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Nine Things Successful People Do Differently

2012-01-21T06:00:00.001+07:00

Nine Things Successful People Do Differently
Optimism, grit, and specificity are just three of the qualities that fuel achievement. Harvard blogger Heidi Grant Halvorson explains that and more

Heidi Grant Halvorson

Posted on Harvard Business Review: Februrary 25, 2011 8:58 AM

Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren't sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer—that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others—is really just one small piece of the puzzle. In fact, decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do.

1. Get specific. When you set yourself a goal, try to be as specific as possible. "Lose 5 pounds" is a better goal than "lose some weight," because it gives you a clear idea of what success looks like. Knowing exactly what you want to achieve keeps you motivated until you get there. Also, think about the specific actions that need to be taken to reach your goal. Just promising you'll "eat less" or "sleep more" is too vague — be clear and precise. "I'll be in bed by 10pm on weeknights" leaves no room for doubt about what you need to do, and whether or not you've actually done it.

2. Seize the moment to act on your goals. Given how busy most of us are, and how many goals we are juggling at once, it's not surprising that we routinely miss opportunities to act on a goal because we simply fail to notice them. Did you really have no time to work out today? No chance at any point to return that phone call? Achieving your goal means grabbing hold of these opportunities before they slip through your fingers.

To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance. Again, be as specific as possible (e.g., "If it's Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I'll work out for 30 minutes before work.") Studies show that this kind of planning will help your brain to detect and seize the opportunity when it arises, increasing your chances of success by roughly 300%.

3. Know exactly how far you have left to go. Achieving any goal also requires honest and regular monitoring of your progress—if not by others, then by you yourself. If you don't know how well you are doing, you can't adjust your behavior or your strategies accordingly. Check your progress frequently—weekly, or even daily, depending on the goal.

4. Be a realistic optimist. When you are setting a goal, by all means engage in lots of positive thinking about how likely you are to achieve it. Believing in your ability to succeed is enormously helpful for creating and sustaining your motivation. But whatever you do, don't underestimate how difficult it will be to reach your goal. Most goals worth achieving require time, planning, effort, and persistence. Studies show that thinking things will come to you easily and effortlessly leaves you ill-prepared for the journey ahead, and significantly increases the odds of failure.

5. Focus on getting better, rather than being good. Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important, but so is believing you can get the ability. Many of us believe that our intelligence, our personality, and our physical aptitudes are fixed — that no matter what we do, we won't improve. As a result, we focus on goals that are all about proving ourselves, rather than developing and acquiring new skills.

Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong—abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. Embracing the fact that you can change will allow you to make better choices, and reach your fullest potential. People whose goals are about getting better, rather than being good, take difficulty in stride, and appreciate the journey as much as the destination.

6. Have grit. Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty. Studies show that gritty people obtain more education in their lifetime, and earn higher college GPAs. Grit predicts which cadets will stick out their first grueling year at West Point. In fact, grit even predicts which round contestants will make it to at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The good news is, if you aren't particularly gritty now, there is something you can do about it. People who lack grit more often than not believe that they just don't have the innate abilities successful people have. If that describes your own thinking…well, there's no way to put this nicely: you are wrong. As I mentioned earlier, effort, planning, persistence, and good strategies are what it really takes to succeed. Embracing this knowledge will not only help you see yourself and your goals more accurately, but also do wonders for your grit.

7. Build your willpower muscle. Your self-control "muscle" is just like the other muscles in your body—when it doesn't get much exercise, it becomes weaker over time. But when you give it regular workouts by putting it to good use, it will grow stronger and stronger, and better able to help you successfully reach your goals.

To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you'd honestly rather not do. Give up high-fat snacks, do 100 sit-ups a day, stand up straight when you catch yourself slouching, try to learn a new skill. When you find yourself wanting to give in, give up, or just not bother—don't. Start with just one activity, and make a plan for how you will deal with troubles when they occur ("If I have a craving for a snack, I will eat one piece of fresh or three pieces of dried fruit.") It will be hard in the beginning, but it will get easier, and that's the whole point. As your strength grows, you can take on more challenges and step-up your self-control workout.

8. Don't tempt fate. No matter how strong your willpower muscle becomes, it's important to always respect the fact that it is limited, and if you overtax it you will temporarily run out of steam. Don't try to take on two challenging tasks at once, if you can help it (like quitting smoking and dieting at the same time). And don't put yourself in harm's way—many people are overly-confident in their ability to resist temptation, and as a result they put themselves in situations where temptations abound. Successful people know not to make reaching a goal harder than it already is.

9. Focus on what you will do, not what you won't do. Do you want to successfully lose weight, quit smoking, or put a lid on your bad temper? Then plan how you will replace bad habits with good ones, rather than focusing only on the bad habits themselves. Research on thought suppression (e.g., "Don't think about white bears!") has shown that trying to avoid a thought makes it even more active in your mind. The same holds true when it comes to behavior — by trying not to engage in a bad habit, our habits get strengthened rather than broken.

If you want change your ways, ask yourself, What will I do instead? For example, if you are trying to gain control of your temper and stop flying off the handle, you might make a plan like "If I am starting to feel angry, then I will take three deep breaths to calm down." By using deep breathing as a replacement for giving in to your anger, your bad habit will get worn away over time until it disappears completely.

It is my hope that, after reading about the nine things successful people do differently, you have gained some insight into all the things you have been doing right all along. Even more important, I hope are able to identify the mistakes that have derailed you, and use that knowledge to your advantage from now on. Remember, you don't need to become a different person to become a more successful one. It's never what you are, but what you do.

Provided by Harvard Business Review—Copyright © 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School.

Harvard Business Review February 25, 2011, 12:09PM EST

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/feb2011/ca20110225_479098.htm

What I Know about Authentic Leadership I’m Learning with My Kindergartener

2012-01-21T05:37:00.000+07:00

What I Know about Authentic Leadership I’m Learning with My Kindergartener

Blog: Author: Ethan Yarbrough | Source: HCI | Published: May 27, 2010

My six year old son has a foul mouth. Not most of the time. And not R or X rated; really more PG-13. But he’s six, so I’d still like him to be speaking in G-rated language. Yesterday, though, when his ball bounced into the dog’s water dish he came out with this: “what the h---?” You parents out there can, I’m sure, imagine the shock with which my wife and I reacted to hearing that. And we pounced. Angry, stern language, a tearful time out, a lecture, a warning against doing it again. Never again, he promised.

But then I surprised him with Doritos at dinner. “Oh, what the h---?” Anger, tearful time out, lecture, warning. This time he sat hunched and defeated-looking on the couch while I hammered at him. But even as I did, I knew I wasn’t being honest with him. He hadn’t made up that phrase and they aren’t practicing it as a reading exercise in his kindergarten class. He heard it from me.

