“Mom, I just can’t do Algebra.”
Of course you’d love to help. But ‘Algebra’?
It’s a bit outside of a parent’s Job Description isn’t it?
The good news is you CAN help.
And you don’t have to be mathematically minded, either.
All you need is some patience, a little creativity, and being able to see the world through your child’s eyes.
Imagine being led into an Egyptian temple, being shown a wall full of weird-looking hieroglyphics, and being asked to translate them.
That’s how Algebra feels to some kids.
Your mission is to help your kid understand why we’re using hieroglyphics. And then how to use them to solve simple problems.
Here’s how you do that:
- PHASE 1: Get used to the language ***
Algebra uses abbreviations.
It’s therefore vital your child is comfortable using abbreviations in daily life.
Explain what abbreviations are and how they’re used.
For example, the name Frederick is abbreviated to Fred.
The United States is often abbreviated to the USA or even just the US.
And US states are also abbreviated. New York becomes NY, New Jersey becomes NJ.
Once the basic theory is understood, start introducing abbreviations around the home. There are many ways of doing this. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
~~ Throw a party ~~
Use abbreviations to build up a guest list of invitees.
Bill becomes B.
Marcy becomes M.
And if there’s a Jim and a John, use J1 and J2. Or Ji and Jo. Or use surnames to get JW and JS.
~~ Try some home cooking ~~
Teach your child how to make pancakes and give them the recipe as a formula:
2f + 2e + m + s
Where: f=flour, m=milk, s=sugar, e=eggs.
(Okay, I’m no chef, but you get the idea.)
~~ Design a ‘healthy eating’ schedule ~~
Yes, a little home algebra can even help your family eat more healthily.
Create abbreviations for oranges, apples, bananas, broccoli, celery, etc.
Then plan out your weekly schedule:
Mon: o + a + ba + 2br
Tue: 2ce + p + o + a
Wed: m + 2o
etc.
Once your schedule is drawn up, ask your kid to add up how many of each item you need to buy at the grocery store.
You’d never have guessed a shopping list could make such great algebra training, but it does.
When your child is comfortable with the basic language of Algebra, it’s time to move on to the next stage:
- PHASE 2: Solve some problems ***
Much of Algebra involves finding an unknown value, also known as the “x factor”.
The best way to develop problem-solving skills in kids is by playing simple games and puzzles.
Here are two particularly useful games for developing the algebra mind.
~~ “Dollars & Dimes” ~~
The idea is to give your child a formula, and they tell you the amount of money.
So you say something like:
“2d plus n plus i”.
This means two dollars plus a nickel plus a dime.
(Notice how the letter ‘i’ has ingeniously been used to represent a dIme. This is because the letter ‘d’ has already been reserved for the Dollar.)
The answer should be “Two dollars and fifteen cents.”
Play this a few times using several combinations of notes and coins.
You can also tell your child an amount of money, and ask them to give you the formula.
So if you say, “Four dollars and five cents”,your child replies: “4d plus 5c”.
Ideally they should give you the answer using the least amount of coins possible. So for “fifteen cents”, they should say “n + i” or “i + n”. Not “15c”!
~~ “Think of a Number” ~~
This is a classic you can play anywhere. Try it on long car journeys.
The objective is to guess the mystery number.
You say: “I’ve thought of a number, added 3 to it, and the result is 7. What is my number?”
Make the questions as easy as possible to start with. As your child gains confidence, make the questions are little harder.
At some point, say you’re going to call the mystery number ‘x’. Then ask the question in equation form.
Now don’t panic. It’s simple.
Suppose your question is: “What number plus 3 makes 17?”
You call the mystery number ‘x’. And so your equation is:
x + 3 = 17
You ask your child “if x plus three is seventeen, what’s x?”
You can also reverse roles and ask them to give you some puzzles. Most kids enjoy this. And it trains them to think more creatively about algebra too.
Just a few subtle changes in the way your child thinks can have profound effects on their results in the math class.
Don’t overload your child. Go in very small steps with lots of similar examples to give practice and confidence.
Even the smallest thing may be a stumbling block. Like understanding that ‘x’ means ’1x’ (the ’1′ is not usually written down).
Give lots of praise and reward to create and reinforce the ‘feel good’ factor.
As in any kind of teaching, it’s better to ask lots of questions rather than keep telling someone something.
Take enough little leaps and at some point your kid will experience the “Aha!” moment when the whole algebra thing suddenly clicks into place.
Kenneth Williams
http://www.articlesbase.com/homeschooling-articles/how-to-help-your-kids-do-algebra-57401.html
Now that winter has set in and with it the long, cold, often rainy or snowy days, it is time to warm your home and hearth with some delicious baked goods. Here is a good selection of recipes from my vintage collection that would be perfect to make with the kids or just by yourself to share later. The Applesauce Raisin Muffins would make good after-school treats, lunchbox items, or breakfast treats with a hot drink and some yogurt for protein. The mint cookies are great to make with the kids and they remind you of the famous Girl Scout Mint Cookies. The Lacy Oatmeal Wafer Cookies are Swedish cookies known as Havreflarn in Sweden. They are easy but fancy. How about letting the kids help you make Homemade Granola Bars they can have as treats or take in their lunchboxes. Kids love eating something they helped to make. So get out the flour, sugar, etc, don an apron and get started on that baking!
HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS
3 1/2 cups oats
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup raisins
2/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 can cherry pie filling
Spread oats in a jellyroll pan and toast in a 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. In a large bowl, mix oats, nuts, and raisins. Melt butter in saucepan. Add honey, egg, vanilla, salt, brown sugar, and pie filling. Stir into oat mixture. Press firmly into greased jelly roll pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool, cut into squares.
QUICK AND EASY MINT COOKIES
This recipe was passed out at a Christmas Open House at a local flower shop in Southern Indiana years ago. These cookies are very simple and they will remind you of the “Girl Scout” Mint Cookies.
