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Conscious
Business
Conscious Business
Mindfulness in the Workplace, October 24, 2006
"To be conscious means to be awake, mindful. To live
consciously means to be open to perceiving the world around and
within us, to understand our circumstances, and to decide how to
respond to them in ways that honor our needs, values, and
goals." ~Fred Kofman, Ph.D.
Fred Kofman is the co-founder and president of Axialent, a
consulting company dedicated to cultural excellence and
leadership development. He is also a visionary teacher and
consultant to Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. His breakthrough
techniques have been shared with over 20,000 executives all over
the world. This book makes his teaching available to a wider
audience.
Fred Kofman presents a more mindful business model where
managers become more conscious of the inner and outer lives of
employees. He begins his book with an intriguing and insightful
look at the problems of the world and then shows how his own
view of his identity was very related to his job.
What brings authentic happiness?
What is my real life purpose?
What are the seven main differences between conscious and
unconscious employees?
Why should our education system include teaching about Emotional
Intelligence?
How can emotional energy be channeled into creativity?
What are the three most relevant cognitive distortions?
What is true success?
The quotes throughout this book are especially enlightening and
the stories are very entertaining. Fred Kofman is an excellent
teacher who brings his knowledge and insightful style into his
writing in a very accessible way. You truly start to feel like
you are being taken on a journey into the depths of
understanding that awakens into optimism. I also enjoyed finding
this quote: "Beauty in things exists in the mind which
contemplates them." ~David Hume
Conscious Business explores conscious attitudes that include
responsibility, integrity, humility, authentic communication,
constructive negotiation and emotional mastery. Truly this book
can transform the workplace and every manager and employee could
benefit from applying the principles presented in this book.
You may also want to read this book to enjoy the unveiling of
reality (analysis, real-life situations and psychology) and the
promise of a better world through understanding and a more
conscious way of living. Conscious business is as much about
self-mastery as it is about mastering the business world.
"A conscious business fosters peace and happiness in the
individual, respect and solidarity in the community, and mission
accomplishment in the organization." ~Fred Kofman, Ph.D.
~The Rebecca Review
Working for Good
Positive Change in the Workplace, August
28, 2009
"Countless entrepreneurs in diverse industries are staking
out new paths to creating conscious companies in service to the
greater good." ~ pg. 15
Jeff Klein is one of the many voices that has sprung up from the
Conscious Business community. He provides simple strategies you
can implement to work for the common good. This book begins with
stories of company owners who are making a difference in the
world and then progresses into descriptions of how the reader
can make the same type of changes in their company. He focuses
on awareness, embodiment, connection, collaboration, and
integration.
Throughout "Working for Good" there are interesting
exercises reminiscent of some breathing exercises you may have
experienced in yoga. These help you to focus on aspects of
business that are essential to your success. I especially
enjoyed the exercise on deep listening and tried it out on a
friend. It really enhanced our conversation. I also started
practicing the "reflective listening" and it made me
more aware of the needs of the person I was talking to.
If you think businesses only operate for profit this book may
produce some interesting perspectives.
~The Rebecca Review
Dragon Naturally Speaking
Brilliant Timesaver, September 12, 2006
I am currently writing this review using the Dragon
NaturallySpeaking software. It has taken less than half an hour
to learn the initial process. What is most fascinating is the
rate at which you can type with your voice. It is truly as if
you have a secretary typing for you.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking was incredibly easy to install. During
the installation process, you'll be asked to plug in the
microphone and participate in a training session. This allows
you to track your audio settings. When you are prompted to check
your microphone volume and sound quality, you may want to do
this twice if you do not receive a positive result. You soon
learn the value of speaking more professionally.
This program requires full attention and a focused intention.
You not only have to think about what you're saying, you also
need to format what you are saying as you are speaking. Once you
learn all the formatting commands, you can insert them as you
talk and format quickly and efficiently.