And so I changed my message to him. “Let’s have a deal,” I said. “The consequence of that phrase is a time out. If you say it again, time out, no question. But I know you learned it from me, right?” He nodded, tears still in his eyes. “OK, well, that’s bad language and it’s not good if people think our family uses bad language, so I need to learn not to say that too. From now on our deal is that if I say it, I have to go to time out too.” He looked up at me with wide, bright eyes, a smile spreading across his face. Relief and wonder.

I don’t equate employees with children and I don’t think my child is in my employ, but I’m telling you this story now because I believe there’s a lesson in it for anyone who wants to be a more effective leader and it’s a lesson I don’t think I would have learned without my children: you may be tasked with getting certain results out of people; you may be the authority. But the more you are inclined to overtly remind them that you are the authority, the less they’ll be inclined to deliver the results you hope for. You breed more trust and engagement if you make it clear you expect the same from yourself as you do from them and if you empower them to call you on it if you’re falling short.

I was reminded of these ideas by this article in the Harvard Business Review: Discovering Your Authentic Leadership. “Authentic leaders,” the authors write, “realize they have to be willing to listen to feedback – especially the kind they don’t want to hear.” For leaders to know their authentic selves, “requires the courage and honesty to open up and examine their own experiences. As they do so, leaders become more humane and willing to be vulnerable.”

“Vulnerable” is not a word we are usually taught to associate with leaders. But maybe what we’ve always been taught about leaders isn’t as effective as it used to be. Again, from the Harvard Business Review: “Over the past five years, people have developed a deep distrust of leaders. It is increasingly evident that we need a new kind of business leader in the 21st century.” I think it’s helpful to consider the power of surrendering authority sometimes, especially to individuals who don’t typically have any of their own.

With my son, I made the calculated choice that to gain control over the situation, I had to give up control. My intent is not to control the person; it is to encourage the person to control himself. And so I framed the issue not as his failure to measure up to my standard, but as our shared failure to measure up to an organizational standard.

There is a principle I’m sure you’re familiar with that you can identify the leaders in a group by finding the ones willing to speak truth to power. I believe it’s also the case that, as a leader, you have to be willing to give up some power to get the truth. It takes courage for a leader to let go enough to make it a safe environment for employees to speak up. Just as it takes courage for those employees to test that freedom the first time. But as soon as you and the employee both act courageously in pursuit of a shared goal, then you are both leaders. And if success is what you’re after, a community of leaders is what you need.

Now, I know you’re wondering, and the answer is yes, I have been busted since the arrangement. When the Boston Celtics’ Ray Allen dunked around Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic in Saturday’s NBA playoff game I let fly with “the phrase.” And there he was, my son. Hands on his hips, a smile in his firm-set eyes. He raised an arm and pointed to the corner-- “Daddy,” he said. “You know where to go.” And I went. That’s our deal.

As President and Co-Founder of Allyis, Inc., a consultancy focused on the development and adoption of 2.0 technologies and practices within the Enterprise, Ethan Yarbrough is a social computing thought leader and active participant in the Enterprise 2.0 conversation. Via his Emerging Web Memo blog, Tweets, white papers and speaking engagements, Ethan actively drives conversations around how organizations can leverage and prosper from the use of social tools, platforms and cultures inside the firewall to foster knowledge management, collaboration, innovation and contribute to employee morale and retention.

Photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks

http://www.hci.org/lib/what-i-know-about-authentic-leadership-i-m-learning-my-kindergartener

Identifying High Potentials

2012-01-21T05:08:00.004+07:00

Identifying High Potentials
Community: Talent Development Track: The High Performance Organization
Webcast: Webcast Aired: July 28, 2011

Every high potential in your organization likely began their career like any other entry level employee. So, what turned them down the leadership path? Who saw their potential and acted? Organizations spend thousands, even millions, annually to make sure the best and brightest are benefiting from learning, assessments, and robust development programs. Learn what strategies can be used to accommodate organizations as they identify high potential prospects from their first day on the job to their official initiation as a future leader.
Some key questions:
What behaviors set high potentials apart from other workforce segments?
What methods can managers use to help high potential prospects “test the waters” of leadership?

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1)

What is potential? What are the growth factors that identify potential, and specifically, “potential for what?”

Answering these questions is important to determine if organizations have the talent and capability to develop and implement the strategies that will enable success in today’s highly competitive and changing business world. It’s worth noting that:
The ability of leaders to implement one type of strategy may not be the type needed to implement another
Ensuring the right people are in the right roles at the right time to deliver on strategy now and in the future (the essence of Talent Management)

Predicting potential is a high-stakes game. You are not just dealing in specifics such as previous performance record, you are deciding where to place the organization’s bets in investing time and resources to develop future leaders.

2)

Every high potential in your organization likely began their career like any other entry level employee. So, what turned them down the leadership path? Who saw their potential and acted? Organizations spend thousands, even millions, annually to make sure the best and brightest are benefiting from learning, assessments, and robust development programs. Learn what strategies can be used to accommodate organizations as they identify high potential prospects from their first day on the job to their official initiation as a future leader.

Some key questions to answer are:
What behaviors set high potentials apart from other workforce segments?
What methods can managers use to help high potential prospects “test the waters” of leadership?

3)

Growth Factor is defined as: a characteristic of a person that is related to responsiveness to opportunities for leadership development or commitment to seeking professional development. Growth Factors are signs of readiness to take advantage of development opportunities and to stretch one’s capabilities beyond the current set. These factors are more focused on the long-term development of potential rather than immediate results –in fact, depending on the job accountability, the factors may or may not help the person achieve excellent results right now. At entry levels, achievement, analytical thinking, and taking initiative predict performance success better than the Growth Factors.

4)

The final growth factors from Hay Group’s research were:
Supported by observations in coaching and following the careers of many leaders
Agreed on as making sense by the experienced coaches and consultants
Met the original criteria for what makes a good characteristic of potential
Consistent with external academic research*

* Ruth Malloy from Hay Group shared mainstreams of published research underlying work in this topic:
Work by Eliot Jaques and Gillian Stamps on the timespan of discretion
Work by Kurt Fischer’s on measuring cognitive abilities
Emotional Intelligence research summarized by Dan Goleman
Many measures of cognitive abilities (i.e., Watson Glaser, Raven’s Progressive Matrices, etc.)
Competency measurement and the development scalings of those measurements (McClelland, Boyatzis and Spencer & Spencer)
Work by Carol Dweck on growth mindset and fixed mindset; attitudes towards growth and intelligence and their affect on people’s abilities to learn

5)

Outstanding employees score higher than typical employees on the growth factors.
For senior employees the difference is even greater.

