea to have all sales and marketing women in the group. There are plenty of other professional groups for saleswomen to network. It is best to mix it up with gender and professional skills set. Invite people who you think will bring balance, helpful, committed to their business, and is respectful to others.

What does it cost to belong in a mastermind group?

Lastly, I don’t charge for my mastermind group. I realize some group leaders do charge and that is part of their revenue model and that is absolutely okay. For this specific group, I have chosen to make it FREE. I have also decided that if we continue for an additional six months, I should not be the lead facilitator. I want to give other people an opportunity for a leadership role.   Are you in a Mastermind group? Perhaps your group is very different from mine. I would love to hear about it. If you are not in a mastermind group and would like to start your own, feel free to ask me a question.

Brenda Horton is the owner of Hware, a software company that desgins online business planning tools for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and non-profits.

Sign up to receive Hware’s Blog at http://www.hware.com

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Michael Jackson may have been the GREATEST entertainer in the world, but clearly he was also a MASTER at building a massive FAN base. Here are the top 10 ways he built a loyal following:

Michael Jackson Moonwalking

1. He started with a great product, not a mediocre one.
2. He kept putting out a great product, it’s called consistency.
3. He kept adding more value to his product by always over-delivering.
4. When off-stage, he treated everyone with dignity and respect. Do you treat your vendors, employees with dignity and respect?
5. He was a great humanitarian. It was part of his business model. He did not wait to make his billions and then decide to give it away. He gave along the way as he made his wealth. Are you building charity into your business model?
6. He genuinely cared about his fans. Do you genuinely care about your clients?
7. He never dropped to the level of his attackers and those that tried to tear him down. Do you take the high road or the low road?
8. He was innovative, daring, risk-taking, creative, and a hard worker. Do you play it safe?
9. He was grateful, humble and sincere when receiving accolades.
10. He used the gifts that he was born with and turned them into a strength like Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods.

What are you doing in your business to build a loyal following? I’d love to hear.

Brenda Horton is a partner with Hware, a software company that designs online business planning tools for small businesses, start-ups, and non-profits. You can follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BrendaHorton and join Hware’s Fan page http://www.facebook.com/HwareFB

What Happened to AlphaWomen.com?

Alphawomen.com

Usually, I am a very optimistic person, but please allow me to vent. I HATE seeing female-owned businesses fold, especially ones that empowered other women. I was saddened to hear that the AlphaWomen.com website, http://alphawomen.com/which was founded by Freda Mooncotch, is shutting down by the end of July 2009.  In Ms. Mooncotch’s blog post from July 1st, she stated, “I do not have the resources to continue to carry the site any longer…!” Ms. Mooncotch continues in the next paragraph, “Many of you are wondering what will come of me…Really the opportunities are endless and I don’t have a plan. I am going to let it unfold and jump into the unknown trusting that everything is going to work out for me! In fact, I know it is.”

Does Your Small Business Have a Business Plan?

I don’t have a plan? I wonder if Ms.Mooncotch had a business plan with AlpahWomen.com.  I wonder if she made revenue and financial projections. Sadly, but true, more small businesses fail than succeed within the first five years. The main reason is lack of capital also known as lack of money. Let’s give Ms. Mooncotch the benefit of the doubt and assume she had a business plan. It is safe to assume that her revenue projections did not make plan, which is why she can no longer carry the site. Ms.Mooncotch then writes, “If you feel compelled to take AlphaWomen.com over…by all means make me an offer…you won’t insult me by what you may think is a low ball offer. Just be ready to back it up with cash in the event we come to an agreement! You just never know what mood you might catch me in!”

Do You Make Business Decisions Based on Your Mood?

What mood you might catch me in? Is she selling a business based on her mood? What about the value of the business? What about the assets, database, and good-will? Don’t get me wrong. I am all for doing business with people that give me a “good vibe” and feelings are important.  However, one could be in the worst of moods, but a mood should NEVER dictate the price and transaction of a business deal. All too often, women entrepreneurs make decisions based on their feelings, mood, and heart and that is good, but we women entrepreneurs need to learn to incorporate  logic, the analytical side of our brain into business for creating balance. It is imperative that women entrepreneurs make a paradigm shift in how we see ourselves as business owners.  When you, as an entrepreneur are responsible for generating revenue for your very own small business, you have an obligation to see yourself as a business person. Do you think CEOs of successful companies tell their board of directors or investors that they don’t have a plan? Or, they say things like, ” Hey Tom, that’s okay that you ruined the relationship with Company ABC and lost a potential 2 million dollar business transaction. I know you weren’t in the best of moods. Hang in there buddy.” I think not.

I liked the AlpahWomen.com website. I had high hopes for Ms. Mooncotch’s company mainly because I liked how her site was a platform for bringing women together. It was a brilliant idea, but unfortunately, like most small businesses, it was short lived. So here is my question to all the female entrepreneurs: Do you have a business plan in place for your small business? Feel free to post a comment.

Brenda Horton is the owner of Hware, a software company that designs online business planning tools for small businesses. She will be hosting a webinar series on social media strategies for beginners starting July 28th 2009.

Focus, Clarity, and Priorities start with a PLAN.

Has there ever been a time in your business when you lacked focus? Not clear on what actions to take to move your business forward? Not sure what to prioritize first, second, and third? At some point, many entrepreneurs and small business owners have struggled with lack of clarity. They are not sure what specific actions are needed that will result in generating revenue or taking their business to the next level. As an entrepreneur, I have oftentimes struggled with time management, focus, clarity and priorities.  As a former outside sales person, I’d spend my time cleaning my office as opposed to prospecting for customers. Or, I’d spend my time hanging out with customers who had no intention of buying from me versus cultivating customer relationships with those who could buy from me. Eventually, I realized that my office was not going to generate any revenue, but spending time with my qualified customers would.