Melt 1 pound semisweet chocolate coating. Add 6 drops of oil of peppermint flavoring and mix well to blend. Dip Ritz crackers till well coated and place them on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet to set. Store in an airtight container and keep in a cool place until ready to serve.
LACY OATMEAL WAFER COOKIES
This is a cookie recipe from Sweden. It is known as Havreflarn in Sweden.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
2 tbsp cream
Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add flour, sugar, oats, and cream. Cook, stirring constantly, just until mixture starts to bubble. Remove from the heat and stir briskly for a few seconds. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls about 4-inches apart onto well greased and lightly floured baking sheets. Place only 5 or 6 cookies on a baking sheet at a time. Bake at 375 degrees five to six minutes until golden brown. Cool wafers for 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove carefully from baking sheet with a thin spatula and place over rolling pin until firm. If cookies harden before they can be removed from pan, reheat in oven for a few seconds to soften again. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.
APPLESAUCE RAISIN MUFFINS
1 large egg
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins
Beat together the egg, oil and applesauce. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon; beat well. Stir in raisins. Spoon batter into oiled and floured muffin tins. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until firm to the touch and browned. Cool on wire racks. Delicious topped with cream cheese!
Note: This is a soft and spicy muffin. Very good.
Enjoy!
Grandma Linda
http://www.articlesbase.com/desserts-articles/old-fashion-recipes-for-baking-on-cold-winter-days-691785.html
To reach the top, personally and professionally, you must act like the people who are already at the top. Top CEOs like Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump, no matter how different their approaches, have one key quality in common: they are enterprising. Enterprising CEOs manage life from the driver’s seat. They choose their destination, make their own road rules and cash the big checks.
Reward doesn’t have to appear as dollars in the bank, but an enterprising CEO does expect a payoff. What ultimate reward will you receive from rising to the top as an entrepreneur? A new Porsche? An Italian villa? An exotic vacation to Poughkeepsie? A promotion? Or simply making a difference in the world? Getting in touch with that payoff, knowing the “why” in the “want” sustains your commitment to follow through, rise to the top and reap the payoff you desire.
When you think about it, life is the grandest enterprise of all – and you’re in charge. Top CEOs know they are not only CEOs of their companies, but enterprising CEOs of their lives. You manage your personal development, finances, public relations, transportation, commissary, entertainment, janitorial services and even human resources. You’re already the CEO of the business of running your life, fully vested in the payoff, so why not act the part and take on your next exhilarating enterprise as a consultant or small business owner?
I bellied up to this concept in 1982 when I decided it was time to act like the CEO of my life and career instead of acting like an employee. I discovered the enterprising secrets of top CEOs, left my hospital job as a registered nurse earning $28,000/yr, and launched what is today a multimillion-dollar business.
I used my 12 CEO Secrets of Enterprise to launch my business and grow it annually for 26 years. These same secrets will help you rise to the top as CEO of your business.
CEO Secret 1: Everything Is Marketing
The old saying among entrepreneurs, that nothing happens in business until “somebody sells something,” is equally true in life. From the moment you were old enough to realize that a smile could “sell” your parents on giving you another cookie, you’ve been marketing your ideas.
- Getting a promotion or pay raise means selling your supervisor on your abilities, attitude and experience. That’s marketing.
- Convincing your spouse it’s okay to leave the dishes and cuddle up for some intimacy may require charm and persuasion. That’s marketing.
- Convincing your property owners’ association to resurface the tennis courts might require a benefit analysis and presentation. That’s marketing.
- Corralling a widely separated extended family for a reunion will mean selling the idea, date and place to all family members. That’s marketing.
When I received my master’s degree in nursing, I learned the hard way that this valuable asset had no value unless I marketed it. No one at the hospital said, “Thank you for pursuing higher education, Vickie. Here’s the pay raise you deserve.” I attempted to market that idea to my manager, but she didn’t buy in, so I marched my asset out the door to start my own business.
I had a new idea, legal nurse consulting. I learned very quickly the best idea goes nowhere without strong, innovative marketing behind it. Starting your business means selling you and your expertise.
Marketing has three simple parts: First, find a need. Second, fill that need. Third, convince people to buy in. As CEO, start viewing everything you do from this three-part marketing perspective.
Envision your bold enterprise. Visualize your venture and answer the question, “What will this do for me?” Write down in detail the payoff you desire – more money, more free time, more happiness or all three. Embellish your vision with sensory detail. See, hear, taste and feel it. The more real it is to you, the more you’ll believe in your ability to make it happen.
Communicate your enterprising idea with energy and confidence. You have a story to tell about your new business, and you have to make it interesting, believable and irresistible. Is your story intriguing? Does it highlight your knowledge and expertise?
- Be authentic. Your message must be not only interesting but also real. “Own” your message. Build the core of your presentation around the concept of filling a need. Demonstrate how your expertise will benefit your clients, then prove why you’re the right match for that client.
- Connect with your audience. Companies we call “super brands” make customers feel special just for buying their product and smart for owning it. Make sure you connect with prospects in a way that allows them to trust you and your expertise. Reinforce your message in everything you do. More than “service with a smile,” give “service with bold competency.” Make businesses want to seek you out to work with you again.
- Repeat your story often. Not everyone will get it, not everyone will buy in. But every aspect of your life is a marketing opportunity. Keep polishing your presentation and spreading the word.
CEO Secret 2: Be Your Own Number One Fan
CEOs promote their company and their achievements. They know that buyers don’t want to purchase from losers. Announcing your achievements may feel boastful, but can you imagine Oprah or Donald being shy about broadcasting their triumphs?
With humility, let your target market know any time you score – whether it’s finishing a high-profile project, winning a relevant award or expanding your services. Who you know is important, but even more important is who knows you. Achievements are your resume and expand your credibility. Announcing your achievements also validates the choices people have made on your behalf – the business who hired you or the client who recommended you wants to know he bet on a winner.