6)

A general interest in learning strongly underpins any personal development. It reflects an underlying belief that one’s talents are fundamentally develop-able (as opposed to fixed) and are worth developing for their own sake. An active pleasure in learning and growing greatly enhances the likelihood that the person will make the efforts necessary to develop new competencies as or before they are needed.

7)

Being able to see issues or concerns from diverse viewpoints, thinking them through deeply and seeing less obvious connections to other issues or to other parts of the organization enables people both to understand and to exploit the value of growth experiences. Breadth of perspective becomes increasingly important as future leaders take on larger roles within the organization, and within those roles must invent and execute ways to coordinate with other parts of the organization (and at high levels, with other organizations).

8)

Recognizing and rewarding this ability early on is crucial as our research shows that senior executives are typically less self aware than lower level managers. The ability to listen and accurately understand other people, especially when their perspectives are different from one’s own, helps individuals to learn from others and to do so rapidly, and supports their ability to take feedback from others constructively. In addition, lack of this characteristic is one of the most common “de-railers” for senior leaders.

9)

Personal growth, including the development of leadership skills, is often painful and it is characterized by setbacks or criticism in the process. Individuals who can maintain an even temper, emotional objectivity, and who have effective coping strategies for emotional strain are better able to learn from (rather than defend against) pain. The ability to maintain emotional balance and to be resilient is a prerequisite for learning from feedback. It also supports persistence when in larger roles which are typically more challenging and emotionally difficult.

10)

A variety of factors can throw a development plan off-track. These “derailers” are often unintentional and their source can be the organization, as well as what the individual brings.

11)

Know what you need from people
Start with strategy to define the behaviors needed from key roles

Identify long-term potential through the growth factors
Not just job-specific abilities or current performance

Potential for what?
Distinguish between long term leadership potential and short term job-specific potential.

Fulfillment of potential
Organizations need to take risks to help people grow, promoting development through stretching career moves, coaching and training. This implies minimizing the organization’s complicity in career derailment.

Create enabling systems to effective talent management
rocesses need to help find and promote hidden diamonds and there needs to be mechanisms that inject objective data into the decision making processes around best deployment of talent. Through good talent systems organizations can ensure their people fulfil their potential and thus contribute to the future success of the organization. These systems also need aligning with other levers such as reward.

============================================================================

Ruth Malloy
Managing Director of Transforming Learning
Hay Group, Inc.

Ruth Malloy is Managing Director of Transforming Learning. Transforming Learning provides organizations with research-proven diagnostics, e-learning tools and on-line solutions to develop leaders throughout the whole organization.Ruth joined the Hay Group in 1991, and specializes in the areas of Leadership Transformation, Talent Management and Capability Assessment. She has worked with Fortune 500 companies in various industries including Technology, Financial Services, Food and Beverage and Consumer Goods.

http://www.hci.org/lib/identifying-high-potentials

Driving Performance and Business Results with Collaborative Executive Development

2012-01-21T04:55:00.003+07:00

Driving Performance and Business Results with Collaborative Executive Development
Research: Published: January 16, 2012

This report is the result of an original research study conducted by the Human Capital Institute in partnership with Vistage International Inc. Organizations continue to look for effective ways to make their organizations leaner and more productive, and recent research has suggested that a key ingredient in achieving this kind of success lies in the development of a collaborative and cohesive senior leadership team. In response, this research sought to determine the ways in which C-level executives are developed and understand more about the methods being used today. This research profiles the current state of Executive Development and the impact effective Executive Development has on an organization, including satisfaction with senior leaders.

More than 450 respondents that represent organizations from Fortune 500 companies to small and medium-sized enterprises participated in the 29-item survey. Supplementing that data are several interviews with subject matter experts, who supported the need for collaborative executive development in the C-suite and discussed its effect on business productivity and overall success.
Don't miss these key findings:
Learn what top performing organizations are doing to ensure effective development in the C-suite and discover what benefits they have seen
Read how and why industry leaders and subject matter experts have increased the breadth and depth of Executive Development
Discover what types of executive development methods are most effective at building and sustaining a collaborative leadership model

http://www.hci.org/cfe/library/directories/research

http://www.hci.org/files/field_content_file/2011Vistage_LeadershipV12.pdf

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Ulrich Nettesheim
Lecturer at Haas School of Business
UC Berkeley

Ulrich has a successful track record advising CEOs, Board Chairs, BU leaders and function heads over the past 20 years. He has worked with leaders from organizations of various industries and sizes including start-ups, Fortune 500s in high-tech, financial services, healthcare, CPG and global NGOs. Ulrich is also an entrepreneur having founded two successful businesses in the last 10 years.

Ulrich is currently a lecturer at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business where he focuses on the areas of leadership and high performing teams. He is also working on founding his third start up which will focus on advisory services to senior leaders who have to adapt how they lead to successfully grow businesses. He has Board experience, co-founded Passages Consulting, was a Managing Partner at Mercer Delta Consulting and served as a Head of Strategy at the USC Medical Center in Los Angeles CA.

Ulrich is an Associate of Leaders’ Quest, is a Member of SIOP and the Commonwealth Club and is passionate about transforming education to better prepare emerging leaders in graduate schools in the technical disciplines (business, sciences, engineering, medicine, law, etc.). Ulrich completed his graduate studies at Columbia University, has a wonderful family with two boys, is a huge soccer fan and is an avid student of human nature.

Michael Molina
Chief Human Resource Officer
Vistage

Michael D. Molina has more than 20 years of experience as a HR executive in providing HR and OD strategy to corporate and business groups worldwide. He currently serves as the Chief Human Resource Officer for Vistage International, a worldwide leading CEO organization dedicated to helping executives improve their businesses.

Before that, Michael was the Chief Human Resource Officer for Brahma Technology and the HR Executive Vice President for Advanced Marketing Services, a book distributor, wholesaler and publisher located in San Diego, California. He has also held roles at EquaTerra, Marathon Oil, Mobil Corporation and Gateway, where his experience included functional expertise in HR operations to include call center and shared services, systems implementation, recruitment, training, employee relations, executive compensation, and benefits design and management. Michael was recently named HR Professional of the Year by the San Diego Business Journal and under his direction, Vistage has been named Top 125 Training Organizations and a Best Place to Work winner.

4 key elements of a solid partnership agreement

2012-01-20T04:07:00.000+07:00

January 18, 2012 11:48 AM

4 key elements of a solid partnership agreement
By Jeff Haden

MoneyWatch) Setting up a business partnership is a little like starting a romantic relationship, even though the benefits and perks are different. When love -- or a great small business idea -- is in the air, it's easy only to focus on the positives.

