The Shame of the Nation: A Summary, and Analysis

Jonathan Kosol's interest for teaching profession and activism was triggered after the killing of three young civil rights activists in Mississippi in June of 1964 while he was working as a grade four public school intern intern in Boston, Massachusetts. His experience as a teacher in one of Boston's urban segregated schools has made him an insight to the sight of children of minorities, which motivated him to address the issue of segregation, and inequalities that exist in public schools that has continued to plague the nation till the present day.

School Segregation
According to him, he visited approximately 60 schools in 30 districts in 11 different states. Most of his visits were in the South Bronx of New York City, Los Angeles - California, Chicago, Detroit - Michigan, Ohio, Seattle - Washington, Boston - Massachusetts and Milwaukee. In the schools he visited, he observes that the conditions have grown worse for inner-city children in the 15 years since federal courts began dismanting the landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. He notes that the number of white students in urban public schools have increasingly declined with the shifting pattern of white middle class families from urban to suburban communities since the 1960's (white flight). He talks of the irony of school population in relation to the leaders of integration, which the schools bear their names, like Thurgood Marshal Elementary School in Seattle Washington with 95% minority students. According to him, the overwhelming majority of students in urban public schools in the United States are students of color. In Detroit for example, 95% of students in public school are either black or Hispanic. In Chicago, the figure is 87%, Washington is 94% while New York is 75%. He pointed out the cynicism in the "small school initiative" like the Center School in Seattle that was perceived as a "tie-breaker" of school segregation that "attracted 83% white and 6% black enrollment when it opened in 2001, in a city where whites are only 40% of high school students district-wide ". (p. 277). In comparing the Center School with African / American Academy in another section of the city where black students make up 93% and whites make up 3% of the enrolment, the location of the center school and its curriculum offers many opportunities to students. "The Center school which is sited in a cultural complex known as the Seattle Center, offers an impressive academic program to prepare its graduations for college while also provides a wide array of opportunities for students to participate in science projects, theatrical productions, music, ballet , and other cultural activities ", (p.278) while such opportunities are lacking in the African-American Academy. "The school in a sense represents a local version of 'your own Liberia' ... the African American Academy is using a highly direct method of instruction that, in some respects similar to the approach used in Success for All" (p. 279) . He argues that after decades of persistent struggle against school segregation by educators and civil right activists, social and economic policies have continued to aid the growing trend of school segregation.

Inequities
Kozol laments the lack of basic resources and amenities in the urban public schools - restrooms, clean classroom, hallways; appropriate laboratory supplies, up-to-date books in good condition and classroom supplies and material. According to him, this lack of resources moves some teachers to spend between $ 500 - $ 1000 of their own money every academic year to purchase the supplies and materials in the case of Winton Place elementary school in Ohio. He argues the overcrowding of students in a classroom. For instance in Chicago, it's not uncommon to see classrooms with as many as 54 students coupled with the fact that most of the teachers are unqualified.

Kozol also points out the issue of lack of pre-school opportunities for a large number of students because the federally funded head start programs were denied them. He also shows the disparity for money spent on a student, and its effect on state testing. In the case of New York State, the average spending on a student in the city is $ 8,000 while that of the suburb is $ 18,000. Also in New York, the inequities in expenditure between 2002 and 2003 are: NYC $ 11,627, Nassau County $ 22,311, Great Neck $ 19,705. The salitudes of teachers in poor and wealthy school districts follow the same pattern. While the average salary of school teachers in poor communities is $ 43,00, the salary of teachers in the suburb like Rye, Manhurst and Scarsdale in New York ranges from $ 74,00 to $ 81,000. Even the issue of fundraising is a factor in the disparities among schools in poor and wealthy communities. Whereas schools in wealthy neighborhoods could raise up to $ 200,000, schools in poor districts could only raise $ 4,000.

Adaptive Strategy Curriculum
Kozol questions the ratione behind the scripted programs that have been adapted into the minority school system. "Authentic Writing", "Active Listening", "Rubric for Filing", "Accountable Talk", "Zero Noise" etc., according to teachers account, they are meant to follow the scripted lesson to bring formality and structure to the learning environment which raises the anxiety levels of both students and teachers. The high standard language and higher expectations with little support, has taken over the moral and ethical values ​​that use to be the integral part of the curriculum. "used by most schools has become part of the daily rituals and practices that are fashioned to boost students moral. Students from the under-performing schools are encouraged to memorize phrases like" I am smart "," I am confident "to raise their self -confidence and academic performance. This according to him has formed the framework used to identifying the causes of the under-achievement of students of color. encouraged to use "strict Skinnerian controls" to manage and teach students in their classrooms, and which job it is to pump some "added-value" into undervalued children. (p. 285)

In close semblance to the above is the business-like outlook "work related themes" that is being created in these schools, "market driven classes", "sign contract", "take ownership of their learning", "pencil manager", " classroom manager "," building managers "," learning managers "etc. This kind of corporate outlook portrays students as "assets," "investments," 'productive units,' or 'team player' according to Kozol.The knowledge and skills, which the students acquire, are seen as "commodities" and "products" to be consumed in the "educational market place." Kozol argues that educational administration should in no way be equated with factory production line, and advices that "teachers and principals should not permit the beautiful profession they have chosen to be redefined by those who know far less than them about the hearts of children. "(p. 299)

High stick testing
The issue of teaching for testing has replaced the essence of teaching for learning in public schools. According to Kozol, "In some schools, standardized testing begins in the kindergarden. Courses that are not included in the high stake testing are often not taught any more or they are completely removed from their school curriculum, like arts and music. , naptime and / or recess has been reduced or taken out completely to allow more time for the preparation of state standardized test. Even teachers meetings are geared towards the discussion of effective strategies to prepare students for quarterly assessment tests or reviewing state and district standards. Teachers are encouraged to attend workshops and conferences in regards to the testing to acquire more knowledge on how to integrate their teachings to the state testing standards.

In the bid of all the educational superiority imposed on the students, they are also tracked and labeled. Labeling the children from level one (lowest) to level five (highest) places them into categories supposedly for further instructions. Instead of being given adequate attention regarding their labels, it is used as a description of their academic stance. "She's gone down to level two," "She's a level one." The issue of academic tracking and labeling in these schools poses a huge obstacle in creating equity and democracy in a learning environment. According to Kozol, learning is taught as "a possession" not something one "engages" in. Students are encouraged to select "a career path" during their freshman year, so as to tailor their course work. Neverheless, there is little encouragement on the career path of college education. For example, the case of Mireya who attends Fremont High in Los Angeles, while she aspires for a college education, she is rather placed into voluntary classes - sewing and hairdressing. She tells Kozol "I hoped for something else." "Why is it that students who do not need what we need get so much more? And we who need it so much more get so much less?" She questioned.

In view of all these structured teaching strategies imposed on the urban public schools by the administrative body, both teachers and students exhibit robotic behaviors in order to achieve the set goals of the planners. Teachers who tend to veer out on these stipulations face disciplinary actions and could possibly lose their jobs. Students who do not adhere to the rules and follow the prescribed pattern face the risk of not passing their tests. Overall, there is loss of creativity and ingenuity in the classroom. Kozol points out that it would rather take a reflection than a miracle to set the schools on the right track again. He argues that desperate schools can not be turned around by the arrival of a charismatic, tough talking principal. "There are hundreds of principals in our urban schools who are authentic heroes ... but there is a difference between recognizing the achievements of able school officials and marketing of individuals as saviors of persistently unequal system".

Ray of Hope
After questioning and critiquing the re-segregation of urban public schools in America, Kozol pointed out a few schools, teachers, principals, administrators and human rights activists he had met in the course of his study that gives hope to the feasibility of school integration. According to him, "Virtually all the truly human elements of teacher motivation have been locked out of the market misperceptions that control so much of education policy today. But when we go to the schools in which these market ideologies have been valiantly resisted, we are reminded of a set of satisfactions and devotions that are very different from the ones that dominate the present discourse about urban education. " (p. 297) ... "These are the schools I call" the treasured places. "They always remind us of the possible." (p. 300).

He acknowledges the definitions made in most school districts since after visits over three years. At PS 65, a new curriculum that focuses on the need of the children had been introduced. The hand-held timers and scripted lesson plans have been taken out, and actual writings of children are displayed in the walls. He also recalls the efforts of some school districts in Milwaukee and Louisville where school leaders have promoted desegregation across district lines.

Kozol sees every hope in teachers and administrators like Louis Bedrock (which he dedicates this book to), Miss Rosa the retired principal of PS 30, Fern Cruz the new principal of PS 65 and others for their dedication and persistence in fighting for the right course of education for the minority. He also acknowledges the contribution of black activists like Congressman Lewis who have voiced out publicly and written books that expose the persistence of segregation in America.

In his epilogue, he wrote "A segregated education in America is unacceptable". "Integration is, it still remains, the goal worth fighting for" (p. 316).