While you are speaking a DragonPad appears and this is where you
type all your text with your voice. At the top of your screen,
you will see a DragonBar. This includes a small microphone that
you turn on or off. The microphone will not turn on unless you
click on the icon. The microphone may be turned off with your
voice by saying microphone off with a pause after you speak. You
can also tell the program to "go to sleep" and then to
"wake up."
I found the "auto format on" does not give you as much
control as simply stating which punctuation marks you require.
While you are talking you may decide that the last sentence you
said is not what you really wanted to say. In order to erase
your last sentence, all you do is say: "scratch that."
The initial installation and training went very smoothly. You
simply read the words on the screen and the computer learns to
recognize how you speak. There is definitely a learning curve to
this program and patience is needed at the start. The small
training manual includes an introduction, installation and
training, starting to dictate, working on your desktop,
correcting and editing, formatting, dictating names, numbers,
punctuation and special characters.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking frees you from your keyboard and allows
you to communicate effectively with your computer through your
voice. This will allow you to compose memos and letters. The
Professional Edition also allows you to enter data into forms or
spreadsheets. Since most people can dictate faster than they can
type this will give you great freedom. Simply typing your
thoughts is only the beginning of a huge adventure which will
lead you to even more exciting options like working on the Web
searching for websites and navigating website pages (say a link
and it goes to the next page, say a word and it finds all those
words on the page).
If you enjoy using a hand-held recorder to dictate while you are
away from the computer, this program can transcribe what you
said. Although you may wish to use you voice most of the time,
there are still some things are easier to do with your mouse and
keyboard. If you say "select all," then it selects the
entire text. So, this might not work when you are trying to
change the word "all" to "I'll." Also if you
try to say command words within your sentences, this can present
a challenge.
Proofreading your text will be essential because now and then
when you pause in a sentence, it will add a period
automatically. You can add in quotation marks with your voice. I
find it easier to do this when you visualize the sentence. If I
misspell a word, I simply select the word and then choose a new
word from a list or spell the word for the computer. Instead of
using your mouse to move around the page there are page up and
page down commands. All you say is "go to top" or
"go to bottom."
The true beauty of Dragon NaturallySpeaking is the speed at
which you can now type with your voice. This not only allows
greater freedom and imagination, you can close your eyes sit
back, be in complete control of your mind, all while accessing
your computer and working without back and neck strain, not to
mention avoiding carpal tunnel syndrome.
This program is easy as 1, 2, 3. First you learn how to
enunciate your words correctly, then you will learn special
commands, and finally you continue to build upon the skills
learned. For the writer and poet this program could become
invaluable as many times you can think up ideas quicker than you
can type them. It would seem that the next step in this
program's evolution would be to allow the user access to a
thesaurus directly instead of having to save the document in
Word first. When I loaded up the program the second time today,
there was a "tip of the day" at the start. I also
found a dictation box that automatically transferred extra text
into a Word document. You can also type directly into the Amazon
review text box, speak a search word or speak a URL to get to
any website.
I'm listening to my secretary read this back to me...how fun!
All you do is highlight the entire text and select
"sound" in the DragonBar and "read this."
This program has interesting possibilities for business
executives and for writers, not to mention anyone in publicity.
If you want to "hear" reviews instead of just reading
them...well, wait until you see what this program can do! All
you do is copy/paste a review into the DragonPad and highlight
the text. Then, select "sound" and "read
this." You can finally listen to reviews. In the future, I
imagine we will be able to record reviews and listen to recorded
reviews, but until then...
More than highly recommended! Dragon NaturallySpeaking is the
ultimate in Speech Recognition Software.
~The Rebecca Review
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Small Business Survival Book
Business Success , March 30, 2006
Barbara Weltman and Jerry Silberman have created the perfect
book for small businesses. Not only will this book encourage an
awareness of survival techniques, it will give businesses the
information they need to go beyond survival into the area of
business success where they will thrive.