- Write a note. Send newsworthy communications to your clients, friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances. Be concise, stir in a little humor, and people will look forward to receiving your news.
- Roll out a news flash. Craft a short, punchy message and tack it onto your voice mail message or place a hyperlinked tagline under your email signature to take recipients to your website.
CEO Secret 3: Expect Icebergs
No enterprise is unsinkable; the Titanic sank its first time out. Plenty of entrepreneurs have made and lost millions on their rise to the top. But when you act like a CEO, you’ll create such a solid foundation and framework for your business that only an enormous iceberg could knock you off course.
- Assess your strengths and challenges. The stability of your business comes not only from how you handle day-to-day routines, but more importantly, from how you engage your strengths when an iceberg pops up unexpectedly. Challenges may involve limited expertise, competition or getting along with a difficult client. By knowing what you have in reserve and frequently reassessing the waters ahead of you, you can maneuver with confidence. Be honest with yourself. A fair, honest assessment will help you develop the necessary strengths or marshal the outside resources you’ll need.
- Be willing to risk hitting icebergs. You have to sail before you can fail. You can maneuver around icebergs, but if you never leave the dock, you’ll never have an enterprise to keep afloat. If you’re not out there in a big way, you won’t risk but you also won’t win. Often it’s not hitting the iceberg but the fear of hitting it that drowns you. How many people resist changing jobs or leaving a bad marriage only to realize after they do that it was the best decision they ever made? Jane Austen, the famous English novelist, chose not to marry out of her poor background but to pursue her dream of writing – in a time when women writers were considered “scandalous.” She braved the iceberg. Soon she’d written six of history’s most important works of English literature. If she’d married any of her suitors, she might have lived a more comfortable, but less fulfilling life.
- Have a rescue plan. Knowing and planning for the worst contingency alleviates the worry that can prevent you from making bold choices. When I started my legal nurse consulting business, I simply wanted to match my modest nursing salary. What did I have to lose? Any time I needed extra money to keep my enterprise afloat, I could work a few shifts at a hospital. Knowing I wouldn’t sink entirely gave me courage.
Write your rescue plan. Look at your savings, your earnings and how long you’ll need to float your business before it generates adequate income. You’re probably in better shape than you suspect. If not, you have two choices:
- Go all in anyway; or
- Set a reasonable time period to succeed, then engage your rescue plan. Just don’t bail out too early or too easily.
Either way, at least you’ve launched your ship.
CEO Secret 4: Solve Problems Quickly and Decisively
Top CEOs move so quickly they exhaust the people working with them, but speed is one of their success secrets. Not haphazard, as some might believe, fast-moving CEOs are constantly developing the concepts and principles that guide their rapid decision making as they continuously strengthen the foundation of their enterprise.
Act like a CEO: Put the fundamentals in place so you can implement creative and effective decisions. Then apply this problem-solving template and you’ll leave people around you scratching their heads:
- Define the situation. Define why it’s important, the relevant facts, your goal in solving the problem and the strategies you’ve already implemented.
- List the people. Include family, consultants, peers, your housekeeper, your son’s basketball coach – everyone who can help you solve the problem.
- Sleep on it. The moments between sleep and consciousness are fertile ground for creative problem solving. When you awake, the solution will often be waiting for you. Meditate on the issue or think about it while you exercise. I’ve often had to unwind from a yoga pose and pop out of the class to jot down a solution after having an “ah-ha” moment. When your conscious mind is quiet, your subconscious can work its magic.
- Identify the necessary actions. Identify any actions you will personally take to resolve the problem. Look to your past successes and acknowledge that you have the inherent strengths. Identify the actions you will delegate. You don’t have to do it all yourself – even if you are a one-person business. Top CEOs delegate extensively.
- Evaluate the results. Apply what you learn to the next challenge that comes. Healthcare mistakes can be deadly, so as nurses when an incident occurred, we always asked ourselves, “What did we do wrong? What did we do right?” Evaluate each problem you solve and ask, “What can I learn that will help me in the future?”
An enterprising CEO never allows problems to thwart momentum. Resolve negative situations promptly and seek inventive ways to turn them into opportunities. As CEO, you’re responsible for making decisions. No one can move or decide as quickly as you can. Accept that responsibility and keep the forward momentum going.
CEO Secret 5: Don’t Be a Commodity
Top CEOs build businesses that are not easily duplicated. Ease of duplication creates commodities, and a commodity business is the kiss of death. Water used to be a commodity until companies like Fiji and Perrier changed our perception. Then Coca-Cola and PepsiCo got involved, and today, water, available just about everywhere for free, outsells almost every other bottled drink at a high price.
My company sells an educational experience. We don’t sell seminars, DVDs or CDs, although those are the media we employ. Instead, we sell a lifelong relationship that includes mentoring and the fact that our students are learning from the pioneer and leader in the industry. Our ideas are often duplicated, but no one can duplicate our relationships, our knowledge or our 26-year advantage.
No matter what you do or what your enterprising idea is, don’t be a commodity. If you turn your business into a commodity, you’ll go bankrupt.
To avoid becoming a commodity:
- Build relationships. Be interested in others. Create genuine connections built on trust and caring. Quietly persuade the prospect that no one else can duplicate your exceptional service and work product, and you’ll never be a commodity because you can never be duplicated. In return you will receive and keep business from the best clients
- Demonstrate trust. Trust has to be earned. Never promise what you can’t deliver or you might not get a second chance. Instead, promise small and deliver big.
- Go all in. Don’t shrink into your chair and become invisible. Clients pay you to speak up even when that means disagreeing about significant issues.
- Strive to stand out. Demonstrate your ability to bring new ideas to the table. While you don’t want to have “verbal diarrhea,” you do want your client and other members of their team to notice you and your contributions. It’s easy to stand out when you pay attention and speak up.
CEO Secret 6: Don’t Underprice Yourself
Top CEOs reject the common thinking that “if you drop your price – you’ll get the job” or “lower price equals higher sales.”