The Shame of the Nation: An Analysis

I find this book very revealing, intriguing, insightful, and at the same time one sided and opinionated, but in summary, it is very informative. This book is an outcome of a good ethnographic researcher who not only puts energy in his work but also has passion in the subjects of his work - the students. The empirical analysis of this book rests in the inequality that is salient in the American society. Race, class, culture, gender and economic status which have formed the measuring tape of individuals' worth in the American society have become the bedrock of the administrative bodies in the formulation of policies. Policies like education, housing, income and property taxes, transportation etc. have been so carefully formulated to include and exclude some members of the society. These policies of course favor the dominant group, which are whites and disfavor the targeted group which is mostly blacks and Hispanic.

It takes a critical mind to understand the game in the policies. Taking for instance the funding of community urban schools from property taxes from the community, one has to first, think of the nature of the properties in such a community, who owns them, what shape, and of what value they are. If the majorities of those properties are individually owned and are of good shape and value, the expectation is that they will yield good tax for the community. On the other hand, when the government owns such properties, little can be realized in property tax in such a community, and that in turn affects the sourcing of the school. This is the game of politics in perpetuating inequality as we have seen in this book.

Who would expect that the administration that tends to speak in favor of equal education has a hand in making it unequal? That the prophecies of "No Child Left Behind" and "Equal Opportunity for All" are only frivolities? Who would imagine that some teachers and education administrators could be so robotic that they question their ingenuity and creativity in the face of manipulation, except for a revealing book like this? In addition, how can anyone comprehend the damage that has been done by these administrative inconsistencies over the years?

There is an insight into the social, economic, and cultural capital powers of the society in this book. Parents who are more informed, educated, with good jobs and better means have more say in the education of their children than those with little or no education and means. They surf for good schools for their children, organize themselves as the parent bodies of the school, and intervene in matters that are not favorable to their children, for instance, they raise money to employ more teachers and advocate for less number of children in a class. They come up with one voice to exclude others from integrating into their children's schools and sometimes take out their children from a school that are getting more minority enrolment as the case may be. They are less dependent and more challenging to the school administration and government than the parents with fewer capitals. The parents of the minority who have fewer capitals, complain and rarely mostly on the school administration and government to make the necessary adjustments in their children's schools. The system fosters posterity of family status.

In this atmosphere of stratification, while the dominant group acts up to maintain its status, and the targeted, subordinate poor group agitates its position, the children suffer the struggle. A wider gap is created between the rich and the poor. While the children of the dominant group perceive themselves as fortunately, they are less 'educated' than the poor children who see it all. They face lesser chances of integrating and facing realities of multiracial society and as such are less likely to accommodate differences in future. On the other hand, the minority poor children get more skeptical and cynical when matters of equity arise. In the case of the little Bronx boy who wrote Kozol, "You have all the things and we do not have all the things," and the high school student from California who told his classmate "You're a ghetto, so you sew. " The disparities in their educational experiences raise innumerable questions in their heads, which only the government can comprehend in that while their parents may be 'guilty' of not possessing the where-withal, the students are innocent. Kozol's study goes to predict that going by the present pace in educational strategy in America, inequality will persist; integration will be minimized, and desegregation will not only be a nightmare in schools but would be nipped in the bud in the society in future if they are not addressed now. He goes to say, "This nation needs to be a family, and a family sets down for its dinner at a table, and we all deserve a place together at that table."

Having enumerated the classical work of Kozol in diagnosing the blatant, ugly passion inequities in our public urban schools that plagues America today, I need to point out the one-sided, opinionated view of the issue. In a situation like this, no one person can be all right and the other all wrong, there needs to be a balance of 'a little to right and a little to the left'. In the entire book, Kozol addresses the structural approach to educational inequality that sees the school and government administration as the factor that has perpetuated the problem, little suspicion if any, of the cultural approach to the discourse with parents and students contribution. Although there were a few reasons of all white public schools, there was little emphasis on their interactions, though one might argue that they have all the necessary amenities available for them in comparison to the minor schools that have little amenities.

I call this one sided and opinionated in the sense that the subjects of the matter visa vie poor minority parents and their children, are not addressed as potential input to the problem and as such potential contribution factors to the solution. If in a capitalist society like America where opportunity is laid down for everyone for grabs, the 'majority' of the minority group keeps complaining of marginalization of resources, there is a problem somewhere permanently imposed limits. The problem could be in derivation of comfort in dependence or reliability on false sense of security. The core word is value. As regards to the parents, many of them depend on the system and can not walk their ways out to independence and instill that value of independence in their children. A culture of poverty has evolved among this minority group and they seem very comfortable in such a zone. So who makes the extra money for their children's comfort?

The children as well due to lack of role models from their parents, do not deem it fit to strive and conquer the inevitable, they embrace violence and they keep on finger pointing like their parents instead of realizing that education not agitation is their only access to high status in the society. I believe that a focus on re-orienting the children of the minority group in exploring educational opportunities no matter the limitations that they face would help in getting them back on the right track. On the other hand, if they should be contented, respectful, curtail violence, and love themselves, that would attract more empathy to them from whatever administration that is in place and they can be in their own schools without any white and feel good just the same. Understandably, the structural approach often times shape the cultural, which is unstable based on economic resources that yields self-support and autonomy.

Recognizing Navigational Tools For the Future of Education

I have to laugh when I think of the times I watched the television program, "Flash Gordon," as he putted through outer space in his make-believe space ship, talking on his make-believe wireless radio, and dressed in his make-believe space suit. Well, I'm not laughing anymore. Today we have shuttled astronauts into outer space, have men living in a Space Station, have space suites that take your temperature and gauge your heart rate, and wireless communication devices that send pictures to Planet Earth. Far fetched from reality? Not anymore. As we speak, the future is starring us in the face, waiting to see how we will promote her in the next 5-10 years.

How did science-fiction become reality over the past 50 years? Let's consider one aspect of innovation: the learning environment - post secondary education. Why post secondary education, you may ask? As post secondary education population increases, programs to accommodate students will develop into curriculum that affords students the freedom to create and design systems they toy with on a daily basis. Are there risks involved in this adaptation process? There are risks involved when change occurs, and leadership should be aware of how to diplomatically confront the risk areas that could slow down progress. Some of the risks that could be encountered due to change are:

o Systems risks

o Subsystem risks

o People

o Financial/economic risks

o Societal/Cultural risks

If communication between systems, subsystems, people, and cultures within the organizational environment has established a strong communication system, risks factors will be at a minimum as long as the creative teams are honest and upfront about their reservations to change.

Let's look into the future through 'futureoculers' and see how the universe of learning can be brought into the present. I want to introduce to you five (5) key trends that I believe affect the current learning environment, can create change, and renovate the perspective of learners and educators for students of the future. These trends could be the key in creating a new perspective in post secondary education for an institution. The key trends are:

o Competitive classroom learning environments - campus on-site/online/distant

o Increase in technological tools

o Teaching/learning environments-more hands on

o Global expansion capability-internal and external

o Student input in the creative learning process

Navigational Systems

Before the five (5) key trends are defined, there needs to be an acknowledgement of how the trends will be supported and regulated through a changing environment. According to de Kluyver, and Pearce, II, having the right systems and processes/subsystems enhances organizational effectiveness and facilitates coping with change. Misaligned systems and processes can be a powerful drag on an organization's ability to adapt. Therefore, check what effect, if any, current systems and processes are likely to have on a company's ability to implement a particular strategy is well advised. Support systems such as a company's planning, budgeting, accounting, information and reward and incentive systems can be critical to successful strategy implementation. Although they do not by themselves define a sustainable competitive advantage, superior support systems help a company adapt more quickly and effectively to changing requirements. A well-designed planning system ensures that planning is an orderly process, gets the right amount of attention by the right executives, and has a balanced external and internal focus. Budgeting and accounting systems are valuable in providing accurate historical data, setting benchmarks and targets, and defining measures of performance. A state-of-the-art information system supports all other corporate systems, and it facilitates analysis as well as internal and external communications. Finally, a properly designed reward and incentive system is key to creating energy through motivation and commitment. A process (or subsystem) is a systematic way of doing things. Processes can be formal or informal; they define organization roles and relationships, and they can facilitate or obstruct change. Some processes or subsystems look beyond immediate issues of implementation to an explicit focus on developing a stronger capacity for adapting to change. Processes/subsystems aimed at creating a learning organization and at fostering continuous improvement are good examples. As an example, processes or subsystems are functional and maintain the operation of the system; the system may be Student Services and the subsystem may be the Financial Aid office or Admissions. Subsystems can be more in depth in relation to office operations, which involves employee positions and their culture; financial advisors, academic advisors, guidance counselors. These operations are functions performed on the human level and could have a positive or negative impact in the development of key trends. If employees are valued and rewarded for their dedication and service, the outcome will be responsible, committed employees for the success of their subsystem.