Business and Strategic Planning minimizes failure and improves your success rate.

I speak from past personal experience when I say that oftentimes entrepreneurs “shoot from the hip” or they “wing it.” This mentality leads to a lot of wasted time and chasing our tails in a circle.  You would never go on a 6 week hiking trip up in the back country wilderness without a plan would you? Okay, maybe you would if you wanted to test your survival skills.  The same goes for your small business.

My 77 year old father in-law hiking in Yosemite.

It would be business suicide to jump into ACTION without a PLAN. The sad truth is that many entrepreneurs do just that! Business planning and strategic planning have everything to do with preparing for the journey that will inevitably unfold in your business endeavors.  Moreover, knowing what to do first, second, and third is just as crucial. It’s about taking the right action at the right time. Business plannning  forces you to think things through on many different levels and scenarios. Let’s go back to the hiking analogy. What if bad weather hit? What if you got injured? What should you pack in your emergency kit? What if you encounter bears? Having a plan helps you think through all the variables, scenarios, and situations that you may encounter on your hiking trip. So it is with your small business. The purpose of a plan is to minimize failure. Unfortunately, small businesses have an extremely high failure rate. Business planning and strategic planning minimizes failure and improves your success rate. Prioritizing, focus, clarity, and managing your time all start with a plan. A plan helps you to focus on what is needed, why it is needed, when it is needed, who will take action, and how it will get done. It helps you get clear, laser focus, and prioritize the most important things in your business that will generate revenue and make your business profitable.

Are you ready to work on your Social Media PLAN?

Right now, more than ever,  small business owners are trying to figure out how to use social media to grow their business. I hear comments like, “What social networking site should I go to? Who should I connect with?  How much time should I spend on social media?”  I rarely hear, “What kind of return on my investment in social media will I get?”  Or, “How will I measure my efforts in social media?” Having a social media plan in place for your business is imperative. Otherwise, it could cost your business a lot of wasted time and money. It is not a one-size-fits-all.  A social media plan for a hospital may be different than for a restaurant. One industry may be slow to adopt social media while another is heavily using it. Where does your business fit into social media? Is your business ready to jump into the world of social media? Is now the right time? Do you have your systems and talent in place to manage your social media efforts? Taking the right action on social media at the right time starts with your business plan…ENVISION PLAN ACT.

Brenda Horton will be hosting a live webinar series on Social Media Summer Boot Camp for Beginners starting in July 2009. Sign up for her blog to receive more upcoming information.

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Brenda’s Social Media 101 Slideshow from the Lunch & Learn Series sponsored by the Nevada County Association of Realtors.

How Social Media and Twitter are changing the way we connect online

Last week I was dining at Centros in Sacramento with my 60+ year old friend. We talked quite a bit about social media. She works in the fund development department for a non-profit. She asked me to explain to her what all the fuss is about with regards to social media. She said that she did not understand why anyone would waste their day in front of a computer talking to people on line when relationships are most powerfully built in person. She felt overwhelmed with all the different online communities and she was clearly having a hard time wrapping her brain around Twitter. “I just don’t get it,” she kept saying. So, I gave her the highlights of how social media and Twitter are changing the way we connect online.

A brief history of Social Media

On a very basic fundamental level, humans have a great desire to connect and share with one another. When you understand that, then you will understand the power of social networking sites. It’s also important to understand that social media evolved from the early 80’s. People were connecting online via bulletin boards, forums and general chat rooms. My business partner built one of the first IBM PC bulletin boards which the Sacramento PC User group later adopted. The bulletin board (platform) allowed the users to share files, upload and download files, create forums and manage user registration.  Keep in mind there was no Internet at the time. Back then everyone had to dial in to him to connect. He was the “platform.” He was to the users of the PC user group what Twitter is to its users today. Later, came the live chat rooms where like-minded people connected via the Internet to discuss a specific subject matter, i.e.,politics, dogs, motorcycles, etc.

Make social media part of your marketing plan

Today, people are connecting online through platforms like Face Book, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter. These platforms facilitate getting a message, product, idea out to the masses in seconds. So, instead of having one person as the hub or platform that allow people to connect, we now have online platforms called social networking sites, which brings us to my friend’s question. “Why would anyone want to connect online when face-to-face is much more powerful?” Here is where the power of social networking sites like Twitter and Face Book are often misunderstood. Just because you are connecting with people online does not mean that you stop using the telephone and other means of communication tools. While having a face-to-face interaction with someone is absolutely the most powerful way to build, nurture, and cultivate relationships, it is also the most time and labor intensive.

With social networking sites, you are no longer limited to your local outreach marketing efforts, which are often expensive. Moreover, your online marketing strategies should not replace your face-to-face efforts of building relationships with your customers. It should be complementary and supplemental. Think of social media as a marketing strategy incorporated into your overall marketing plan and in today’s business environment it is vital to have a PLAN for your business.

Brenda Horton owns Hware, a software company that develops business tools for small businesses, entrepreneurs, non-profits, and start-ups. She is the membership co-chair of the Sacramento Social Media Club.

Brenda Horton will be teaching a beginners class on Social Media at the Nevada County Association of Realtors on Friday May 29th from 11:30 am-1:00 pm. For more information and registration call 530-272-2627.

On 7.1.09 Sierra Adoption Services is becoming Sierra Forever Families. Sierra’s mission… We transform the lives of children in foster care by building and nurturing permanent families. This is a great non-profit organization, check them at sierraff.com.

Sierra Forever Families Home Page