Barbara Weltman has over twenty-five years of experience in the
areas of small business and is known for her books on business,
taxes and finance. She has also appeared on CNN, CNBC, The Today
Show and radio stations nationwide.
Jerry Silberman presents his wisdom from his extensive
experience in the area of debt-restructuring. For over 15 years,
he has helped thousands of businesses on the verge of bankruptcy
through his company: Commercial Credit Counseling Services, Inc.
This company is impressively the nation's leading
debt-restructuring firm for small businesses.
Together the authors present a well-organized plan to address
the most pertinent issues facing business owners today. In the
first chapter they address the human side of business, then they
explore the financial aspects. Lastly, they introduce an
unexpected side of business that could make or break even an
established business.
Topics of high interest include:
Setting Goals
Writing a Business Plan
Marketing Plan & Advertising
Websites & Blogging
Managing Your Time
Reviewing Progress
Monitoring Cash Flow
Office Organization
What to Delegate
What not to Delegate
Working with Independent Contractors
Finding an Accountant, Banker, IT Consultant and Insurance Agent
Accepting Credit Card Payments
Working with Collection Agencies
Maintaining Credit
Repairing Credit
Tax Professionals
This book also provides information on business structures as
well as information on trademarks and patents. The chapter on
Insurance may be the most enlightening chapter because I would
have never considered all the areas of a business that should be
protected. Chapter 12 is especially helpful for any business
that has found itself in a major predicament like a natural
disaster. The information in this chapter allows for a high
level of disaster preparedness.
The Small Business Survival Book is an entrepreneur's dream
resource and is essential reading for anyone who owns a company
or is considering a new business. The practical advice can be
introduced into any business model and will not only help a
business survive, it will help business owners market more
effectively and sell more products. This is a business book you
can truly love. It is enlightening, helpful and presents a
strong foundation for business success. The Small Business
Survival Book is truly a work of genius!
~The Rebecca Review
Inside Every Woman by Vickie L. Milazzo
Live a Life of Passion, May 25, 2006
Successful women respect the complexity of any chosen path
and become students for life. ~ pg. 9
Vickie L. Milazzo is as willing to jump out of an airplane, as
she is to jump into a new business venture. Throughout Inside
Every Woman she explores how every woman can honor the passion
that sparks creativity and the inner fire that drives them
towards success.
Her insights into the 10 Feminine Forces encourage women to
overcome obstacles and live the life they always knew was
possible. Vickie L. Milazzo explains how passion emerges and
evolves and gives excellent real-life examples of women who
became successful by using ideas in this book.
What are you waiting for to have a life of passion? ~ pg. 6
This book is filled with excellent advice gained from
experience. Strategies for replenishing your emotional energy
and ideas on how to detach from energy draining activities
explore an area where an energy reserve is built up in order to
master future challenges. There is great advice about how to
avoid distractions and a wise approach to developing daily
rituals to nurture our spirits.
As Vickie says, she doesn't need a blow dryer to ride a camel
and sleep in the Sahara desert. You have to love a woman who is
beyond adventurous, has conquered fear and is willing to share
her life and wisdom with the world. She believes the best cure
for fear is action and in order to envision our future we may at
times need to conqueror our fears. I could not have read this
book at a better time in my life.
Do something every day that scares you. ~Eleanor Roosevelt
Highly Recommended!
~The Rebecca Review
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Breaking the Pattern
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Creating a More Fulfilling Life
“I can assure you that the successful people in your
life who you admire apply many, or all, of the techniques
described in this book. Success is no accident, nor is it
unconscious. People who achieve their goals are almost always
acutely aware of what directions they take in reaching their
destinations.” ~Charles Stuart Platkin
If you are tired of spinning in the same circular
conversations, walking the same paths to the same unfulfilling
destinations or can’t seem to implement strategies to reach
your goals, “Breaking the Pattern” might encourage you to
remodel your life.