The Navigator

Every navigator needs a map, a plan, a driver to give direction to for a successful trip. In this case, the driver is several elements:

o Service integrity, reputation

o Affordability with an open door concept

Hughes and Beatty relate drivers as Strategic drivers; those relatively few determinants of sustainable competitive advantage for a particular organization in a particular industry or competitive environment (also called factors of competitive success, key success factors, key value propositions). The reason for identifying a relatively small number of strategic drivers for an organization is primarily to ensure that people become focused about what pattern of inherently limited investments will give the greatest strategic leverage and competitive advantage. Drivers can change over time, or the relative emphasis on those drivers can change, as an organization satisfies its key driver. In the case of post secondary education, drivers help measure success rates in the area of course completion ratio, student retention, and transfer acceptance into a university and/or the successful employment of students. Because change is so rampant in education, it is wise for leadership to anticipate change and develop a spirit of foresight to keep up with global trends.

Drivers can help identify the integrity of internal and external functions of systems and subsystems, as mentioned previously, by identifying entity types that feed the drivers' success. They are:

o Clientele Industry - external Market - feeder high schools, cultural and socio-economic demographic and geographic populations

- Competitors - local and online educational systems

- Nature of Industry - promote a learning community

- Governmental influences - licensed curriculum programs supported by local, state, and federal funds

- Economic and social influences - job market, employers, outreach programs

o College Planning and Environment - internal

- Capacity - Open door environment

- Products and services - high demand curriculum programs that meet, local, state, and federal high demand employment needs

- Market position - Promote on and off-campus activities that attract clientele

- Customers - traditional and non-traditional credit and non-credit students

- Systems, processes, and structures - trained staff and state-of-the art technical systems

- Leadership - integrity-driven, compassionate leadership teams

- Organizational culture - promote on-campus activities promoting a proactive environment for students

According to Hughes and Beatty, these functions can assimilate into the Vision, Mission, and Values statements to define the key strategic drivers for developing successful environments.

Navigating Towards a Destination

With the recognition of systems, subsystems, and drivers, we can see our destination in the distance and their value in building a foundation to support the five key trends. The five (5) key trends will help define strategic thinking in a global perspective; the understanding of futuristic thinking that encompasses: risk taking, imagination, creativity, communication among leadership, and a perspective of how the future can fit into today's agenda. The five (5) key trends are:

1. Competitive Classroom Learning Environments - campus on-site/online/distant

One of the major attractions in education today is to accommodate a student at every level: academically, financially, and socially. These three environments are the mainstream of why one school is selected over another school. Today there is a change in tide. Students who once competed for seats in post secondary schools are becoming a valued asset as post secondary schools compete between each other for students. High schools are no longer the only feeder into colleges. Today, students are coming from home schools, career schools, charter schools, high risk schools, private schools, religious schools, work environments, and ATB tested environments. So, how can the educational system attract students and keep them motivated in an interactive learning environment they can grow in? Wacker and Taylor writes that the story of every great enterprise begins with the delivery of a promise, and every product a great enterprise makes is nothing but an artifact of the truth of that promise. So what great enterprise can be created to attract new students? By creating learning/teaching environments, post secondary schools can prepare students to meet the demands of everyday life and their life in the community. Schools can consider incorporating a learning model to enable professors and/or community leaders/entrepreneurs to team teach in the classroom/online environment. Team Teaching will contribute valuable views into the learning environment, as well as, give students the working community's real-time perspective. In an excerpt from "The University at the Millennium: The Glion Declaration" (1998) quoted by Frank H.T. Rhodes, President Emeritus of Cornell University, for the Louisiana State Board of Regents report, Dr. Rhodes wrote that universities are learning communities, created and supported because of the need of students to learn, the benefit to scholars of intellectual community, and the importance to society of new knowledge, educated leaders, informed citizens, expert professional skills and training, and individual certification and accreditation. Those functions remain distinctive, essential contributions to society; they form the basis of an unwritten social compact, by which, in exchange for the effective and responsible provision of those services, the public supports the university, contributes to its finance, accepts its professional judgment and scholarly certification, and grants it a unique degree of institutional autonomy and scholarly freedom. To experience education is learning, to exercise knowledge is freedom, and to combine them is wisdom.

2. Teaching/learning environments-more hands on

As post secondary educators relinquish hands-on-chalk-board teaching styles and establish group teaching models, students will develop a greater understanding of the theme of the class environment as well as the professor in developing an understanding of the class cultures' stance in learning. Educators are discovering that inclusive learning styles are revamping the teaching model and becoming a positive influence in retention, better grades, camaraderie among students, and a greater respect for the professor. As professors learn to develop relationships with students, interaction will transpire, lecturing will be condensed into a time frame and interactive learning between students and professor will enhance the classroom environment.

3. Global expansion capability-internal and external

Students are surrounded by virtual global environments or are impacted by global elements: the clothes they wear are made overseas, the games they play on their electronic toys are created overseas, the war games they play are created to identify with global war games, etc. The only draw back to this scenario is a truly global learning experience. What they are seeing is not what they are getting; a real time global experience. James Morrison writes that in order to meet unprecedented demand for access, colleges and universities need to expand their use of IT tools via online learning, which will enable them to teach more students without building more classrooms. Moreover, in order for professors to prepare their pupils for success in the global economy, they need to ensure that students can access, analyze, process, and communicate information; use information technology tools; work with people from different cultural backgrounds; and engage in continuous, self-directed learning. Christopher Hayter writes that post secondary schools need to be 'Globally Focused' for the 21st century that includes a global marketplace and be internationally focused. This means ensuring that skills needed to compete in a global marketplace are taught and that the mastery of such skills by students is internationally benchmarked. It may also mean a new emphasis on learning languages and understanding other cultures and the business practices of other countries.

More and more businesses are expanding into the global marketplace, opening corporate offices in foreign countries and hiring and training employees from those countries. Are our college graduates being trained to assimilate into cultures and work side-by-side with employees who may not be able to relate to them? Developing curriculums accommodating social and cultural entities will propel a student into higher realms of learning and create change in the individual student as well as support their career for their future.

4. Student input in the creative learning process

Professors are the gatekeepers in education. However, as Baby Boomer Professors begin to exit the educational workforce and head down the path of retirement, younger generation professors will take their place bringing with them innovative teaching methods that can expand the learning process. Are post secondary educators equipped to prepare for the onslaught of younger generation educators needed to be trained for this mega shift in the workforce? Most important, will those professors caught between Boomers and Xer's be willing to adapt to change in the education industry to accommodate incoming generations? I believe younger generations will impact even the technological industry and challenge change that will equip them for their future. Previous generation students slowly adapted to technological advances. The good news is change can occur, and educators can utilize life experiences from students familiar with technology tools and create fascinating learning environments.

5. Increase in Technological tools

In an Executive Summary written for the National Governors Association in a report called "Innovation America - A Compact for Post Secondary Education," the report reads that while post secondary education in the United States has already achieved key successes in the innovation economy, the public post secondary education system overall risks falling behind its counterparts in many other nations around the world-places where there have been massive efforts to link post secondary education to the specific innovation needs of industries and regions. According to this report, American post secondary education is losing ground in the race to produce innovative and imaginative realms in education. Can this trend be counteracted? With the cooperation of post secondary educational institutions within each community, leadership can create co-op learning environments that can be supported through e-learning and online teaching that can provide virtual reality technology to enhance real-time learning environments. Through Business Development operations currently established in post secondary institutions, a shared technology program can be created that will afford students access to ongoing virtual business environment settings and prepare students with knowledge and insight into a specific industry. As students prepare to transfer, graduate, or seek employment after completing a certification program, virtual experience in the job market can help a student assimilate education and work experience to their advantage. This concept could challenge Human Resource departments to create new mandates in accepting virtual-experienced college graduates as they enter the workforce.

Reaching the Destination

As Flash Gordan lands his Spacecraft on unclaimed territory, you imagine yourself slowly turning the handle to the spaceship with your spaceship gloves, opening the door with explosive anticipation. Your heart racing, sweat running down your brow, and your eyes at half mask waiting to see a new world; a world filled with beauty and potential when suddenly, the television shuts off and your Mom is standing in front of you telling you to get up and go clean your room and stop daydreaming! Ah, Mom, you say to yourself, you just destroyed my imaginary planet! Oh, by the way, did I mention that this was you as a child growing up and using your imagination?

Now that I've created a visual world of potential for you can you see the power within to see the future from the present and help others visualize the potential benefits of change in their lives and the lives of others in an organization? T. Irene Sanders states that thinking in pictures helps us link our intuitive sense of events in the world with our intellectual understanding. Now, more than ever, we need to integrate the techniques of imagination and the skill of intuition with our analytic competencies to help us see and understand the complexities that vex us daily. Visualization is the key to insight and foresight-and the next revolution in strategic thinking and planning.