A solid partnership agreement also takes into account a number of "what if?" questions, especially negative outcomes you might prefer to ignore in all the excitement. If the worst does happen, your partnership agreement should protect both you and your partner.

Here are the basic questions every good partnership agreement should answer:

"What if one partner wants to leave?" Exit clauses are standard in partnership agreements. For example, if you want out, your partner may be obligated to purchase your ownership share.

That's the easy part. The tricky part is determining the value of the business when that happens. Business valuation is part science, part art, and different approaches often generate very different results. Whether you agree to use liquidation value; book value; or the income, asset or market approaches, stipulate in your partnership agreement how the business will be valued and whether a third party will conduct the valuation. Then the breakup will be a lot cleaner and less emotional.

"What if one partner dies?" Say your partner passes away. Typically her ownership stake passes to her spouse or children. You automatically get new partners -- new partners you may not want. A buy-sell agreement can allow you to purchase your deceased partner's share, but what if you don't have the money or can't get financing?

There's an easy solution: Stipulate that each partner will carry life insurance sufficient to cover the purchase of the other partner's share. Each partner designates the other partner as beneficiary. Then, if your partner passes away you always have the funds to complete the buy-sell agreement. Just make sure you add additional coverage as the value of your business grows.

"What if one partner wants to change the agreement?" Perspectives change as a business evolves, and partnership agreements can be amended as often as you like as long as all partners agree.

Sometimes one of you might not agree to proposed changes, so stipulate how fundamental disagreements will be resolved: Mediation, arbitration, triggering a buy-sell clause and more. Knowing how a problem will eventually be resolved if you aren't able to agree often makes it easier to work through differences.

"What if we don't agree on major issues?" No matter how well you work together now, misunderstandings, hurt feelings and changing priorities can damage the best relationships. When that happens, falling back on the terms of your partnership agreement can help both of you stay objective.

For example, your partnership agreement may stipulate you are responsible for 60% of the work since your partner provided a greater share of initial capital. If he feels you aren't doing your share, the more clearly you defined what "the work" means in your agreement, the easier it is to determine whether you are in fact pulling your weight. Whenever possible, use hours, numbers, dollars -- quantifiable measurements.

"What if we've already started a business with a partnership agreement?" If the agreement you have is insufficient, it's not too late. (And if you have no agreement at all in place, it's definitely not too late.)

Simply amend your current agreement or create a new partnership agreement. If you feel changes are necessary and your partner does not, explain that your only goal is to eliminate as many potential disagreements as you possibly can.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505143_162-57361062/4-key-elements-of-a-solid-partnership-agreement/?tag=nl.e808

Online—Can’t Prohibit the Bad, Can’t Allow the Good?

2012-01-20T03:58:00.000+07:00

Today's HR Daily Advisor Tip:
Online—Can’t Prohibit the Bad, Can’t Allow the Good?

Topic: HR Policies and ProceduresIs that right? You can’t prohibit employees from saying bad things online, yet you also can’t allow them to say good things? To some extent, that’s true, says attorney Peter Lowe.

Lowe, who is a partner at Brann & Isaacson in Lewiston, Maine, offered his tips at the BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, held recently in Las Vegas. Lowe is a member of the Employers Counsel Network and writes the BLR/HRhero Maine Employment Law Letter.
Can’t Prohibit Saying Bad Things

Employers who want to restrict employees’ negative comments about the employer and its management may run afoul of the National Labor Relations Act, notes Lowe.

Employers need to be careful not to violate employee rights under NLRA, which states:

Employees shall have the right to self-organization … And to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.
—29 U.S.C. § 157

Lowe recommends that policies state:

Nothing in this policy is intended in any way to restrict an employee’s right to engage in any concerted activities under the National Labor Relations Act.

The NLRB General Counsel released a report of social media cases in last year, Lowe notes. Of nine cases dealing with employee use of social media, four were found to be protected communications. All three social media policies challenged were struck down as overbroad.

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Representative Cases

Lowe cites three cases that help employers understand the NLRB rules:

American Medical Response of Connecticut, Inc.

Dawnmarie Souza worked for an ambulance company. She posted ugly and inappropriate comments about her supervisor on Facebook and coworkers commented on her “status.”

After she was terminated, the NLRB filed a complaint against the employer for interfering with concerted activity and declared the company’s social media policy overly broad.

The ambulance company settled for an undisclosed amount of money & agreed to change its policies.

JT’s Porch Saloon & Eatery, Inc.

A bartender complained to his coworker about the bar’s policy of waitresses not sharing tips. He posted in a Facebook conversation with his stepsister that pay sucked, he wasn’t getting a cut of the tips, and that the customers were all rednecks.

No coworkers commented on his post. The bartender was fired for his Facebook posting, and the NLRB upheld the decision, because the bartender had made no attempt to initiate group action.

Karl Knauz Motors, Inc.

A BMW car salesman posted pictures of a BMW sales event on Facebook, mocking food given away at event. He also posted pictures of an accident at a commonly-owned Land Rover dealership. The salesman was fired.

The NLRB determined that the posts about food were protected; however, the posts about the accident were not.

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Can’t Allow Employees to Say Good Things

The FTC has recently cracked down on employees who say good things about a company without identifying themselves as employees, says Lowe. The agency has particularly targeted:

“Flogs” –fake blogs
“Astroturfing”—the posting of seemingly objective customer reviews that are biased

The FTC’s revised guidelines, says Lowe, require disclosure of interest in reviews by:

Employees
Relatives
Giveaway recipients

For example, the FTC took enforcement action against the online PR firm, Reverb. Reverb settled, agreeing to:

Prohibit employees from endorsing client products without disclosing their interest
Remove existing employee reviews that didn’t disclose interest
Distribute a copy of settlement to employees

Lowe recommends that employers’ policies include guidelines for online reviews, blogs, product comments, etc. In particular, policies should:

Set parameters for commentary
Require disclosure of employment relationship
Explain the need for limitations
Offer sample posts or review disclosures

Top 5 Mistakes Leaders Make in Tough Times

2012-01-20T03:57:00.000+07:00

Today's HR Daily Advisor Tip:
Top 5 Mistakes Leaders Make in Tough Times

Topic: E-pinion

Just My E-pinion
By Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE Things getting a little desperate these days? Be careful that you don't do something you'll regret, says guest columnist Eileen McDargh, a professional speaker and business consultant on change management, life balance, and leadership development. Here are her top five management mistakes (plus a bonus).