- Place a high value on everything you know. In the information age, education doesn’t come cheap and wisdom is gold.
- Place a high value on everything you do. Outsource whatever you can. My first job every morning is to make sure my staff is doing as much of my work as I can delegate. That frees me to develop new tools, skills and strategies for moving forward.
You may need to give up something to pursue your enterprise. Get your spouse to help with the dishes, the dinner and the carpool. Stop chairing every volunteer committee. Your time is one of your most precious assets. You only get 24 hours a day – choose to spend them wisely. If a project isn’t supporting your enterprise, ask yourself how to drop it, delegate it or find another way to accomplish it.
- Become irreplaceable. Give the client what she wants and more. Ultimately, no one is irreplaceable. You render yourself “irreplaceable” by making the client think of you first for any case and feel they will profit measurably from your input and enterprising ideas.
- Be original. Stamp your performance with originality so that you are not easily duplicated by a cheaper hire. Clerical assistants are commodities. Clerical assistants with the ability to organize, handle customers, keep a CEO on-target and stay calm in the face of a crisis become executive assistants. A nurse is a commodity. A Certified Legal Nurse Consultant who understands the legal nurse consulting process at its most complex and deepest level is a highly paid and valued consultant to the litigation team.
- Quote high fees. My executive assistant quoted one of the highest salary requests I have ever encountered for that position. I weeded out the candidates who underpriced themselves, assuming they wouldn’t work at the level I expected, and hired her at her asking price. It turned out she was worth it (but don’t tell her I said that).
CEOs drive luxury cars, stay in luxury hotels and dine at fine restaurants for a reason beyond personal gratification. They always present themselves and their work in a style that demonstrates value, and others see them as priceless.
CEO Secret 7: Don’t Overrate Networking
Sometimes I joke that time spent networking is time spent “NOT working.” Enterprising CEOs are selective about where and with whom they network. You won’t find them at your breakfast club meeting. CEOs research what they need, locate the source and ask. They create a network of colleagues, clients, consultants, vendors and acquaintances they can depend on to deliver anything from information to referrals.
Networking clubs can absorb time while distracting us from what we really need to accomplish. It’s easy to convince yourself that heavy networking is productive when it’s not. And you could be taking advice from people who mean well but are not qualified to give it.
I built my business on selective networking. I’m always asking people I trust and respect, “Who do you know who…?” I’ve gotten our company’s marketing director, investment counselor, graphic design firm and health insurance provider this way, not by trading business cards at a mixer.
- Cast your net selectively. Don’t confuse networking with socializing. Choose opportunities that put you in the middle of people who are even more successful than you are. Cultivate your network using your relationship skills to include successful entrepreneurs in other industries.
- Don’t just hang around waiting to be introduced. After being named one of Inc.’s Top 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America I attended the Inc. Conference, I mixed with CEOs and representatives from some of the country’s top corporations. You can bet I had formulated different introductions for each of the different situations in which I found myself. Networking is sometimes a “once in your lifetime” opportunity – be prepared to make it pay off. Don’t be a wallflower. If you don’t feel comfortable introducing yourself to people, role-play with a friend and practice until you do. You have to step out to step up.
- Give generously and demand reciprocation. Expect high performance from your network and reward performance. Say “thank you” with a note, flowers, a bottle of wine or a nice lunch. Also, don’t hesitate to cull out any person, business or organization that repeatedly fails to perform.
- Stay connected. Send handwritten notes, emails and other thoughtful communications to create a lasting bond with clients, coworkers and all members of your network. Something as simple as a “happy birthday” jotted on a card or a handwritten “thank you” instead of an email will go far.
- Strategically widen your net. Get in the habit of passing along names – your hair stylist, your plumber, your lawyer, your banker – not to just anyone but selectively and with high praise. Their time is valuable too. They’ll appreciate the selectivity as you would.
CEO Secret 8: Invest in Win-Win Relationships
Top CEOs make sure they’re not the only ones gaining from their initiatives.
- Initiate alignment. When building your business, look at what’s in it for everyone – clients, family and vendors. You’ll get better participation and results when everyone benefits.
- Initiate alliances. Create strategic alliances with people who can advance your business while you advance a goal of theirs. You never know how you can help out a friend or colleague until you ask. People will appreciate your offer of help even if they refuse it. In the business world, it never pays to alienate anyone. Ripples spread wide from rocks thrown in the lake. You never know who is aligned with whom. Never gossip and don’t hesitate to say you’re sorry. Treat everyone as an ally, even those who can’t advance you. Never be condescending. Practice integrity with everyone at every level. It’s always better to have allies than enemies.
- Stay cool and clean. Avoid whiners, complainers and the wrong crowd. Although the wrong crowd might appear popular, it won’t be popular among the people who count – successful business owners. Keep your hands and your nose clean – it’ll pay off in the end.
CEO Secret 9: Compete Only with Yourself
Mushing a loaded dogsled across an Alaskan snowfield, I learned firsthand that it’s true – if you’re not the lead dog, the view from the rear never changes. And the rear is exactly where you’ll be if you compete only with others.
To excel as an enterprising CEO, you must be aware of competition, but don’t allow that awareness to veer you off course. If you focus on your competition (someone brighter, richer or better looking), you’ll always be one step behind them. If you focus on your own enterprise and compete with your own best performance, you’ll be the lead dog your competitors imitate, leaving them in the rear.
- Be an innovator, not an imitator. Top CEOs know what works today won’t work tomorrow. That’s why they focus on innovation. If you copy your competition today, you’re already a step behind because she’s already working on tomorrow.
- Continually improve your education and skills. The world doesn’t stand still, and neither can you. The only way to stay ahead in this fast-paced era is to learn something new every day. Research what you don’t know. Hire other consultants to fill in the gaps in your expertise until you either have time to learn it. If you try to learn it all, you won’t have time to do anything else. Hire specialists, consultants and sharp employees.