Charles Stuart Platkin has discovered five basic principles
you can apply to your life in order to make changes, reach your
dreams and finally live the ideal life of your choosing. He used
the principles in this book to change his own life.
What started as a letter to a friend turned into
self-reflection and through writing, Charles started to think
more clearly. Through further interviews and discussions with
friends and professionals the author started to find real
answers:
1. What’s a Pattern and How Do I Know What Mine Are?
– A study of self-sabotaging and self-paralyzing behavior. Are
you choosing the easy path of substance abuse, short cuts or
just making bad choices and finding someone else to blame? What
are your triggers?
2. Self-Evaluation and Reflection Workshop – A
variety of exercises where you answer questions and then analyze
the answers. One of the most important sections in this chapter
is “Asking the Right Questions.”
3. Failure Is an Asset Waiting to Be Discovered -
Successful people seem to see rejection and failure as a
reminder that they are still on the path towards their goals.
Sometimes just having the goal and continuing towards that goal,
no matter what, is a formula for success. The author explains
how you can overcome fear and move beyond failure.
4. Taking Responsibility Leads to Freedom – An
interesting look at blame, being a victim, making excuses,
avoiding responsibility and being the martyr. A discussion of
why many people surrender their responsibility to a higher
power.
5. What Makes a Goal a Goal? - An interesting section
on “intrinsic rewards.”
6. If You Can See “It” … “It” Can Happen –
Do you have the discipline it takes to reach your goals? Ideas
on how to set realistic goals and overcome obstacles in your
way. There is a place to write down your ideas for short and
long-term goals.
7. Making Change Happen and Transforming Your Life –
What are your values? Are you open to possibility? How do you
find the positive patterns?
8. Tactics and Strategies for Changing Your Life –
In the final chapter, the author explains how our “internal
commentary” can change our lives.
I loved all the inspirational quotes and stories, the
positive and healing environment this book provides, and the
idea that short-term failure is no excuse not to achieve
long-term success.
Do you feel imprisoned by the past? Do you desire a more
fulfilling future? “Breaking the Pattern” will help to set
you free from the disappointments of the past so you can reach
for a more positive future.
“Breaking the Pattern” is a well-written and
well-organized collection of empowering ideas to help you modify
your own behavior so you can finally leave failure in the dust.
This is a book to help you reach your personal, relationship and
career goals. It is perhaps one of the most important books you
will ever read if you want to break free from destructive
patterns of behavior.
~The
Rebecca Review
Jay Abraham - Business CDs
Tap into Secret Wealth, September 21, 2009
"When the going gets tough, the tough get growing." ~
Jay Abraham
Jay Abraham has an amazing mind. Give him a problem and he won't
just think of one solution, he will think of twenty or more
ideas that will make you money. He believes you can even benefit
from bad times by taking control of your destiny and beating the
competition. One thing Jay emphasizes is that it is not a good
idea to go it alone. He talks about joint ventures and about how
to hire people who will think of their work as play.
Do you have an irresistible product? Jay Abraham gives ideas
about how to be successful at trade shows and explains how to
convert website visitors into buyers. His encouraging message
makes you feel like you are part of an exclusive club receiving
the secrets of untapped wealth.
Jay Abraham has a wealth of case studies to draw from. He
eagerly explains how his ideas have made clients millions of
dollars. One of his ideas is to buy out your weaker competitors
to get their buyers. You would of course be paying them a
portion of the profits.
One of the most helpful suggestions is about how to handle
email. It might sound simple but people waste hours on emails
when they could be doing more important tasks that would make
them money. If you find email to be constantly distracting then
you might want to take Jay's advice on this matter.
Overall I feel this CD set would be most beneficial to anyone
who wants to be more influential in the business world. Whether
you are a corporate executive or an entrepreneur the advice Jay
Abraham gives will open your mind to new possibilities.
"Your destiny is for the taking." ~ Jay Abraham
~The Rebecca Review
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