Mistake #1: Become reactive and reactionary.

There is truth in the old saying, "Respond in haste. Regret in sorrow." When leaders fail to gather information and critically assess the long-term impact of decisions, severe errors are made. Consider the Big Three auto executives who knee-jerked their way on private planes to ask for a handout without ever having a plan. Now that's a bonehead mistake.

Before acting, stop and breathe. Think long-term strategy. Be cautious. Be proactive. Test your decisions by saying, "If this... then this..."
Mistake #2: Huddle with only the corporate folks.

First, answers are often found at the floor level, not at the ceiling. Involve everyone in the search for efficiencies and innovations. Engage everyone in a common vision and mission. How refreshing to have the Obama team now posting discussions on the Internet and seeking input from a variety of people with differing viewpoints. Building transparency goes a long way toward building trust and making us all feel we are part of the solution.

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Mistake #3: Cut. Cut. Cut.

No company has ever downsized its way to greatness. Underserved customers and too much work to be done by too few people are examples of the costs of wholesale terminations. These are cuts that could have been done with a scalpel instead of a hacksaw.

Canceling a meeting? This is the time to gather and candidly talk. Substitute Jell-O for Jamoca fudge and two-buck chuck for filet mignon but bring people together.

As for layoffs—if your organization or department can handle this—bring everybody together and lay out the facts. One very smart leader found that employees were willing to reduce work schedules, work half-time, and job share rather than have members of their team terminated.
Mistake #4: Go after new clients and customers.

Unless your current customers have vanished because of poor quality or service, they can be your best source of new revenue. Ask how you can turn them into champions of what you provide. Make them feel special and valuable. I've noticed that my bank is now making every effort to thank me for my business, to call me by name, to answer any request with a "no problem" attitude. Sure, they should have been doing that all along, but better late than never.
Mistake #5: Do more with less.

In my consulting practice, I have often found that much of the "more" is work that provides no value at the end of the day. Scrutinize every process; get rid of the sacred cows and the egos. Translate every action into a dollar value.

In one organization, we found senior executives tripping over each other to put their two cents into every new PowerPoint® presentation. It was a waste of executive talent, made each project longer than necessary, disempowered the employees creating the presentations, and actually used up some $15,000 worth of senior management time!

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BONUS Mistake: Buy into pessimism.

It's a huge mistake we all make when we let the news of the day drive us to hiding under the covers, chopping up the furniture for kindling, and searching for recipes made with bread and water. What we have is an opportunity to really consider what is most important, to spend time at work that is meaningful, and to nurture relationships that matter. We have an opportunity to reclaim our reputation, our integrity, and our future.

Not to do this would be our biggest mistake.

That's Eileen McDargh's e-pinion. We'd like to hear yours. Share your comments below.

Eileen McDargh's newest book, Gifts from the Mountain, received the 2008 Ben Franklin book award. www.eileenmcdargh.com

40 Metrics—And Nary a One Interesting to Management

2012-01-20T03:53:00.002+07:00

Today's HR Daily Advisor Tip:
40 Metrics—And Nary a One Interesting to Management

Topic: HR Management
"Some HR managers keep 40 or more stats, virtually all uninteresting to their company's executives," says Attorney James P. Greene. He shares his meaningful metrics tips in today's Advisor.

There is no single set of metrics that fits all companies, Greene says. HR managers need to step back and find out what management really needs. You're looking for a few strategic, relevant metrics, he says.

Greene is a member of the Ann Arbor, Michigan, office of the law firm Dykema Gossett, and is director of the firm's Employment Law Department. His tips came at BLR's recent Employment Law Update in Las Vegas.
The Three Levels of HR Metrics

Greene identifies three levels of metrics: personnel, human resources, and human capital management. Only the third level is potentially of interest to top management, Greene says.
Level 1-Personnel

At the first level are control and compliance stats that measure the efficiency of the HR department. Examples of this type of metric are:
Time to fill critical positions
Turnover rates
Absenteeism
Training costs per employee
Cost per employee of wages and benefits

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Level 2-Human Resources

At the next level, things become more qualitative, with stats on service delivery. At this level, HR is measuring the quality of its programs. For example:
Reduction in vacancies
Increased job performance following training
Decreased absenteeism following wellness program

Level 3-Human Capital Management

At the top level, Greene says, you find metrics which measure HR's impact on strategy. These are metrics that are aligned with the organization's strategic goals, and thus are the metrics that will be meaningful for management. For example, such stats might relate to:
Customer base
Revenue/profit
Sales targets
Productivity

Can't Do It Sitting in Your Office

Greene says that the first step is to find out what the company's most important goals and initiatives are. If you can't find out directly from the top, ask to see strategic plans, read reports, and talk to people. "You can't discover what's really important by sitting in your office," Greene says.

Once you know what's important, figure out what you are doing or could be doing to contribute to that goal. And then find a small number of metrics that will help management understand how the things you are doing move their agenda forward.

Don't just look at national data for salary guidance on hundreds of jobs when you can have it specifically for your state and region. It's in BLR's famed Employee Compensation in [Your State] program. Try it on us! Here's how.
Linking HR Practices to Valued Business Outcomes

To demonstrate how a meaningful business outcome relates to an HR deliverable, Greene offers a quick chart.

HR Practice
HR Deliverable
Business Outcome

Recruiting
Vacant positions are filled on a timely basis with quality new people.
Productivity increases achieved by acquiring highly skilled staff.

Improved organizational competitiveness.

Training
A training program is developed for sales personnel.

A training program is delivered on the topic of harassment and discrimination.
Sales increase from the sales personnel who have acquired new skills.

Reduced risk of suits and complaints associated with employment decisions.

In tomorrow's Advisor, we'll see Greene's "gotchas" for HR metrics, and look at a special program for what are probably the most important metrics—compensation comparisons.

'If You Were a Dessert ...' and Other 'Great' Interview Questions

2012-01-20T03:52:00.000+07:00

Today's HR Daily Advisor Tip:
'If You Were a Dessert ...' and Other 'Great' Interview Questions

Topic: Hiring and Recruiting
Yesterday's Advisor focused on proper interview questions. Today, attorneys Sandra Rappaport and Mike Moye tackle more interview challenges, and introduce the key role of job descriptions.

Your interview plan should focus on eliciting information about a candidate's performance and experience, says Rappaport. Use open-ended questions rather than those that simply require a yes or no response. And, Moye advises, stay away from inquiries that could take you off topic. For example, "If you were a dessert, what dessert would you be?"

Mike Moye and Sandra Rappaport shared their tips with attendees at the Employer Resource Institute's recent California Employment Law Update conference. Moye and Rappaport are partners at the San Francisco office of law firm Hanson Bridgett LLP.