Can you SEE the systems, subsystems, drivers, and the five (5) trends with a visual perspective in a post secondary educational environment? This is the nature of Strategic Thinking, which can or is taking place in your organization; a cognitive process required for the collection, interpretation, generation, and evaluation of information and ideas that shape an organization's sustainable competitive advantage. The need to stay abreast of progress, technology, and global opportunities will be the change in drivers that will validate the creative elements needed to stay attuned in a global perspective. The author's intention of introducing Flash Gordan into the paper was to create a visual image and demonstrate imagination fulfillment to a present day reality. Is there anything out there that cannot be done if it is fine tuned and prepared for a service of excellence? What are the risks involved by not exercising strategic thinking in the elements mentioned in this article?

Education is not about the present it's about the future. The five (5) trends are only a beginning adventure into an unknown space. Do you remember when you were in college and wished things were done differently, be more exciting, more adventurous? Consider the age groups becoming proficient in technology. Will post secondary educators be prepared to teach/instruct future students? Educators must invite strategic thinking into the system and take the risks needed to build post secondary education back into the global futuristic race of achievement. In an article written by Arthur Hauptman entitled "Strategies for Improving Student Success in Post secondary Education" (07), he concluded his report listing four elements:

1. While there is a growing rhetorical commitment to student success, the reality is that policies often do not mirror the rhetoric. Whether intentional or not, policies in many states are at best benign and often antithetical to improving student success.

2. Policy focus in most states has been to lower tuitions or the provision of student financial aid. This ignores the importance of ensuring adequate supply of seats to accommodate all students as well as providing a proper set of incentives that encourage institutions to recruit, enroll, and graduate the students who are most at-risk.

3. Some progress has been made in developing contemporary practices that have great potential for providing the right incentives in place of redress this traditional imbalance. But much more needs to be done in this regard.

4. Efforts to create incentives for students to be better prepared and for institutions to enroll and graduate more at-risk students have the potential for greatly improving rates of retention and degree completion.

Can the five trends be a stepping stone in rebuilding or strengthening the weakest link in the system? The evidence of deficiency is public, and that's a good start. Educators have the choice to rebuild and prepare for the advancement of our future; our students. I encourage you to take the five (5) trends and see how they can accommodate your institute of higher learning.

Conquer Your Mind With Positive Thinking: Free Yourself From Depression, Worry, Anxiety, And Fear

Negative thoughts reduce energy in you and make you to lose focus The more you give in to your negative thoughts, the stronger they become. Likewise, a small positive thought can have the same effect blossoming into a beautiful outcome. Negative thoughts should be avoided at all cost. When we start to have negative thoughts, it's hard to stop them. And it's much easier said than done to shift your focus to positive thoughts. But it's the only way, especially if you want to avoid going down a path that is painful and unnecessary.

Please find below what I did that help me overcome my negative thoughts

I Exercise for at least 5 minutes early in the morning everyday

Any form of exercise is OK. It took my focus away from my thoughts and brought my attention to my breath. Exercise is very relaxing, which helped ease my mind. You could also practice Yoga. Yoga is one of the best exercises that get rid of negative thoughts in your mind.

I surround myself with positive people and I make friends with them.

When you are feeling depressed, or various negative thoughts just fill your heart, talk to people of integrity to help you. People have a huge impact on your life. "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with," says American entrepreneur and motivational speaker Jim Rohn. With this in mind, you should think about the people you're spending time with the same way you think about what you eat and how you're exercising. Some people can be parasites. They suck out your happiness, energy and maybe some of your tangible resources as well. Some people will even help you to instinct negative thinking into your mind, so be very careful whom you associate yourself with. Who are good people by the way,

They are people that will inspire you to be a better person, provide you with motivation to achieve your goals, empower you to make the changes you need to succeed and cheer on your success.

In the workplace, good people tend to be productive people. They're organized, create schedules they stick to and don't get easily distracted from the end goal. And all this help you be more productive!

I Smile regularly

Smile regularly preferable every day. Smile prevents negative thoughts, improves your mood, helps reduce stress, and makes you more appropriate.

I change the tone of my thoughts from negative to positive.

For example, instead of thinking negative, I think positive. Always allow positive thinking to occupy your mind. Believe that God, our creator is always there for you, so why thinking negative. "We will face some challenges in our living situation, but we will come up with solutions that we will both be happy with."

I help people in need and in most cases solve their problems. Helping someone will help in removing negative thoughts from your mind, take the focus away from you and do something nice for another person. I decided to make a tray of food and donate it to the Salvation Army. It took my mind off of things and I felt better for helping someone else.

Remember that no one is perfect and let yourself move forward.

It's easy to dwell on your mistakes. I felt terrible that I acted this way and that I wasted our weekend. The only thing I can do now is learn from my mistakes and move forward. I definitely don't want to have a weekend like that again.

I sing especially gospel songs

I don't remember lyrics very well and it's probably the reason that I don't enjoy singing, but every time I do sing I always feel better. When we sing, we show our feelings and this provides an amazing stress relief.

I List five things that I am grateful for right now.

Being grateful helps appreciate what you already have. Here's my list: my children, health, a four-week trip to West African Countries, a new yoga class that I'll be teaching, and for my mom's speedy recovery from illness.

I Read positive quotes.

I like to place Post-It notes with positive quotes on my computer, fridge door, and mirror as reminders to stay positive. Also, I'd like to share with you a quote by an unknown author that was shared in a meditation class that I attended:

Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Watch your words, they become actions.

Watch your actions, they become habits.

Watch your habits, they become your character.

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

Prayer Points

O Lord, allow me to promote understanding and peace, and rid me of negative thoughts, in my mind in the name of Jesus Christ.

O Lord, let me understand that ignorance isn't bliss; allow me to be wise and steadfast

O Lord, help me see the good in life, and prevent me from thinking negative thoughts.

O Lord my Father, forgive me for my impure thoughts.

O Lord, turn me away from the darkest thoughts, that I may learn to view things in a different light.

You said to your apostles, "I give you peace, my peace I give you." Grant me peace, Lord Jesus.

O Lord, I pray to you, Lord, to let goodness reign in my heart and good thoughts in my mind.

O Lord, help me see my true calling. That I may discard the thoughts of taking my life because of all the failures I have done.

O Lord, may I learn to control my temper to avoid hurting others in what I may say or do that I could never take back.

With everything that happened in my life, I have become so bitter. I pray to learn to be free of this and live life with happiness in my heart.

I ask you, Heavenly Father, to put my thought processes in order so that faith, hope, and love will be in my main thoughts.

O Lord, help me, Lord, to think of and meditate on things that are pure, noble, true, and praiseworthy. Change my way of thinking, Father, as you mold my life into your ways.

Heal my thoughts, O Lord. Purify them, Lord Jesus.

Grant me peace of mind, so I may do your will, O God.

O Lord, free my mind of evil thoughts, and Cleanse me of negative and impure thoughts.

At times the Devil put negative thoughts into our mind.

Scripture: Isaiah 12:2 "God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. My strength and courage is the Lord, and he has been my savior"

At times, the devil apparently does put evil thoughts in our head, or even directly incites us to do evil. According to John 13:27, Judas made a secret arrangement to betray Jesus to His enemies. When Judas went to inform them where they could find Jesus, the Bible says that "Satan entered into him". Judas did not really believe John 12:6, the Bible let us know that Jesus was the Savior sent from God to save us from our sins. In fact, the Bible further says that Judas "was a thief; as keeper of the money bag (for the disciples), he used to help himself to what was put into it" The lesson is clear: The farther we are from God, the more vulnerable we will be to Satan's attacks.

Don't be like Judas, but make certain of your commitment to Jesus Christ. If you've never done so, turn to Him and by faith ask Him to come into your heart and life. Then ask Him to fill your mind with His truth and His Spirit every day. The Bible says in James 4:7 "Submit yourself, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you"

Not all evil thoughts come directly from Satan, however. Often they come from within - from our own sinful hearts. When they do, ask God to cleanse your mind and fill it with Christ.

Prayer points

I decree and I declare that all negative thoughts from the Devil in my mind is removed right now by the power in the blood of Jesus Christ.

By the power in the blood or Jesus Christ, I bind and rebuke any demon that will try, have tried and succeeded to disturb our peace o mind by polluting mind our soul and body in the name of Jesus Christ.

I command you Evil and Misfortune to live me a lone so that I can get rid of any type of hardship caused by you, nature and circumstances which includes financial hardships, emotional battles, spiritual burdens, frustrations caused by you right now in Jesus name.

O Lord, my Father, I ask for healing, abundance of blessings and miracles to reinstate what I have lost, I regain confidence in God and His people and I live peacefully without the fear of people's evil thoughts, words, deeds and even bad spirits in the name of Jesus Christ.

I bind and rebuke any evil and misfortune that would try to come against my prayer for the goodness of my soul, sound finances, great health, and peaceful living in Jesus name.

I pray and command that anyone or any spirit who causes trouble will never come back to hurt me, to take anything from me, never come back to my life as thieves, blasphemer, and nature's wrath in the name of Jesus Christ.

O Lord my Father, help me to renew my life for your glory and salvation of my soul. Help me to forgive and forget all the evil done against me in Jesus Name.

