In being a resident of the Tampa Bay area since 1979 I have had front line exposure to the highs and (mostly) lows of our local professional football team, the Buccaneers. However, in 2003, for the first time in team history, the Bucs went to the Super Bowl. This was also the first year that the team had John Gruden as their coach.
Coincidence? Probably not.
All you sports fans will remember that it wasn’t until Phil Jackson came to coach the Chicago Bulls that Michael Jordan was part of a championship team.
The difference, again, was the coach.
Every athlete, professional or amateur, has a coach. So do other people of high stature, such as Oprah and Barbara Streisand.
Guess what?…So do I!
However, the difference is that an athlete has a coach for the game, where as Oprah, Barbara and myself have a coach for something much bigger and more important: Life.
Here are three advantages of you having your own personal Life Coach.
- First, your coach wants you to “win”. Your coach is there to totally support you, encourage you, and challenge you to be your best. Your coach wants you to have the greatest life that you possibly can. Your coach is 100% percent invested in your greatness. Your coach will know you like no one else has and because of all this, you and your coach will team-up and create the life that you will love to live.
- Second, your coach will help you to create an effective and fulfilling life plan. Your life plan will give you direction. You will have specific goals to aim for and daily action steps to work yourself towards your goals. With a life plan you are in action to having a fully prosperous life. Your life coach will help you stay on your path and hold you accountable for your highest good.
- Third, your coach will help you see your blind spots. As an outside observer, your coach will be able to see areas of your life that you cannot see. Your coach will “shine a light” into these areas so you may gain insight and awareness. When you have more insight and awareness you can be more proactive and make more successful decisions in life.
An athletic coach has one goal: for the athlete to win. Likewise your life coach is committed for you to have your greatest win: Win in life!
Ken Donaldson has been based in Tampa Bay offering counseling, coaching, and educational programs since 1987. His REALationship Coaching programs empower people to have more successful lives, businesses and relationships by building a powerful relationship with themselves first. Visit his website at http://www.REALationshipCoach.com for more information and sign-up his free e-program Illuminations and Sparks of Brilliance. Ken is also the author of the upcoming book Marry YourSelf First!
Now why in the world do we need insurance?
Back in the good old days when the earth was still flat and we were all living in the same time zone you would have had little knowledge of insurance except for maybe leaving something as insurance for a loan you made.
There is nothing wrong with the concept of insurance, it most certainly has its value in the bigger picture of things.
What is wrong is the way in which many people are bulldozed into signing for insurance policies that they don’t really need or which will not be able to tend their needs once they need it.
As there are many first-class insurance companies out there, there are also the few that are just out to make a quick buck from you creating never ending problems.
Many people spend a large portion of their income on insurance, health, car, household and life to name but a few. There are many others policies that the insurance companies have invented to tend for other events that might occur.
All insurance is hedged against a bet. Unmistakably based on our inherent fear, which is also the sales mechanism for selling insurance.
There is always a fear of the unknown, there where you have not been and for that matter don’t want to go to either. The insurance agent will take you there and explain what it is like and make the fear almost unbearable.
Picture this scenario, you and your wife are sitting in the dining room and directly opposite you is the insurance agent. He is sitting forward and telling you the story of this unfortunate family who failed to take out insurance the day he was there and before they could sign the contracts the unthinkable happened, and now they are stranded with nowhere to go.
You don’t want this to happen to you. This is followed by one or two stories of people, and there are pictures to prove this, who did take out insurance in the nick of time. Your heart goes out to that poor family who now face hardship and turmoil and you are glad for the other families who are now able to make it and move on.
The picture painted in your mind plays with your fear of not knowing what will happen tomorrow and you certainly don’t want something like that happening to you without being prepared.
The agent explains all the benefits you will have if you take out this policy now, and in light of what you have just heard and witnessed with pictures, it not only seems like a good idea, it is an absolute necessity.
The insurance agent then looks at you and your wife waiting for an answer, he does not speak and there is an odd silence. You ask about one or two points, he explains each one perfectly and asks if you have any further questions. You answer no, simply because you actually don’t know any better. He hands you the contract and a pen.
This is nothing more than pure sales, the pitch, overcoming objections and closing the sale.
Yes you can cancel the contract later but this process will probably end up taking an entire day of your time and endless irritation.
The strange thing though is that you are the one betting that something will happen to you, you believe it. The insurance company on the other hand are betting that it will not happen.
This is quite logical if you think of it, how otherwise would the insurance company make a profit? Whether you believe it or not, they are in business to make a profit, as is any other business. So there is nothing wrong with it.
Where you need to be careful however is buying your insurance with emotion. Now this is a contradiction in terms because all purchases are made based on emotion, you might think there is logic involved, but it is a very tiny percentage.
Never sign immediately, take a day or so to review and let your emotions settle, then make the final decision. Also give yourself time to go through the written material, the fine print, very fine print and very very fine print.
It is a major pain in the you know where, but it will give you a good indication of what you will not be getting. Speak to the agent again and clarify all the points you are uncomfortable with and make sure that the policy you are considering is made for you.
Remember fear of the unknown is your biggest enemy. You will not conquer that fear but take time to make you decisions carefully when buying insurance of any kind and don’t get bulldozed into signing a contract that will end up being of no or little value the day you really need it to come through.
For more elements to consider before purchasing any form of insurance visit http://www.first-health-insurance.com
Karl Stadler is an author and internet marketer, who does not sell but pays insurance.
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If you didn’t already know it worked, the concept behind saunas might seem a bit strange: sitting in a wood hut, sweating, with an icy shower to top it off - it doesn’t sound like the most relaxing pursuit. But those Scandinavians know their health treatments. If you’ve never had a sauna, you don’t know what you’re missing.
The Origin of Saunas
The sauna as such is of Nordic origin. But there are similar concepts in many other cultures, including the Turkish hammam and the Native American sweat lodge. That’s probably because the detoxifying properties of sweating are intuitively clear. But there’s also the social and cultural element of it - saunas and their cousins have been around for thousands of years as a method for people to bond and restore themselves in many more ways than the physical. Sweat lodges, for example, became a symbol of Native American resistance against the early settlers and their use was suppressed in proportion to how defiant the tribe was (the Sioux especially got it in the neck).
The practice is taken so seriously in Finland that a Finnish town, Heinola, hosts annual World Championships where the world’s most hardy sweat bathers battle to see who can stay in the fearsome heat of 110 degrees Celsius the longest (the usual temperature is about 80 degrees). Considering how deeply ingrained this pursuit is in Finnish culture it’s probably not surprising that the country has taken most of the titles since the competition started in 1998 (although Belarus has had a look in for the women’s events in recent years).
Built or bought, it could be fun to inaugurate your new room with a party - a popular pursuit in all sauna-loving parts of the world. But be careful, and if you’re having a party limit the booze while sweat bathing. Heat exhaustion can be very dangerous, even lethal, and will be exacerbated by excessive alcohol. That raises the wider issue of safety. There are some golden rules with saunas. Among them are: don’t stay in for too long, particularly if you are not used to them; if it’s a steam bath, don’t put too much water on the coals because excessive steam can scald; don’t wear jewelry while you’re in there; and don’t do it if you’re very tired, or, as we discussed above, have drunk a lot of alcohol.
For more information please visit Guide4Home on the benefits of saunas and steam rooms.
