A recent University of Copenhagen study revealed that people who are deprived of donating substantial sums of money suffer from various afflictions ranging from sleep disorder to frequent episodes of severe depression. “The study showed test subjects had diminished cognitive abilities during the donation-free period”, said Uschi Znamenak, lead study author. The overall functionality of the body-mind system is decreased by at least 25%.

On the other hand, the study volunteers who were navigated to and allowed to make donations, even people who usually are very careful with spending their salaries slept calmly for eight hours or at least until they felt rested. The control group had no medical or other disorders and expressed no need for medications, nicotine, alcohol or caffeine. Nine of ten excelled in difficult math tests and their physical fitness was evidenced by the fact that five of them completed the Cooper test in less than 10 minutes.

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I used to drive my car around my running route using its odometer to calculate the distance I was running. Since the distance I run varies and is also increasing in length every week using the car’s odometer was sort of overkill. So why are you running and how do you keep track of all sorts of running-related data? Then I heard about runnersworld.com

If you join their site you can keep track of all kinds of running related things. The main thing, for me, was to be able to use google maps to calculate how far I was running. However, signing up on their site was a pain. When I finally succeeded I mapped my run by clicking my mouse at intervals along the road. It told me the total number of miles I had run. Mileage or should I say kilometrage is also available in kilometers which I prefer.

I saved my map and logged out. Later, when I came back to the site to make another map, or rather gloat about the extra distance I was now running, the site refused to recognize me. It told me I did not exist, even though I entered my coordinates a couple of times, fearing typos. Humpf.

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Yesterday marked the beginning of Autumn. I’ve already swapped out the summer clothing and flip-flops in my closet for my favorite Fall sweaters and knee-high boots. I love this time of year.  In fact, I’d be willing to say it’s my absolute favorite Season, except that you’ll hear me say that about Winter, Spring, and Summer too. But for now, it’s all about this fantastic autumn joy!

Since moving to the East Coast, I’ve discovered something very delightful about this time of year. The amazing colors of nature as the season takes root. Already the leaves on the trees in my front yard are beginning to change.

The once perfect green leaves are now turning a stunningly bright red. Looking out the window I notice a burnt orange beauty falling to the ground. There’s a pile of leaves forming which I know my girls will not be able to avoid pouncing in, with uncontrollable squeals of joy in the coming weeks.  And the crisp Fall temperatures. A much-needed break from hot and humid.

And of course, now that I live in Steeler Nation I can’t write about the joys of Fall without mentioning football. Seriously, the people here have a passion for football! There’s no getting around it.  Anywhere we go, football will either be a topic of discussion or will be on TV.

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If you’re anything like me, you love to read. There’s so much that reading can do for us as writers. Reading others’ work can help us hone our craft. We can pick up witty turns of phrase, grammar rules that we weren’t previously aware of, and tips on how to write with real passion.

Above all that, though, we read to learn. Chances are you’re here right now because you’re itching to learn something about freelancing. And I don’t believe that there’s ever a limit to how much you can or should learn.

Except…

…when it gets in the way of taking action. The old saying “Those who can’t do, teach,” takes a little bit of a different spin for us writers.
For us, it reads more like “Those who really really want to do, but don’t feel like we’re quite ready, and maybe just need a little bit more time to work things through, and if we only read this one more blog post then we should be ready to go, but what’s this other recommended post on the sidebar, maybe I’ll just give that a quick… read.”

Continue Reading “The Real Price Of Reading Too Much”

I’ve always been fascinated by change and how people react to change. In today’s crazy world the only constant seems to be change from the international events we see on the news all the way down to how we live.

Change can be seen on one of two ways: The first is that change is a bad thing; it’s scary, a place where the future cannot be predicted, where you are not sure where your place in the world might be. The other is that change is a good thing; it’s a chance to try new things, to move forward and make things better.

The way you think about change will determine your reaction to it and your behavior associated with it. Whether you find change scary or you embrace change, read on, as in this series of articles I will be looking at change and how we can actively prepare for it.

By understanding change, you will be able to be prepared for it. By being prepared for change you will become empowered and by becoming empowered you will be able to take advantage of the opportunities that change brings.

Continue Reading “Make Change, or Change will get you”

So you’ve landed an interview for your dream job, or maybe you’re just looking to revitalize your professional wardrobe. According to a recent Forbes article, you only have seven seconds to make a killer first impression, so you want to make sure you’re making the most of those seconds when it comes to dressing for success.

A general rule for interview attire is to wear a classic, conservative suit in a solid neutral (tan, navy, black or gray) with a solid, color-coordinated blouse. If you’re wearing a skirt, your legs should be covered, so light or tan pantyhose are a safe bet. I understand that not all of us were raised in the same way I was, but please take note of the advice presented here. You’ll need it!

Shoes and accessories say a lot, but don’t overdo it! If you’re uncomfortable in your shoes, your uneasiness will show, so go with heels that are no higher than three inches or wear polished flats. Make sure your jewelry isn’t too flashy—you don’t want to distract from the image you’re trying to convey. The same goes for makeup, perfume, and hair.

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I see it over and over again, people invest valuable time and money in creating a web presence, but sadly enough, they fail to ensure that their website will be listed high in search engines for the desired keywords.

A few years ago it was easy: businesses would design a website, fill it up with nice content and wait for Google to list it, it was as simple as that! But things have come on a long way since then. Today, we website owners need to study the relevant keywords typed in search engines and then adjust the website accordingly.

I’m being told that the key to success is “keyword analysis” and “inbound link building”, the other important factors are reviews and blog posts about your business with links to your website. If your website has no incoming links probably it’s not worth the money.

Digital New Tools 

Creating a brand is probably the most significant challenges for every online marketer or company. But allow me to explain to you that if you will not be branded on the internet, you won’t last for the simple reason that the future is relying on the online world.

Continue Reading “Is your website working for you?”

My daughter Luísa is now on a yellow and white diet. She’s been only eating bread, rice, pasta, chicken, and potatoes. For fruit, she’s all about bananas (some days she will have three – making my nutritional worry be gone for the rest of the day, I can’t really explain this feeling) and apples. And lots of milk that she serves herself to the point it’s just annoying. The colorful exceptions are tomatoes and watermelon.

As monotonous as this looks, it has foods from the main four groups needed every day: cereals and potatoes; fruit and vegetables; milk and dairy foods; meat, fish, and alternatives. I do get stressed about her diet and think she needs more diversity, more colors. What happened to old spinach she used to like?

But somehow I trust her diet, or rather I got tired of trying to make her eat what she doesn’t want.  She manages what goes inside her body in a satisfactory way. She is healthy after all.

Continue Reading “Yellow & White Diet”