O Lord, I claim and proclaim the richness of life here on earth as well as in heaven.

O Lord, I claim and proclaim, peace, contentment and true happiness from within.

O Lord, I claim and proclaim, freedom from fear the of the unknown.

O Lord, I claim and proclaim complete confidence and dependence on God. I will be triumphant in life without the evil works, thoughts and doings.

O Lord, I claim and proclaim that I will all live with the abundance of God's provisions and promises as wealthy children of God who inherited His choicest blessings and the salvation of souls.

O Lord, I claim and proclaim that I am accepting Jesus as my Lord and personal Savior and through baptism I became son/daughter of the Father.

I thank You, Heavenly Father for Your Love. I thank You, Holy Spirit for empowering me to be aggressive against Satan and evil spirits. I thank You, Jesus, for setting me free. I thank You, Mary, for interceding for us with the holy angels and the saints.

O Lord Jesus, fill me with charity, compassion, faith, gentleness, hope, security, humility, joy, kindness, light, love, mercy, modesty, patience, peace, purity, tranquility, trust, truth, understanding, and wisdom. Help me to walk in Your Light and Truth, illuminated by the Holy Spirit so that together I may praise, honor, and glorify Our Father in time and in eternity. For You, Lord Jesus, are, "... the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6 ), and You "... have come that I might have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10 ).

How can your brain stay positive? The following exercises will help.

Be thankful every time, show gratitude,

"Gratitude is the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. When you wake up each morning, make it a habit to write down at least three things you're grateful for. It can be anything from family and work to a good night's rest or the morning sunrise - whatever is positive in your life deserves a little thank you note from your soul. If it's difficult to think of something right away, realize that something JUST happened that you can be grateful for... you woke up today. Not everyone gets that opportunity.

Balance your mind with many activities

You can find balance in many activities, such as yoga, meditation, deep breathing, walking in nature or any other activity that puts your mind at rest. When you the mind ceases, the soul is allowed to speak. The calming energy produced from a good centering exercise surrounds the body, bringing about an unshakable spirit that will surely help you stay positive.

How to Free Yourself from Anger

a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility. Anger is often nothing more than an intense emotion caused by an apparent injustice. The destructive outcomes of anger are well known. When even a slight annoyance arises, it is capable of growing quickly and overwhelming your state of mind.

Anger results in (1) a loss of perspective and judgment, (2) impulsive and irrational behavior that is destructive to both yourself and others, and (3) loss of face, compassion, and social credibility.

Anger is often pointless, as the following Buddhist parable will illustrate.

In the New Testament, Ephesians 4:26-27 advise, "In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."

Free yourself from anger

There is no benefit to anger at all. All anger can beget is negative energy, which can aggravate an already volatile situation. Anger can also impede sound judgement and inhibit your ability to consider the negative consequences of your abrupt reactions.

The next time you're angry, consider the following response:

Stop. Don't respond immediately. Walk away from the situation that has instigated your anger.

Breathe deeply. Become fully aware of your state of mind. Assess what's going on.

Calm down and compose yourself. Invoke mindfulness to appeal to your wisdom. Anger and other emotional arousals often stem from a lack of self-awareness or mindlessness, and can simmer down if you just wait long enough.

Consider the matter from other points of view. Ask if there could be other possible explanations for what happened.

Identify the reasons for your anger by asking three questions:

a. "Is this matter serious enough to get worked up about?"

b. "Is my anger necessary and warranted?"

c. "Will getting angry make a difference?"

Reflect about what response will be most effective. Try to develop a wise and measured course of action.

Idea for Impact: A low-anger life is a happier life

Patience is the definitive antidote to anger and aggression. With patience, you may not always be able to eliminate anger, but you can usually control it. Patience can build and fortify your intellectual and psychological resources.

As Proverbs 19:11 tells in the Hebrew Bible, "A person's wisdom yields patience; it is to one's glory to overlook an offense." Ultimately, developing greater patience enhances your romantic, personal, professional, and casual relationships-as well as that all-important relationship: the one you have with yourself.

How to free yourself from worry

Worry pollute your mind and it can never be positive, But in the last decade I have found several habits that have helped me to greatly decrease my worrying and to more easily handle such thoughts when they pop up.

1. Most of things you worry about have never happened.

I love this quote by Winston Churchill:

"When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened."

I have found it to be very true in my own life.

So when you feel worries starting to pop up ask yourself this:

How many of the things I feared would happen in my life did actually happen?

If you are anything like me then the answer will be: very few. And the very few ones that actually happened were mostly not as painful or terrible as I had expected.

Worries are most often just monsters you build in your own mind.

I find that asking myself this question regularly and reminding myself of how little of the worries that actually came to life makes easier and easier to stay calm and to stop a worried thought before it becomes a big snowball of negativity.

2. Avoid fears. Be bold, don't be afraid of anything. Believe in God at all times. When fears feel vague in your mind, when you lack clarity then it is very easy to get lost in exaggerated worries and disaster scenarios.

So find clarity in a worry-inducing situation by asking yourself:

Honestly and realistically, what is the worst that could happen?

When I have answered that question then I follow it up with spending a bit of time on figuring out what I can do about it if that pretty unlikely thing happens.

In my experience, the worst that could realistically happens is usually not as scary as what my mind could make up when it is running wild with vague fears.

Spending a few minutes on finding clarity in this way can save you whole lot of time, energy and suffering.

3. Don't try to guess what is on someone's mind.

Trying to read someone's mind usually doesn't work too well at all. Instead, it can very easily lead to creating an exaggerated and even disastrous scenario in your mind.Communicate and ask what you want to ask. By doing so you'll promote openness in your relationship and it will likely be happier as you avoid many unnecessary conflicts and negativity.

4. In a situation you cannot think straight, say stop, don't say anything

From time to time when I am hungry or when I am lying in bed and are about to go to sleep I can become mentally vulnerable. And so worries can more easily start buzzing around in my head.

5. Remember, people don't think about you and what you do as much as you may think. They have their hands full with thinking about what other people think of them. And with thinking about what is closest to their hearts like their children, pets, a partner or the job or school. So don't get lost in worries about what people may think or say if you do something. Don't let such thoughts hold you back in life.

6. Work out.

Few things work so well and consistently as working out to release inner tensions and to move out of a headspace that is extra vulnerable to worries. I also find that working out - especially with free weights - makes me feel more decisive and focused.

7. Share your worry with someone close to you. This is one of my favorites. Because it tends to work so well. By letting someone close to you know about your worry, it becomes a whole lot easier to see the situation or issue for what it really is.

Just venting for a few minutes can make a big difference and after a while you may start to wonder what you were so worried about in the first place.

If you do not have anyone to talk to at the moment about the worry bouncing around in your mind then let it out by writing about it. Just getting it out of your head and reasoning about with yourself either on paper or in a journal on your computer can help you to calm down and find clarity.

8. Spend more time in the present moment.

When you spend too much time reliving the past in your mind then it easy to start feeding your worries about the future. When you spend too much time in the future then is also easy to get swept away by disaster scenarios.So focus on spending more of your time and attention in the present moment.

9. Refocus on the small step you can take to move forward.

To move out the worried headspace I find it really, really helpful to just start moving and taking action to start solving or improving whatever I am concerned about.

Prayer Points

Father, I thank you so much for delivering me from the activities of the kingdom of darkness

Because, Jesus Christ has set me from the law of sin and death I commit to live free from worry in the name of Jesus,

I humble myself under your mighty hand that in due time you may exalt me.

I cast away from myself, my husband, my wife and children, - all my anxieties, all my worries, all my concerns - once and for all in the name of Jesus Christ.

O Lord, take wrong thoughts captive, because you care for me affectionately and care about me watchfully. You sustain me. You will never allow the consistently righteous to be moved - made to slip, fall, or fail!

O Lord, I cast down imaginations (reasoning's) and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of you, and I bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

O Lord, I lay aside every weight and the sin of worry. I run with patience the race that is set before me, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith.

O Lord, help me fix my mind on those things that are true. I thank You Father, that You are able to keep that which I have committed unto You. I thank you for fixing my mind on those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, or good report, virtuous, and deserving of praise. I will not let my heart be troubled.

I abide in Your Word, and Your Word abides in me. Therefore, Father, I do not forget what manner of person I am. I look into the perfect law of liberty and continue therein, being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the Word and, thus, blessed in my doing!

Wilt Chamberlain - Track and Field at the University of Kansas (KU) In Addition to Basketball

Wilt Chamberlain is best known by sports fans as one of the most dominant basketball players of all time. To people less familiar with sports and basketball specifically the name Wilt Chamberlain might have a familiar sound because of his much publicized personal life. What many people do not realize is that before basketball became the focus of his life the first sport that Wilt fell in love with was track and field.

Chamberlain was born on August 21, 1936 and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he had eight brothers and sisters that all came from the same parents of father William and mother Olivia. As a youth growing up in eastern Pennsylvania Wilt famously stated that his first reaction to the game of basketball was that he considered it to be "a game for sissies." The sport that the young Wilt Chamberlain was exponentially more passionate about was track and field.