- Make advancements every year. Every CEO knows that a company advances, declines or stagnates according to the expectations of its management team. When you expect to grow and you put a growth plan in action, you’ll see results. Greet each new year with an attainable, detailed growth plan that includes goals, strategies and target dates.
- Keep physically fit. Being a CEO is demanding. Life is demanding. To live life at its fullest and create an enterprise that makes you love getting out of bed every day, you have to feel your physical best. Your health is your most important asset. Put fitness at the top of your priorities. Schedule time at the gym. If you’re physically fit, then you’re more likely to be mentally fit. Schedule some quiet time. Innovative ideas emerge from silence.
- Keep financially fit. A competitor once commented sarcastically that my clients pay for my big house, my big vacations and my big smile. Of course they do. Any enterprise is profitable or it isn’t an enterprise – it’s a charity. The word profit stems from a Latin word meaning “advancement or improvement.” As CEO, you must expect to profit from every investment.
Create an income and spending plan. Make a budget and stick to it. Keep the cash flow positive. You owe it to yourself and your family to be financially fit, and being free from financial worry allows you to pursue your enterprise with passion.
CEO Secret 10: Get Your Hands Dirty
I joke that I’m a working CEO, the kind who makes things happen. Successful CEOs get their hands dirty. All great chefs start by working in the kitchen. You can’t cook from behind your desk, so get up, get out and chop some onions.
The best leaders lead by example. If you get down in the trenches, instead of always standing on the sidelines giving orders, it is easier to convince others to fall in with you. And you’ll demonstrate the results you expect. You don’t have to organize every medical record, mail every invoice or empty the trash every day. Be in the space; demonstrate that you understand the job that each subcontractor or employee is doing. Ask questions and listen to the answers. Be willing to work.
In teaching and mentoring nurses for 26 years, I’ve observed that for many the vision is the easy part. Committing to the dirty details that convert that vision into reality is tough. This often involves early mornings, late nights, working weekends and carrying out the trash. If you don’t do the dirty work or have someone do it for you, your enterprise will fail.
- Clean the kitchen. In my company, everybody takes a turn at kitchen duty. In my household, everybody is expected to clean up their own messes and pitch in at meals. As CEO, you have to set the example – then demand that everyone follow it. You’re responsible for your gains and your mistakes. Responsible people gain respect, so clean up your own messes and be responsible.
- Make the coffee. The first one in makes the coffee, right? That’s responsibility on a small scale. A CEO shoulders responsibility for getting many projects started. You show how it’s done, set the pace, then offload some of that responsibility so you can pioneer the next project. Just remember to check in and have a cup of coffee now and then to make sure your standard is being upheld.
- Turn off the lights. The last person out locks up. Someone has to sign off that a project is finalized with all the T’s crossed. Enterprising CEOs don’t take this for granted. The best ideas can bomb when final details are overlooked. It’s your name on the door – so be sure the right people are focused on those details.
CEO Secret 11: Make Perpetual Lists
CEOs have assistants to remind them what to do. Like executive assistants, lists can save you hours of fumbling and head-scratching. Lists keep you organized and prevent wasted time going back for an item you forgot.
I maintain a perpetual grocery list on my computer, which I simply update and print out when it’s time to shop. I keep a list of travel items to pack no matter where I’m going. I also keep a list of future business ideas so I won’t forget them. Which of your routines would benefit from being perpetualized on a grab-it-and-go list, freeing you to work on your business?
- List the steps. Anything you do repeatedly that requires specific steps – from shopping for the kids’ school supplies to publishing an electronic newsletter – can benefit from a checklist. Break the job down into the smallest steps. Update your lists as you go – adding, deleting and recategorizing items as necessary.
- List the people skills. How can you possibly remember all the aptitudes and expertise of every person in your network? It’s easy when you have a list. List everybody you know alphabetically. Beside each name, write down what they do professionally, the organizations they belong to, their pastime interests and any other skills, abilities and talents they have. Every time you learn something new about a person, add it to your list. What a priceless resource you’ll have!
- List the essentials. For any situation that requires take-alongs, such as meetings with clients, list every item necessary or even desirable to make the event successful. You can always elect to eliminate something on the list, but if it’s listed, at least you have the option before you go rather than when it’s too late.
CEO Secret 12: Put Systems to Work for You
CEOs like to spend their time creating, so they’re adept at systemizing routine tasks. Anything you do repeatedly can be systemized so others can do it. Systemize everything, and don’t reinvent the wheel every day (only on the days you really, really need a new wheel).
- Ask “How can I do it faster?” Write down all the steps you take to accomplish a routine task. Don’t cheat; put in absolutely everything. Now look at all that work. Which steps can you eliminate or reduce and get the same result? If you can systemize a task so that it’s reproducible, you can delegate it, which means you have more time to do more important things.
- Ask “How can I do it easier?” What tools would facilitate this task? When you have to pound a lot of nails, you want a heavy hammer. Better yet, a pneumatic nail gun. Or would a staple gun work better? The right tools can smooth any process.
- Ask “How can I do it cheaper?” A CEO’s time is the most costly in the entire company. I’ve known business owners who claim it’s faster to do things themselves rather than delegate and train. Using their high-dollar time on tasks that should be delegated is costly to the success of their business. What can you effectively systemize and delegate that would result in a better allocation of your time and resources?
- Create templates. Emails, letters, forms and other documents that must be created or updated frequently can be systemized. For any new document, first review what already exists. Then copy, adapt and pull from previous efforts.
- Automate online processes. Use the tools that make your Internet use faster and easier. Beyond bookmarking your favorite sites, rent a web-savvy geek for a day to show you how to automate searches, postings, news you need and email. Make it a habit to look for ways to systemize processes. As CEO, you can accomplish more in less time with less stress by using available systems or creating your own. If you systemize one process a week, think of all the vacation time you’ll earn, or the time you’ll have for other parts of your business.