Rappaport says employers should make sure managers are trained on the interview plan and ask the same questions of all applicants for the job. With multiple interviewers, plan what area each interviewer will cover.
'The Old Guy in the Wheelchair'

Give managers a question template to follow, along with a score sheet to keep track of applicant responses. (Also, train managers to write only job-related notes on those sheets. No little memory joggers like "the heavy-set Hispanic woman" or "the old guy in the wheelchair.")

The good news is that there's an added benefit to having a consistent plan: You'll have an easier time comparing applicants when it comes time to make your selection decision, and your decision will be readily defensible, should the need arise.
Detailed, Updated Job Descriptions

And, finally, says Rappaport, make sure you have detailed job descriptions, and that you keep them updated. Then you can tailor interview questions to gather the information you'll need to determine whether a job candidate meets the qualifications specified in the job description.

Job descriptions can also be an indispensable aid for ensuring that you comply with a variety of federal and state laws and regulations, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). But your organization will not reap these benefits if your job descriptions aren't properly drafted.

Set that keyboard aside! Your job descriptions are already written. See why thousands have a permanent place in their offices for BLR's classic Job Descriptions Encyclopedia. Try it at no cost or risk.

What's the state of your organization's job descriptions? Up to date? Accurate? ADA-compatible? Good work! However, if you are not so sure that your job descriptions are as well executed as they should be (or if you've never even written them), you're not alone. Thousands of companies fall short in this area.

It's easy to understand why. Writing job descriptions is not quick or easy—what with updating and management and legal review, and accommodating the ADA's requirement of a split off of essential vs. other functions in the description. Wouldn't it be great if they were available, already written?

Actually, they are. We have over 500, ready to go, covering every common position in any organization, from receptionist right up to president. They are in an extremely popular BLR program called Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.

First created in the 1980s, the JDE has been constantly refined and updated over time, with descriptions revised or added each time the law, technology, or the way we do business, changes.

Prewritten job descriptions in the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia come with pay grades already attached. Try the program at no cost. Find out more.
Revised for the ADA, Pay Grades Added

There was a major revision, for example, following the passage of the ADA. In fact, BLR editors took every one of those 500 descriptions apart and reassembled them to be ADA-compliant.

Another, more recent addition was that of pay grades for each job, based on BLR's extensive annual surveys of exempt and nonexempt compensation and on other data. According to our customers, this is an enormous timesaver, enabling them to make compensation decisions even as they define the position. You can see a sample job description from the program by clicking here. (Yes, it is the one for HR manager. Pay grade: 38.)

The BLR Job Descriptions Encyclopedia also includes an extensive tutorial on setting up a complete job descriptions program, and how to encourage participation from all parts of the organization. That includes top management, the employees, and any union or other collective bargaining entity.
Quarterly Updates, No Additional Cost

Very important these days, quarterly updates are included in the program as a standard feature—key at a time of constantly changing laws and emerging technologies. We'll send you new or revised descriptions every 90 days. And the cost is extremely reasonable, averaging less than 66 cents per job description ... already written, legally reviewed, and ready to adapt or use as is.

Office Romance Hypotheticals ... and The Real World

2012-01-20T03:51:00.001+07:00

Today's HR Daily Advisor Tip:
Office Romance Hypotheticals ... and The Real World

Topic: HarassmentOffice romances are one of the biggest legal risks managers can take, says attorney Jonathan Segal. Even when relationships appear to be totally consensual, they're dangerous from a legal standpoint.

Segal, who is one of SHRM's most popular speakers, is a partner in the Philadelphia office of law firm Duane Morris LLP. His remarks came at the SHRM Annual Conference and Exhibition, held recently in Las Vegas.

Segal poses a number of situations and shows how they can be problematic, even though they appear to be benign.
Office Romance Hypotheticals

Example 1. A supervisor and subordinate fall in love, and live happily ever after. No harassment there, says Segal. (Although there could be third party concerns if other coworkers believe that the in-love subordinate is getting special treatment.)

Example 2. The supervisor asks the subordinate out, the subordinate says no, and the supervisor says, That's cool, and the two work together synergistically and effectively and stay friends ever after. No harassment there.

"But now let's leave fiction," Segal says.

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Example 3. In the real world, when a supervisor asks a subordinate out and the subordinate says, "No" the supervisor says, "Oh, come on, the way you look at me, let's go out." Is there a problem now? Segal asks. Yes, because "No means No."

The issue here is authority. The subordinate is concerned about the authority the supervisor has over him or her. The subordinate knows that the supervisor determines his or her economic destiny.

Here's what actually happens, says Segal.

Example 4. The supervisor asks the subordinate out. The subordinate thinks, "You repulse me. I'd rather swing from a meathook with pins in my eyes." But the subordinate says, "I'm busy."

The supervisor hears, "She wants me. She wants to go out, it's just that she has other plans." So the supervisor asks again. The subordinate is still busy.

Eventually (we hope) the supervisor figures it out. But the damage is done. The next time something adverse happens to the subordinate, he or she can claim, "It's retaliation for not going out with my supervisor."

Example #5. The supervisor asks a subordinate out on a date, the subordinate says no, and the supervisor never asks again.

There's no problem, says Segal … until:
The subordinate doesn't get a raise
The subordinate is fired
The subordinate is demoted

Whatever reasoning is advanced for the adverse action, the subordinate may claim that "The real reason was because I said no to the request for a date. It's quid pro quo harassment."

Train your line managers with BLR's 10-Minute HR Trainer. There won't be time for classroom boredom. Try it for free.

Example #6. The supervisor asks a subordinate for a date. The subordinate says yes, they fall in love and they know it will last forever. Any problem?

No, until it falls apart and they hate each other's guts, Segal says. But say they do stay in love. There's still the potential for a hostile environment claim if the behavior creates an uncomfortable environment.

Bottom line, says Segal, when a supervisor asks a subordinate for date, there's a risk. Just by asking, you're giving the subordinate a club that he or she may later use against you.

To avoid legal troubles, says Segal, at a bare mimimum:

Educate managers on risks they take by attempting to date or dating.
Develop some sort of reporting procedure—if you wish to date, talk to HR.
Hope they get married. Once the couple goes down the aisle, the risks are a lot lower. It's hard to claim unwelcome after you're married.
Develop a conflict of interest policy. Officers who have direct or indirect influence can't date or attempt to date someone on their organization chart.

What you don't want to do is do nothing, says Segal. To greenlight workplace dating is to expose your organization to substantial risk.

In tomorrow's Advisor, three women and a man discuss sex, plus an introduction to a unique 10-minutes-at-a-time training system.