Before even reaching high school age the freakishly athletic Wilt Chamberlain is reported to have high jumped 6'6 "which is a mark that would win most high school varsity track meets. are understood to be as far as 22 feet. For comparison purposes almost all high school track athletes can not reach 22 feet in a running long jump and Wit is reported to have reached that length from a stationary standing amplitude jump position. broad jumping talents are perhaps to be expected considering what the public now knows about his success on the basketball court, however the track and field prowess that Wilt showed was not limited to jumping events.

Thanks to the long strides and powerful running style that Chamberlain employed he was a miraculous middle distance runner as his preteen times of 49 seconds in the 440 yard race (once around a standard track) and under two minutes in the 880 yard distance (twice around a standard track) are exceptional numbers for even a college athlete. Chamberlain excelled at every aspect of track and field including running, jumping, and throwing. He is reported to have tossed a shot put over 53 feet in his youth.

Chamberlain matured very quickly and continued to grow at a rapid pace. At the age of 10 the young man was already 6 'tall and when he started high school he was an astounding 6'11 ".a as 7'2" college freshmen playing basketball at the University of Kansas (commonly referred to as KU) the 240 pound Chamberlain could reach 9'6 "into the air just standing flat footed (no tip toes).

Wilt took up his first love of track and field at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas while also playing basketball there. The 7'2 "goliath ran a sub 11 second 100 yard dash and also thread the shot put 56 feet. and successfully won the Big 8 Conference high jumping competition three years in a row. In the world of track and field it is an extraordinarily rare athlete that can compete at the highest level in the shortest sprints, all the dumping events, and the throwing events This dynamic collection of talents is so rare in fact that Wilt might be the only man ever to possess this unique skill set.

The Keys of Life - How to be Happy

As a life coach for a number of years now, I have been exposed to the concepts and tools necessary for creating a happy life. This information is not just text book theory, it is real, and I am proud to say that I am making a difference in such a positive way that both my clients and my children will maintain a real advantage in their future.

So what are the messages I attend? What are the tools I employ? And what is the language I maintain for a healthy mind? There are many imaginative ideas one can institute within the household to create awareness, and these examples seem to work for us, not always immediately, but I feel certain they will play out in a positive way in the future. When one singles out each item individually, they may seem too simple to make a difference, however when combined with a full understanding of the technology they begin to make a lot more sense.

So why is it that human animals are so unhappy? Why do we hear that 1 in 4 Australians are clinically depressed? This article would be too long if I were to cover all the reasons, but I will attempt to address a number of them.

1. We compare upwards.

There are so many things around us that make our life "easier" and provide us with more leisure time: .... DVD players, washing machines, fancy cars, play stations etc .. As we have more leisure time, these materialistic things help us fill our days, they make us "look good" and possibly temporarily happy, and more importantly provide us with the things that someone else does not have.

So what happens to the people who do not have some or all of these items? Children want what others have and feel that these things will make them and their lives more interesting and fun. We all want things. We do not need them, we just want them. We want them because our friends appear happier, and we want to be a part of that. So we compare upwards and we look to what we do not have that create a par. It's this vacuum that gives us a feeling of not being complete and we think we are not able to be happy. How often do we compare downwards? How often do we stop and say, "I am so happy to be free and can play with my children at the park", "I am so happy that I am alive and have food on the table". "I am so happy to be healthy and am not in hospital recovering from cancer."

I am consistently reminding my children to not only appreciate what they have, but to create a list on a daily basis of all the things they appreciate. The appreciation list can be as simple as "I appreciate getting a call from my friend earlier today". We need to balance out our comparison mechanism. It is becoming so increasingly difficult with society becoming more affluent, and the media controlling what we are told to think. We really have to start working hard at this. We have to start playing the game of life, so that it starts to work in our favor because as I look around at the number of overweight, depressed people and the state of this planet, we are losing the battle.

What else do I do to make my children aware? For many years I have been telling my kids to mute the ads on television. The marketing people who create these advertisements are a lot smarter than we are. They cleverly use positive associations to sell their products with no regard for what or how it is effecting our comparison state. They use anchors and leverage us into softening our brains.

I have signs around the house and try to create a balance. Small posters that say things like "A week of need not want", "A month of NOW!", "Do not complain about it, change it or fix it", "A situation needs to be either deal with or accepted" "Why make it a problem? There are no problems in the NOW." These signs inspire discussion and subliminal alterations to my children's assessment of life.

2. We have an obscured concept of what success is.

Many people in the western world think that success is a house, car, money, and possessions. You do not have to look far at the statistics to discover that the financially wealthy are not necessarily happier than those with less financial means and are more challenged financially. Who was it that stated:
"Today, we have more experts but more problems, more medicine but less wellness.
Bottom line, happiness has little to do with money. It is our state of mind. I remember when I was in my teens thinking that if I had enough money just for my bus transport I would be so happy. Then I got older and all of a sudden, it was not enough, I wanted a car etc. You know what I mean. Look around you, see how much STUFF you have, is it made up of a NEED or a WANT. Do you remember how happy you were when you only had a few boxes in your life, no baggage. Then you start to fill it up with stuff. Did it make you happier? Ladies and Gentleman, this is not success. It is empty and lacks value. And it never ends. This path will continuously be fed by trying to get somewhere, and humans do not realize that there is nowhere to get. We are creating dreams about "some day, one day". When I finally get my BMW then I will go camping with my family. When I just get $ x, then I will start a family, When I finally drop 7kilo I will be happier with my weight. The time is NOW, right now. This moment. Do not wait, do it now. Go on that trip, get involved with needy children, do that thing you have always said you would like to do. Help the less privileged. Just remember if you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. Success is finding YOUR OWN passion, discovering what you want to do with your life and going for it 200%. Not doing what others tell you. Start today. Learn about yourself, then create the most amazing possibilities for yourself.
Life is beautiful and the universe if perfect in every way. All you have to do is allow yourself see how beautiful things are, how wonderful you are, and start to become part of what is already perfect.

3. Communication:

You do not have go go back many years to see how communication has changed. Think back to the days when you would walk along the street, take public transport and people would say "Gday" "Lovely day" etc. On face value it does not mean very much, but this is the game of life we ​​are not playing any more. We prefer to sit opposite a computer, answer emails, play computers games, swim in our pools at home, watch TV etc, left to communicate with our own "little voice". In fact with 50,000 thousand thoughts we have on a daily basis, it seems that we are spending more and more time "ALONE". Now that would be OK if our internal communication was open to new ideas, with a potential to create thought- provoking new concepts and important issues in life. However, the internal chatter is so limited, and has become so molded by our clever governments and advertising geniuses, that we do not have a chance. That's because we are only working from a position of what we know we know and what we know we do not know. It has left no room for all the things we do not know we do not know. We can only get access to those blind spots in our life if we have other people expose them. We can only get it by being present to our voices. We can only get it from others. If you were to engage in a conversation with that old lady on a bus, imagine what pearls of wisdom you may get from her. Or that gem from that person we chatted to while waiting at the checkout at the supermarket. We have been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet our neighbor. We have acquired outer space but not inner space. We need to get back to basics and start talking. We will all begin to discover that pretty much all people in the universe want the same things and generally think similar thoughts. We all want to be happy. 

I am continuously chatting to people, smiling as I walk past people, and I let my children see that, we discuss it continuously and make points of interest to what goes on. Continuing talking about the concepts of how people are trying to "look good and trying to avoid looking bad", and all about "life". Remember your children are not getting an education about "life" from school where they spend most of their days. Do not forget that you DID NOT GET ANY EDUCATION AT SCHOOL ABOUT LIFE. So get learning, get educated and start educating the children. It will help them with their health, relationships and conventional education.

I encourage you to consider that life is beautiful, and note that we have learned to make a living but not a life and we have added years to our lives, but not life to our years.

What I do:

Among other things, I provide face to face life coaching in Melbourne Australia. I am continuously making a difference in people's lives. I know that 5 minutes before I die I wont be thinking about the house or car I did or did not have, but I will be smiling at the thought of the numerous people whose lives have been effected positively by my input. It is the most rewarding life I could lead and I could ever pursue.

jonathan@lourie.org

Are Your Managers Ready for Generation Y Employees?

Generation Y or the "Internet Generation" will dramatically change every aspect of your business in the next five years!

Change will be constant, rapid and revolutionary. Want proof?

First, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is putting all of their 1,500 courses on the Internet. MIT believes that the "disclosure of knowledge and information can open new doors to the powerful benefits of education for humanity around the world." That means students, educators and self-learners will be able to audit these courses when and where they want.

Second, Bob Lutz, General Motors Vice Chairman, has a blog to communicate directly with his customers. It is an invaluable way to get important information out to the market. It is also a vehicle for timely and accurate feedback. Other GM executives are setting up blogs to talk directly to and get information from their employees. By comparison, Microsoft has over 1,500 customer and employee blogs.