Take the Driver’s Seat
You can be successful at many endeavors. Even though we all have to do things that are not our top favorites, successful self-development lies in selecting and focusing on the enterprising activities you like to do and continually improving what you do well. People often think I go after all kinds of ideas, and I’ll admit to constantly aiming for higher levels, but over the years I’ve rejected many ideas because they didn’t meet my criteria for an enterprising life, a life of choice.
Top CEOs like Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump are masters of selection and masters of enterprise. Use my 12 CEO Secrets to apply the CEO strength of enterprise to whatever you want to accomplish, and you’ll always be in the driver’s seat. You’ll choose your own destination, make the road rules and cash the big checks. Everyone will yearn to discover your secrets and replicate your success.
Life, the grandest enterprise of all, is as thrilling a ride as you want to make it – and you’re the CEO in charge. So act like it today and you’ll rise to the top tomorrow.
Vickie L. Milazzo, Rn, Msn, Jd
Children are like sponges. They absorb every bit of information that is given to them, especially if it is presented in a fun and easy to learn way. It’s never too early to begin teaching the concepts of math to your children. Opportunities for math abound in our everyday lives. Once you begin to notice them, you’ll soon be guilty of seeing math in everything you do!
Story time with your child is an excellent starting point. Virtually any book that you choose to read will have countless opportunities for math discussion. If you are reading ‘The Three Little Pigs’, don’t just breeze through it. Make sure that you stop on every page and give your child time to absorb the pictures. Ask questions about what they see, but be sure to offer constant encouragement even if they give an incorrect answer. The key to learning is to constantly provide a positive experience. By doing this, your child will always be eager to learn. As you look at the pictures with them, ask questions such as, “How many pigs do you see on this page?” or “How many apples are on this tree?” If your child seems stuck, happily count out loud for them. As a general rule, count everything you see, literally. You can count the stairs as you climb them, or the socks as you are taking them out of the dryer together. The opportunities are endless. Is your child a picky eater? Try saying, “Just take five more bites and you will be done”, and then of course count them out.
Playing capacity games while you are cooking is both educational and extremely fun. Your child will love pouring liquids from one container to another. Prepare them for learning measurements by asking them which container can hold more or less, and by letting them handle the different measuring cups, spoons, etc. Amaze them by doing special tricks, like pouring a cup full of cereal into a measuring cup, then crushing it and then presenting the new compressed, much smaller measurement.
Playing pattern games helps prepare your child for the concepts they will need to grasp in school. If your child eats Fruit Loops or M&M’s, help arrange them in different colored rows. After this is mastered, put down a pattern, such as one green M&M, one red M&M, and then one more green M&M. Ask your child to show you what color comes next. You can play pattern games with colored clothespins, different shaped blocks, colored socks, etc. The more you play this game with your child, the more variations of the game you will discover.
Play subtraction games at snack time. If your child likes goldfish crackers, you can draw a fish bowl on a piece of paper. Place ten or twelve goldfish crackers on the paper so they are ‘in the fish bowl’. Have your child count them at the beginning and then tell you how many are left every time they eat one, or two, or three. This will teach your child the basic concept of subtraction while providing them with a fun snack time experience.
Regardless of what approach you take to incorporate math in your child’s life, realize that you are laying a foundation for their future interest or indifference to the subject. Keep it simple, don’t stress, and remember to move on to something else as soon as your child loses interest. Learning is fun, and helping your child to enjoy early learning experiences in a playful manner is one of the best gifts you can give them.
Sandy Naidu
http://www.articlesbase.com/homeschooling-articles/fun-ways-to-teach-your-kids-math-697592.html
Ever been out on one of those snowy days trying to clean up plenty of snow from the car top or with the kids wanting fun with the snow when the cold traveled right through to the fingers through a wet pair of gloves? Most of us have experienced this situation several times. But with Carhartt Insulated Gloves, your fingers would have been warm and toasty with the moisture remaining on the outer skin, where it belongs. The Carhartt Insulated Gloves are crafted to meet the most demanding conditions of snow and you will have a wide range to choose from in terms of style, price etc.
Frost bite
The harsh winter days and nights can pose a major threat to your fingers and need to be perfectly covered with appropriate gloves. Frozen fingers and frostbites are not fun stuff and you certainly want to keep them away. The Carhartt Insulated Gloves understand this well enough and whether you are shopping for men’s gloves or ladies, or even children, the wide range of Carhartt Insulated Gloves will hold the right pair for every one.
Moisture and leather
At this point, you may have this question uppermost in your mind. Won’t the leather on the Carhartt Insulated Gloves be ruined by the snow? The answer is no. The outer layer of the Carhartt Insulated Gloves are treated with appropriate waterproofing compounds so that no damaged is caused even with extended use. However, if you happen to leave them soaked in ice cold water for long durations, some of the water proof property may get eroded. Should such a situation arise, you can also buy and apply the waterproofing material to bring your gloves back to prime state. When you repeat the process a few times over the winter season, your Carhartt Insulated Gloves can last long, really long.
Extra pairs
Some people look for two or more pairs of the same type of Carhartt Insulated Gloves at the same time. The smart thinking behind this is that they put aside the additional pairs so that in case they end up loosing one glove from the pair in use, they can immediately replace from the reserve pair. Carhartt Insulated Gloves understands this thinking and you will have no difficulty picking up any number of pairs from a given selection.
Comfortable for driving
For driving, the best type of gloves is leather gloves alone. While dry fabric gloves may help your hands remain warm when you put your palm on the steering wheel, the leather gloves can repel cold better particularly with insulated gloves such as Carhartt Insulated Gloves. Leather also provides extraordinary grip on the steering wheel even in difficult conditions. The fabric gloves may be inexpensive in the beginning, but when you consider the life of Carhartt Insulated Gloves, the additional expense will be well justified.