5 questions to ask yourself to know if you're on the right track financially

2012-01-19T22:54:00.001+07:00

Ask yourself these questions and you’ll know instantly if you’re heading in
the right direction…

• Are you better or worse off than you were five years ago?
• Has your net worth grown or shrunk - or are you saying “what net worth?”
• Have you been able to pay down or pay off your debt … or is it continuing
to climb?
• Do you have more or less fre.e time for yourself or to spend with your family
and friends?
• Did you know that there is a secret to becoming financially fre.e sooner rather
than later?
No matter what you answered here’s your chance to make massive changes and
position yourself for wealth in 2012.

T. Harv Eker is gifting you complimentary tickets to the special edition Millionaire
Mind Intensive - and the MMI is coming to a city near you.
To access your complimentary ticket
go here >> www.millionairemindintensive.com/thanks/#register

Harv designed this Special Edition program to deliver on four key objectives:
• How to earn large amounts of money right now
• How to invest your money right now
• What to do in your business or your job right now
• What kind of mindset you need to succeed right now
If you’re serious about your financial future then grab your complimentary ticket
to the Special Edition Millionaire Mind Intensive now.

Simply click the link below and register now, for an MMI in the city of your choice.
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To your success

Peak Potentials

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THE SEVEN C’s OF SUCCESS by Brian Tracy

2012-01-18T05:17:00.003+07:00

THE SEVEN C’s OF SUCCESS by Brian Tracy

After having studied top achievers and peak performers over the past 35 years, I’ve concluded that these unique men and women, have in most cases, mastered what I call the Seven C’s of Success.

Clarity: Eighty percent of success comes from being clear on who you are, what you believe in and what you want.

Competence: You can't climb to the next rung on the ladder until you are excellent at what you do now.

Constraints: Eighty percent of all obstacles to success come from within. Find out what is constraining in you or your company and deal with it.

Concentration: The ability to focus on one thing single-mindedly and see it through until it's done takes more character than anything else.

Creativity: Flood your life with ideas from many sources. Creativity needs to be exercised like a muscle; if you don't use it you'll lose it.

Courage: Most in demand and least in supply, courage is the willingness to do the things you know are right.

Continuous learning: Read, at the very least, one book a week on business to keep you miles ahead of the competition. And just as you eat and bathe, organize your time so you spend 30 minutes a day exploring email, sending messages, going through websites, because like exercise, it's the only way you can keep on top of technology. If you get away from it, you'll lose your edge.

http://www.yoursuccessstore.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=1665&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.yoursuccessstore.com%2findex.php%3fmain_page%3dpage%26id%3d1665&utm_campaign=The+Seven+C's+of+Success

THE SEVEN C’s OF SUCCESS by Brian Tracy

2012-01-18T05:17:00.001+07:00

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR DAY!

2012-01-18T05:14:00.001+07:00

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR DAY! by Paul J. Meyer

When was the last time you complained that you had too much time on your hands? You probably cannot remember that far back. The truth is that most of us cannot squeeze into a 24-hour period all the items written on our daily planners. A common mistake most people make is to attempt to find time instead of making time!

How do you MAKE time?

FIRST, define your most important goals:

A burning desire to reach a specific goal motivates you to make time to take the required actions.

Write down specifically how you will use extra time. Will you spend it making personal calls, three-way calls, attending training meetings, making new contacts?

SECOND, chart your time:

Note how you spend each hour. Most time is wasted, not in hours, but in minutes. A bucket with a small hole in the bottom becomes just as empty as the one that is deliberately kicked over.

THIRD, organize your time to plug the time leaks:

Assume the attitude that every minute that does not work for you, works against you.

To make the most of your time, try these proven time savers:

► Examine the usual daily interruptions. See how many you can eliminate immediately, screen out, or delegate. Set aside a specific time for phoning people on your prospect list, making presentations, keeping up with the detail part of the job, attending training meetings, reading, sending emails and making phone calls. These designated time blocks do not always work; emergencies occur, demanding flexibility in scheduling. But when you have a plan for organizing and investing your time, that extra hour of time each day will be available.

► Analyze your energy cycle. Determine when you tend to be at your best physically and mentally. Schedule challenging tasks during those times of peak performance and you will accomplish more in less time. I have more energy in the morning hours than I do in the afternoon hours, so I have always made the majority of my phone calls for sales appointments first thing in the morning. For some people it is just the opposite. They are evening people and work better in the evenings.

► Think about time the way you think about money. The more wisely you invest time, the greater the yield. Before you invest time in a given activity, ask yourself, "Is there something more profitable I could be doing?" And remember, making face-to-face contacts and presentations will ALWAYS be the most profitable thing you can do!

Make the most of your life by making the most of every minute, every hour and every day!!

==========================================

Personal Development

“Practice the philosophy of continuous improvement. Get a little bit better every single day.” —Brian Tracy

“No one limits your growth but you. If you want to earn more, learn more. That means you’ll work harder for a while; that means you’ll work longer for a while. But you’ll be paid for your extra effort with enhanced earnings down the road.” —Tom Hopkins

“Read books, listen to tapes, attend seminars—they are decades of wisdom reduced to invaluable hours.” —Mark Victor Hansen

“Income seldom exceeds personal development.” —Jim Rohn

“Make education a continuing, never-ending process.” —Nido Qubein

“Meaningful success needs a very personal definition. It is built from the inside out. The success of others has nothing to do with your own success.” —Denis Waitley

Know Your Innate, Natural Talents

2012-01-18T05:09:00.000+07:00

Know Your Innate, Natural Talents by Lisa Jimenez

You have all you need to make your life work. Look to your natural talents to guide you in life. You know those things you do so well that you don’t even have to think about it. It is those abilities that come naturally to you that will help you build your confidence in other areas of your life. Begin with your strengths! Too many times people focus on what they need to work on – their weaknesses. And get burned out. How much better it is to begin with your talent. Your God-given talents can give you the courage to bridge over to the areas you need
work on.

Do you even know your innate talents? Can you name seven of them in less than a minute? Try it. Take a minute right now to list seven innate abilities you have.

I bet if I asked you to name seven things about you that you need to improve, you would come up with all seven in seconds! What’s wrong with this picture?

Rethink how you think! Okay. Now, write down seven one-word positives about you. What are you just naturally good at?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Are you using those talents every day – in work, at home, in your relationships? If not, why not? You are missing out on a powerful process of building courage, cultivating faith and conquering fear!

Know Your Innate, Natural Talents and Use Them Every Day!