Third, YouTube is an Internet overnight success story. It allows people to upload and share videos over the Internet. To date they have 100 million videos on their site and receive another 65,000 per day. The company was founded in February 2005, and was never profitable. Yet, Google understands the potential of their technology and purchased the company nineteen months later for $ 1.65 billion.

While Gen X employees understand Internet, multitasking and instant communications, Generation Y members excels at use of these three tools, and they will use them to transform business. They will challenge every aspect of the workplace.

How do the different generational employees look managers?

B oomers: The boss is not always right, but the boss is always the boss. I will put in long hours to get ahead. If necessary, I will do so at the expense of my family.

Generation X: The boss is not always right, but I'm not going to be here very long. I watched my parent's jobs being downsized or outsourced so I do not have the same loyalty to a company they did. I'm not married to the company; I value my life outside of work.

Generation Y: The boss is not always right, but are they open to new ways to do business? Events like 9/11 and the Columbine High School shooting have taught us that life can be fleeting. The Internet as exposed us to new ways of approaching life and work. I want to flexibility, to be valued for my ideas and my work and I want time off to volunteer.

They are called Generation Y, as in "why," because they are constantly questioning the status quo. They are almost as large as the Boomer generation and are over 65% larger than the Generation X group. In the next twenty-five years 80 million Boomers will be retiring. As the Boomers retire, the Gen X employees will become the Gen Y's managers. However, because of their sheer size Generation Y will be the overwhelming influence in the workplace for the next fifty years.

Generation Y fully embraces technology. Today's twenty-year-old college graduate was only five years old when the Internet was developed in 1992. They have always had the world at their finger tips. They grow up with instant messaging, text messaging, cell phones, iPods, PDAs, MySpace, YouTube, multitasking and blogging. They think, and act, in terms of instant communications. While Gen X employees understand and used these vehicles, Generation Y is totally immersed in them.

Baby Boomers changed the culture on civil rights, woman's rights, and gay rights. Their world was shaped by the Cold War. The members of Generation Y were born after the Civil Rights Act was passed (1964), the gay rights movement started (1969), the first woman sat on the US Supreme Court (1975), and the Berlin Wall came down (1990). The struggles many of us remember are accepted facts in their world. Generation Y individuals overlap diversity as an accepted norm and until recently knew nothing about war. Their world has always included diversity.

Each of us has memories of some recent tragic events: the Oklahoma bombing, the Columbine High school shooting, the World Trade Center bombing, and three wars-Iraq, Afghanistan and the War on Terror. If you were a thirteen to fifteen year old, how would these events shape your thoughts about the future? In a practical way These Generation Y's remain optimistic.

Generation Y members are group-oriented, confident, goal-oriented and civic-minded. They have a more worldly view than Generation X'ers. These new employees have been coddled by their parents. As children they received trophies for simply participating on a team. Parents told them were special and capable of doing anything. Their non-school activities were scheduled (eg, karate, soccer, etc.), and their parents were not afraid to call a teacher, coach or boy Scout leader if they did not think their child was being treated fairly.

Generation Y kids have been raised with instant communication, unrealistic feedback and rapid decision making as the norm. They believe they have the world in the palm of their hand. And, with their knowledge of today's technology they do.

So what can your managers do to get ready for Generation Y employees? Generation Y employees want to be heard and valued by their company when they start with your company. They place a high value on family and flexibility and will volunteer their time to cause them feel are important. They are fearless and not intimidated by titles or corporate organizational charts.

They love variety and are not afraid of change. If they think they have a good suggestion they will take ownership of the idea. And, they will not be afraid to take the idea up the corporate ladder to be heard.

Successful companies must find ways to harness the new employee's talents, integrate them into the company and turn ideas into a competitive advantage. Progressive companies understand that learning is a two-way street. Generation Y employees will revolutionize internal and external communications. Companies have a lot to teach the Gen Y's, but they have a lot to learn from them also. That will be difficult in rigid, highly structured companies.

Jack Welsh, former CEO of General Electric, stated that "... ebusiness knowledge is usually inversely proportional to age and rank." Hiring, challenging and retaining good employees have always been the hallmark of successful companies.

Successful companies today must develop a culture of learning, sharing and embracing change. They will employ two-way mentoring, blogging, new training platforms, and new ways of hiring and promoting people.

Training Generation Y employees will change. Boring, all-day seminars will become less frequent. Generation Y employees will text message their friends during those seminars. They need the information in the seminar, but companies will have the training available in different platforms and in smaller "bite-sized" portions. These training modules will be downloadable to an employees' Blackberry, iPod or computer. The employee will view the sessions at home, or on a plane or listen to them in the car driving to an appointment.

This is an exciting and dynamic time for business! Change will be constant, rapid and revolutionary.

Generation Y employees will change how we look at hiring, turnover, mentoring, performance reviews, employee orientation, retention issues, and how we communicate with our employees and customers. Are your managers ready for this new employee?

Questions for Discussion:

1. A new employee takes approximately six months to "learn the routes," and they will probably leave the company within four years. How will your managers take full advantage of the Generation Y employee's creative energies?

1. What systems within your company need to be reviewed to take advantage of these upcoming changes?

1. How can you dramatically change the way you communicate with your customers and your employees?

Making Money Online With a Forex Trading System

In this article I will discuss making money online, Forex trading, and software related to Forex trading. Both good and bad. As well as cover some other things. Although there are a lot of systems out there, more importantly scams, there's not quite as many as there are online get rich quick schemes and ponzi schemes in general. There are still hundreds if not thousands of scams that directly refer to Forex Currency Trading. These scams come in various formats but often get the record set straight on them quickly, however a few others somehow escape the negative publicity and go for years and hit unsuspecting profit seekers where it hurts the most daily. The problem with Forex is that so much seems too good to be true, and a lot of stuff is, but it's also true that many people have made millions and some are not really all that smart at it. You can profit from the right robot.

The first thing I would like to discuss is the topic of sales pages, that common pitch page that a lot of products use and you often think it's gone too far or it must be a scam just by looking at it. But when you think real hard about it, over half the time this is not actually the case ... These sales pages are so long and packed with information since they are commonly advertised on the web and it is more or less business strategy, as opposed to anything reflecting the product. Certain sellers force you to use pitch pages, they need a specific landing page and it makes things much easier for sales transactions.

So rather than guide you through a structured web site with more details through various sections; they often use this pitch page and they generally pack it with information and a ton of hard selling. This has proven to be the trend and it's gotten harder and harder for some EAs to market their software without these types of pitch pages. It is often the case with digital products and or / stuff you can order online. When it comes to these make-money-online and Forex sites they often have a lot of flash to them and obviously many things to draw customers in. In reality it's not much different from any other form of advertising, most certainly not the likes of gambling, and so forth. They need to have some sort of appeal and be competitive. My conclusion is that even if it looks like it could be a scam, do your homework anyway and it may not be. It just depends. Some things are signs, but in my opinion web design and hard selling are not direct signs of a scam. Although in the Forex Market something to hope for would be charts and proof.

With regards to the surveys and other things, it amounts to filling out spam for pennies pretty much, data entry is the same and much more annoying than even the most desperate realize. It also makes you look bad if you tell your friends. You still have to spend time to make any real money, not prizes, and some also require a credit card number on file, and they text you and stuff too. Let's be honest, it sucks. It's bottom of the barrel work that just is not worth it. It's for the ultra-lazy. The kind of human being who for example might get scammed by a Forex system. Not a serious adult who is looking to profit from investment and extend their savings, along with make more money in general.

I once tried a clicking service just to see if I actually could make money, on the popular moneytec forum it was this highly recommended thing by a bunch of lazy work at home users, but I bought into it at the time, and, no joke I signed up and they told me it would be easy and they would make it easy to visit 1000 sites or whatever they have you visit for 15 cents. So I clicked a link and it just starting loading every 2 seconds, it was awfully slow, I waited 15 minutes and that was only like 25 sites, i got a virus after, and i closed it fast. I abandoned the 15 cents for it and thought instantly that these poor souls who do this are a whole helluva lot more desperate than I am. I do not belong in these sort of slums of the internet. This is the first time I have ever written about it. During that several years ago before I started trading Forex I also wrote a few surveys and never got paid once. I have marketed online to some success but mainly my success has been through Forex Trading. That's why I do not need to work a real job and can sit around doing stuff like this all day. Publishing is very important to me. Once something you write online get indexed by a major search engine like Google, chances are that it will be there for a very long time. I find that important anyway ...