Great Gift
The fine Carhartt Insulated Gloves are also a fine gift idea. A few pairs kept within reach would come in very handy particularly when you have one of those unexpected reasons cropping up, or even during the busy Christmas season.
Mike Girolami
http://www.articlesbase.com/cooking-tips-articles/carhartt-insulated-gloves-insulation-for-cooking-679182.html
If you have kids (or even if you don’t), it’s relatively evident that no two children are the same. They don’t all have the same interests, they don’t all like the same toys, and they definitely don’t all learn in the same way. As adults, we need to encourage our children to enjoy learning, and it’s our job to figure out which way will work the best. One of the best means for us to encourage this striking of a creative chord is with educational toys.
First, let’s start with music. Music itself speaks to so many, and instruments help to develop necessary skills and confidence, and are a fabulous means of creative expression. Younger children will adore kazoos, maracas, and other “controllable” instruments that shake, rattle and roll. As they get older, throw in guitars, recorders and other “detailed” types of instruments that require a bit more skill.
Animals: Insect kits like ant farms, ladybug kits and butterfly environments provide children with the opportunity to learn the responsibilities necessary to care for animals and pets as well as to see what goes on in the daily life of such living things. With a butterfly habitat, the caterpillars arrive separately via mail so your kids can watch them grow, spin their chrysalides, and turn into beautiful butterflies.
Pretend Play has been a popular choice of both parents and children alike for generations. Kitchens, cooking and baking toys have continued to encourage creativity among future chefs and soccer moms and dads picking up a quick, yet somewhat healthy dinner for the family. Unfortunately many of the large corporate companies are trying their best to “brand” many of these types of toys to include their name, titles and logos throughout these pretend products, so keep your eyes open for the “unbranded” products.
Brain-teasers and multi-person board-games that make you think are once again gaining in popularity. These games help to develop critical math and logic skills. The ability to think quickly and under pressure is a large part of high school, college and the real world-working environment, so learning these skills during the elementary education years (and even earlier, if possible) will increase a child’s ability to problem-solve later in life.
Finally, electronic toys have been pouring out of the woodwork for a few decades now, but more recent advances have brought an educational focus to this genre of gadgets. Interactive play combined with learning and entertainment is a great recipe for educational toys in the new millennium.
Lisa Legrange
http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/educational-toys-loved-by-kids-and-parents-alike-59460.html
It is easy to learn how to make your own herbal home recipes. Herbal remedies are definitely a great way to treat any minor or common ailments that your family members may have. Just imagine the ease and convenience if you know how and what to do about treating open cuts, runny noses, fever, insect bites and back pain and best yet, in a natural way. You can, instead of reaching for your drug medication cabinet ever so often, be making your own herbal remedies that come right out of your kitchen or from your garden.
Here are a couple of basic herbal home recipes that you can try:
1. The easiest way to derive benefits from herbs is with consuming a herbal tea infusion. Herbal tea infusions can be made within a few minutes. Usually an infusion is made just like hot tea. Simply put the herb (or herbs) that you are working with into a pot that has a closed, tight-fitting lid. Then, pour hot water over the herbs and let them soak there for at least 10 minutes. Next, strain this by pouring it through a nylon sieve or a strainer into a coffee cup. Store the leftover infusion in a cool place so that you can heat it up again later. Nevertheless, you should try to drink herbal infusions fresh.
2. Herbal home remedies can also be made in the form of a decoction. Here, the active ingredients from the plant have to be more vigorously extracted than with an infusion. These herbal remedies are actually made from the twigs, barks, roots and berries. In order to make a decoction you will need to mash the herbs and then simmer it in water for about an hour. Next, remove the bark, twigs, roots or berries with a strainer. This can be drunk either hot or cold. Decoctions must be always consumed fresh.
3. Herbal remedies in the form of tinctures, are more difficult to make than the other methods of preparation. Place the herb that you are working with in a large jar and cover it with a mixture of vodka or rum and water. Please ensure that this mixture contains at least 25% alcohol. Seal the jar and then store in a cool, dry place for 2 weeks. You will also need to shake the jar occasionally. After 2 weeks, press the mixture through a wine press and collect the tincture in a jug. Once you have all of the mixture, use a funnel to strain the liquid into a dark bottle for storage.
4. Lastly, you can consume herbal remedies in the form of syrups. This goes well with kids! First, you need to heat about 2 cups of a standard herbal infusion in a medium-sized saucepan. Add approximately 500 grams of sugar or honey and then stir this mixture until the sweetener has completely dissolved. Let the mixture sit and cool. Then, pour the syrup into a dark bottle, seal it with a cork stopper and store it in a cool, dry location. You must not omit the cork stopper as syrups ferment quickly.
You can always seek the guidance of your local herbalist if you need more detailed instructions in the herbal home recipes. Your herbalist can also help you with your herb supplies. Of course, it will be useful to know what herbs to use for treating the various ailments. As a mother, there can be many unexpected crisis that I have to deal with on a day by day basis. Learning about how to make my own herbal home recipes has helped me save trips to my family medical doctor several times already!
Evelyn Lim
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/learn-how-to-make-your-own-herbal-home-recipes-133722.html
A lot of families today are looking for a way to reconnect with their children. A great way to disconnect from the wear and tear of daily life is to pull up stakes, pack some tents and a cooler and head out camping. The break from electronics and the letting go of pressures to run free in the outdoors is a fantastic gift to give your children, and camping will most likely leave an impression of fond memories with your kids for years to come.
Camping is a simple, natural way of providing this quality time for your children. The fast-paced action of television and the video games that are played for hours at a time are gone, left well behind at home and replaced with the great outdoors, trees and sometimes even a lake or beach. The novelty of having absolute freedom a camping trip provides can often be exhilarating for kids, and more often than not, parents won’t hear much complaint as the camping site and its surroundings are scoped out and explored.
Changing environments changes behaviours and you’ll probably be surprised to see a different attitude from your children once the camping trip begins. Usually, kids are pretty thrilled to pitch in with daily chores and simple tasks they would have normally turned their noses up at home.
It’s amazing how we take things like dishwashers for granted and washing cutlery in a plastic pan with water hauled over in a bucket can become a novel experience for kids. Not only that, they’ll be learning that they certainly can make do without most of today’s luxuries.
Another thing that’s amazing about camping is that you’ll find your kids enthusiastic to visit places and scope out attractions. Walks in the woods become amazingly important, and trips to the grocery store a focused affair as kids try to help choose what would be interesting to cook for supper.
Your children will also learn new skills as you model practical independence by building a small campfire at night and make hot chocolate before their very eyes with water heated from hot cinders. They’ll be able to discover that not having electrical appliances isn’t the end of the world and that bed hair and no makeup is perfectly acceptable attire.
While camping, your children will discover facets of their parents they never knew of, and parents will also see that their children, away from home and in the fresh air and sun of the outdoors, really aren’t video-addicted creatures with no more motivation than the newest Xbox game or latest DVD out on store shelves. Camping trips can strip away the craziness of a fast-paced, throwaway society, revealing good natured people enjoying life and each other’s company just because they can.
John Edmond
http://www.articlesbase.com/sports-and-fitness-articles/camping-is-quality-family-time-126903.html
More and more women are leaving the corporate world behind to try their hand at traditional homemaking. Being a wife and homemaker is a considerable responsibility in itself. Many women choose to work outside of the home to supplement their husband’s income and experience personal fulfillment through success in their chosen profession. The two income family is now the norm.
With the arrival of the first bundle of joy, comes many conflicting emotions and struggles. The wife and mother must now juggle attention to her husband, cooking, cleaning, shopping, errands, and motherhood with her career. Their desire may be to nurture and protect her children and husband nut the expectations and time constraints imposed upon her often force her to compromise those desires. This can result in guilt and depression in the over burdened woman.
It may not be a coincidence that divorce has become more prevalent and children more delinquent since the rise of two income families. Women are often finding themselves drained emotionally and physically from the dysfunctional patterns of behavior that are imposed on them by today’s society. Many women are fighting back by starting a home based business.
By working from home, women can now set their own hours, save time and money and spend more time with their children. With a little help, home based businesses can bring in a decent supplemental income with less hassles than the corporate world offers. Mothers can hire part time nannies instead of full time sitters and can arrange for childcare to be done in their own homes. This allows peace of mind for the mother and a chance to squeeze in quality time with the children during breaks, have picnic lunches on the lawn and never miss another chance to kiss away a fresh boo boo.
Hiring some childcare help during busy seasons in your business can help you keep your sanity. On slower days, the children can so quite well if they are kept in a structured environment and on a schedule. This takes preparation. Plan quiet times around favorite television shows, set up crafts and activities that require minimal supervision and intervention on your part. Prepare snacks and sippy cups in advance so toddlers can help themselves when hunger strikes. By keeping mealtime and naps on a schedule, you can be better prepared to give an estimated time for that conference call or know when a meeting time is absolutely out of the question.
No mother wants a stranger raising her children. Deciding to work at home with your children can be a wonderful compromise that allows you quiet those conflicting emotions of being torn between work and motherhood.
Michael Laleye
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/taking-your-kids-to-work-a-look-at-the-home-based-business-107436.html
Due to the tempting foods which are produced nowadays our kids get to be overweight and even obese as time goes by. After that in the blood the level of cholesterol will increase and will cause a lot of problems to the children now or during adulthood.
All these inconvenients can be resolved if the child looses some weight by keeping an active lifestyle and a proper diet. As parents it is our responsibility to take care of them meaning that we must make sure that they eat healthy food, not junks and they understand why it is necessary to give up their old eating habits.
Children need an example in order to understand and follow a right diet. If you keep a healthy diet and so does the whole family then the child will surely adopt this diet too.
When cooking you must take care to prepare a variety of foods in order to achieve all the needed vitamins for your body.
For example at breakfast which is considered to be the most important meal of the day you can serve cereals and whole grain breads. Yoghurts and cheese are recommended along with fruits. Fruit juice is good but a whole fruit is better as it contains more fiber.
At lunch you can prepare a sandwich out of whole grain bread or rolls. Also make a soup and stew. Do not forget about the fresh fruit after the meal.
When preparing a sandwich be sure to use low fat meats, like chicken or turkey. Also add a salad, and fat free sour cream as a dressing. Another type of sandwich is that stuffed with vegetables, low fat cheese and chicken leftovers. A tuna salad is great. You can cut onion, green peppers, carrots and celery and add it along with low fat mayonnaise and then add the tuna. When preparing a turkey sandwich in order to make it tastier mix cranberry sauce and fat-free mayonnaise and add it to the sandwich. For those who miss childhood put peanut butter and old fruit jelly on two slices of bread. Rye bread can be served with low fat cheese and slices of ham along with honey mustard. You can always add tomato slices too all kinds of sandwiches in order to make them tastier.
Children love diversity in foods and love taking a snack between the meals. Try different combinations of fruits and vegetables and you will see you child will be happy. Try combining fruits like cranberries, strawberries, pineapple chunks and raisins into yoghurt. Another successful combination is apple slices with peanut butter or apple juice and bananas.
From the vegetables you can pick carrot sticks, backed potato with cheese, and celery stick with peanut butter.
All the products that you use must be fat free: the mayonnaise, the cheese and even the yoghurt.
As a desert you can serve frozen yoghurt with fruits, sorbet and sherbet and juice bars. Other attractions for the little ones are rice cookies, sunflower seeds, roasted peanuts, and low fat pita chips.
For greater resources on cholesterol please review http://www.cholesterol-info-guide.com/low-cholesterol-diet.htm or http://www.cholesterol-info-guide.com/cholesterol-levels.htm
Groshan Fabiola
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/keep-your-kids-healthy-by-taking-care-of-what-they-eat-110339.html