There are other ways you can make money online without Forex Trading, though sadly it is often below the barrel work; boring data entry, filling out surveys for pennies, to name a couple of the more common ones. If you're into making web sites you may also advertise on one of your sites or a network of sites, and for that you need fresh content and you need to get traffic, which is way harder than one might think. You can sell products as an affiliate, although you need to find your niche and work very hard at it, it becomes a time consuming job for some people and no matter what you're likely to going to need to invest in something no matter what you do. Whether it's Forex, Web Design, Advertising or whatever it is or a combination of things, most importantly it takes time and ability to adapt your passion. Although you still have much more freedom, affiliate marketing online is very crowded and has been for years. You can also use a revenue-share article and / or video submission service in hopes of being one of the few who can actually earn a living at it. Though that is not for everyone. If you've got four young children and only have an extra hour or two a day to pull in some extra income you most likely do not have time to play a Martha Stewart like figure. Most people do not.

Forex Trading on the other hand is more convenient in the sense that it is an extremely profitable investment opportunity given the right expert adviser, to advise your trade and supply signals, generally to guide you. That is option one. You need a broker. It's way easier than you think and in the Forex industry not as big of a word as you might think, easy to get and you do not gotta meet them in person or anything. It's an online thing.

There are many options to trade Forex, one of the most common would be the use of automated Forex platforms and Forex robots, all automated Forex trading in general. There is nothing wrong with it. This is where expert advisers come in, EAs for short. These are the Forex experts as I mentioned above who supply your trades and information to you. They pretty much tell you what to do. Some are much better than others. Some are not out to supply signals at all and simply selling their software to make profit from that end. Proper automated Forex software oftens runs on the metatrader 4 Forex trading platform, or at least the more popular ones do. Your EA software is like plug-in software for it. I'd actually be wrong to say all EAs use it, but many of the ones I have experience with use the Metatrader 4 Platform and I prefer it.

The other way to trade Forex is to study the market, find all the relevant information you need, take a very long time of a few months to several years to learn something, only to have it blow up as you were still too inexperienced to do something with your strategy when the market changed. Strategy is a very important element of online Forex trading but not just having a strategy, it's about having enough strategies and being able to adapt properly with the market. This is why a lot of people fail without popular EAs, because the EA is usually a well-trained trader and your common trader can not provide himself with signals even half as good and a lot less consistently. The well known EAs are usually like 15 year traders and so forth who studied the market like a school subject and make extra money on the side by selling there signals too you, or software which grants them.

A lot of Forex EAs today simply do not have that sort strategy or ability to adapt with the market ... So not making them scams, but just not prepared for the long haul in general. I have a lot of experience with failed systems and systems that worked for just a little while. I have others that work to this day but I am always seeking new ones. I can review several including one I use now however that has already been done a few times over.

If you're looking for the cross between really learning Forex and just really having to learn complicated signals and software I'd suggest Forex Fap Turbo. The downside of this is you often need to buy extra stuff to learn it and some of it is useless. All of this for pretty decent software but it takes way more time and skill and not something I was happy with. I requested and received my refund for the software and some other software related to it, as it was just not for me and the only people i heard reviewing and bragging about it were a lot more educated before they tried it than I was. I was not ready then, am not ready now. Although it's a well reviewed Forex system and not a scam, I've provided a lot of help, but there are too many of the same, some are forex advertisements so that's not a lot of help. It also brings up a lot of the Fap Turbo related software that is not even the direct software and you gotta buy it separately. So it's a lot of hassle even more than some typical investments that are not related to Forex.

I have also tried automoney and several other Forex robots and automated Forex platforms. I have found that many of these automated Forex systems are a dime a dozen and send you through far too many loops to get the desired results. If they do not eat your entire investment ... Some systems do not have stops and you have to do too much often, others are slow, and sometimes the EA is simply just not your sort of teacher and you get lost sometimes. ..Some EAs will simply sniff you out and then screw you over in the end. This is why it's important to watch for signs of proof either by service trial or physical proof before making your purchase of expensive Forex software.

I have also used Forex Assassin, the eToro Forex trading platform and Forex Harvester but nothing really significant has come up from any of those systems for me.

Some Forex marketers, EAs and employees in general and so forth are so wicked that they monitor new "Forex" related domain registration and somehow get your email address and solicit you ... So you have to be aware that in the Forex market as far as Forex expert advisers go, there is a lot of them competing to get your money. You are sincerely seeking the ones who are also looking to have a solid reputation and actually provide you with profitable trades, your EAs # 1 objective should be successfully trading Forex and not selling their software. This is another thing that makes the simple "pitch page" easy for EAs with very little maintenance, on that end of things. The software should be and often is a side venture for Forex experts who can actually profit from their knowledge of the market and have the means to market themselves ... Can anyone create automated software and sell it? Probably not, I think it's a bit of a stretch but then again it depends if you even get software, or whatever, most systems that are fully developed and have good features but do not work - were more than likely meant to work at some point.

I have read up on quite a few of the most popular Forex review sites like Forex Peace Army and many other well known ones, and to me they all pretty much point towards the same complicated software and their voters are already experts investing 10s of thousands already and they barely feel some of their losses. They switch around a lot; nothing turns out to be solid in the end. The reviews on sites like that most likely got started through advertising. Too many people get to review their own systems on Forex sites like that, etc. You never know who the reviewer is. Searching for automated Forex software reviews is almost impossible nowdays since they all say pretty much the same thing and are mostly positive ...

I have read up on many "free Forex signal" reports on the web and I also participate actively on various Forex forums and other Forex related sites. I often find with these particular Forex signals at least my impression is that you get someone looking to be a mentor of some sort for you, they are usually shady and turn out to be lacking when you need them the most. These guys are usually empty handed. They are trying to freelance or whatever so that they can supply systems and build a name for themselves, but the problem is that these are the guys who after so many followers do create a commercial system and then extremely end up failing, their the failed EA newbies to some extent and you want an EA who is an accomplished Forex expert.

One should consider it much better and safer to use an established system that is known to work, and not the work of an aspiring EA, or even worse, somebody who does not have those credentials at all and are just trying to stuff their ego . I have not enjoyed the free Forex signals and find it more like looting through them then finding anything that productive, not much is there or else all the Forex signals would have to be free and would be for everyone, all the best Forex signals would be free. At least that is my concept. I do not want a rookie EA telling me what to do, since the trend in the Forex market nowdays is most definitely for more popular and well established EAs to sell systems, mostly automated software. That is one thing I do not understand, who these people are that clog up the forums with nonsense and think they can compete in the market with actual successful Forex EAs who really know how to trade.

How much you want to trade really depends on you. If you're a Forex starter you need to have a good EA for starters, and while I can not hand pick one for you, I can provide at least one review since I have spent time on the subject, in this article off- site to an excellent EA which i have tried and complies with several of my standards. I feel it is an excellent resource for people like me at least who gets lost on the big stuff. There are many fish in the sea.

Are You Unconsciously Sabotaging Your Own Success and Happiness?

Resistance to Change

Although nature has gifted humans with the ability to adapt and to change, more times than not, we resist using that ability. Routines are comfortable and require little conscious thought. If we constantly have in one way, we constantly get the same results and responses. And that may be the problem.

Playing the Blame Game

Too often live by rote allows us to play the game game rather than taking responsibility for our own forward motion. "I did not get the big promotion because the boss does not like me," takes the place of better job performance. "I am not dating anyone because no one thinks I am interesting," is an excuse not to socialize or to engage in activities that would lead to new connections.

Refusing to Take Responsibility

The blame game offers false comfort. Blaming someone else is easier than admitting you are not giving 100% at work or making an effort to meet and interact with new people. These are repetitive, self-defeating messages lodged in your subconscious mind playing like a broken record. The longer that record plays, the more damaging it is to your life's goals.

Low Self-Confidence

Negative self-talk, even at the subconscious level, does terrific damage to your self-confidence. You do not need other people to tell you that you do not have talent or that you are not interesting. You are doing a perfectly good job of that yourself! Consequently, you may start surrounding yourself with people who actively support your low self-confidence, which will only make the situation worse.

Surrounding Yourself with Negative People

There is a school of thinking that refers to negative people as emotional vampires. You say, "I am never going to get ahead," and they say, "you are right," and may add a dollop of "you know the people at work are just out to get you" as an added extra. Playing the blame game and allowing others to feed our low self-confidence easily leads to self-destructive paranoia in all aspects of your relationships - business and personal.

You Can Take Control

You can break this vicious cycle. The subconscious mind is a powerful "computer." It can be programed and reprogrammed at will. You do it thousands of times a day. Some of the most powerful tools at your disposal to take charge of what is going on inside your own mind are professionally engineered subliminal message recordings.

Recorded at a frequency too low for the human ear to comprehend, auditory subliminal messages penetrate the sponge of the subconscious mind, sending positive affirmations and suggestions to replace the negative self-talk sabotaging your relationships and goals. Unlike hypnosis, where active attention is required, subliminal recordings can be used in a variety of settings with no effort needed on your part. Generally results are seen in a matter of days.

With our modern understanding of the workings of the human mind and the role of stimuli in guiding our behavior, there is no reason to allow "bad" outdated "programs" to thwart our desire for a fuller, more abundant life. Humans are capable of learning in a wide variety of ways, including at the subconscious level. Complex thought patterns are already at work there, but they may be working against you rather than for you.