Get started now planning your 2012 with the assistance of one of today's preeminent experts in the field of personal development, goal-setting and success achievement. Take advantage of a 12-week online training program based on the principles in Darren Hardy's best-selling book, The Compound Effect.

The Day Your Life Will Change for Good!

2012-01-18T05:07:00.000+07:00

The Day Your Life Will Change for Good! by Chris Widener

Many people long for a better life. In fact, I think it is innate to humans to desire a better life. Wherever we are at, we look beyond and dream of a better place. That is good, and that is not so good. It is good because the dream is alive and we can see, even if it is far off, a better situation for us, our families and our businesses and communities. So why is it not good? It is not good because it is not yet a reality! A dream is no good if it is only a dream. Sure a dream can make you feel good, but long-term, if you don't pursue it and make it a reality, it will cause you frustration more than anything. But there is hope!

I'm talking about the day your life really changes. The day that your dream begins to become a reality, and not some pie in the sky wish. This is the day life turns around for you, the day things begin to get better and you begin to fulfill your purpose, mission and destiny! When is this day?

It is the day you make a decision!

The key to changing your life is to make a decision, and then to act upon it. And once acted upon, to follow-through consistently until your dream becomes a reality.

So the decision is the key? Yes it is. Every dream begins as a thought. "I would love to have my own business, to be free to run my life and earn as much money as I want to and take as much vacation time as I want." Good dream, isn't it? Probably a dream that most of us have. But there it is, a little electrical impulse bouncing around inside our head. Does that do us any good? Only if it becomes action! And it only becomes action if we make a decision.

Let's carry this example out. What are the decisions to be made here? Well, there are a few I can think of. One would be to quit your job. You can't go into business for yourself until you quit your job (or your current boss will be quite upset!). Decide to do it and schedule an appointment with him or her. Walk in and quit! Another decision is to go get your business license. Schedule the time, go get the papers, fill them out, pay the money and register with the state. Bingo, you're in business!

You must decide what you must do to make your dream a reality.
Then you must act upon those decisions. If you do not act, your dream becomes a pipe dream, a non-reality.
When you have acted, you must follow through. Continue to follow your plan, day by day, carrying your dream to completion.

Here is a practical exercise to get you moving:

What is your dream? It could be in any area of life: Work, family, finances, health etc.
What is a decision you have to make to get yourself MOVING in the right direction? This should be action oriented not philosophical in nature. For example it should be "I am going to resign on March 1st," not "I've decided that being in business for myself would be more fulfilling." That is an idea, not a decision.

Next, pick a day you are going to do it. Pick a time. Be specific.
Next, do it!
Next, begin the process of continually following-through.
Next, enjoy yourself; you are pursuing your dream! It may be hard but it will also be the most fulfilling and rewarding time of your life!

"The history of free men is not written by chance, but by choice - their choice." Dwight D. Eisenhower

Decide, Act, Follow-through. The day you do will be the day you change your life - for good!

http://www.yoursuccessstore.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=1673&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.yoursuccessstore.com%2findex.php%3fmain_page%3dpage%26id%3d1673&utm_campaign=The+Day+Your+Life+Will+Change+for+Good

The 4S of Business Life

2012-01-07T16:21:00.002+07:00

The 4S of Business Life

The 4S of business life is something every business might or might not go through. The 4S of business life are survive, strive, succeed, and superstar. Upon reaching each business life, they must innovate and rise in order to get to the next. If you understand the 4S of business life, you would understand your current business situation.

The first business life is survive, this is where the business needs to make ends meet. Usually, the business would be operated by one person or through partnerships who had prepared to venture in a business. During this phase, the business is at a delicate point where the business would either take off or drop depending on planning, determination, resources and etc….

The second business life is strive, where the business starts to take shape and is struggling to succeed. In this stage, the employees are the company’s best asset and everything they do will affect the business. These employees are the lifeblood of the company.

The third business life point is succeed, this is the point where the business just takes off overnight after years of striving. This is the point where the business starts recruit talents in order to fulfill the heavy demands of the business. The business gets to breathe easier and is making great profits.

The fourth and last business life is superstar, this is where the business had succeeded in its goals and has become one of the top leaders in their respected industry or niche. The business has many employees and the profits are huge. The business is basically in a golden age of prosperity. The business must continue to innovate and expand in order to grow and keep its business life.

It is naïve to think that once a business is at the top that it will continue to stay that way. A business may eventually fall and then rise again depending on the CEO, business, events, trends, conditions, opportunities and etc… The 4S of business life (survive, strive, succeed and superstar) is a life cycle of the business.

http://marketingdeviant.com/the-4s-of-business-life/

New Year’s Evolutions

2012-01-05T21:15:00.001+07:00

New Year’s Evolutions
Issue 540 | January 4, 2012
By Lorrie Lykins

So here we are at the start of a new year, slogging through the inevitable (and often tedious) year-in-review retrospectives and forecasts for 2012. But, let’s be honest – how much do those forecasts really affect your life?

We get it – looking ahead requires perspective in terms of where we’ve been and what we’ve learned so far, but too often forecasters merely jump on the most recent bandwagon. We know from experience that sustained high performance is synonymous with, among other things, being ready for change – and having a degree of insight into what’s around the corner doesn’t hurt.

It’s easy to predict that new challenges await all of us – but research and experience clearly shows that organizations best positioned to seize upon and leverage the strategic advantage of the next best practice, and that continue to foster a culture of innovation, are the successful organizations. So what does all that really mean – what should we in HR be thinking about and how can we support innovation and growth that will help kick our organizations into high gear in 2012?

Start by making a commitment to embracing the sometimes complex, but high-value strategic work recent human capital research has demonstrated is critical for success. Here’s a rundown based on i4cp’s 2011 research of just a few of the issues we think are important for organizational success in 2012 and beyond:

EBHR

One of our favorite quotes of 2011 came from the SVP of HR at one of our member companies. To paraphrase, he said “Historically, HR has done a horrible job of leveraging data to its advantage, certainly when compared with sales, marketing or other strategic functions.” This sentiment sums up why the subject of Evidenced Based Human Resources (EBHR) has risen so dramatically in popularity.

John Gibbons, i4cp’s VP of Research, defines EBHR as “Simply, the use of human capital analytics and scientific standards of causation to build a case for how people management practices drive operational and financial performance of the business.” Many seasoned HR professionals are embracing evidenced-based decision-making and resisting the urge to avoid it because it’s perceived to be too complicated, too costly, too critical or just another fad. More organizations are using evidenced-based approaches to measure and manage talent, and this practice is serving as a competitive advantage – not only in terms of how they compete for, engage and retain talent, but as a competitive lever for the organization as a whole. Employees are the most important asset in most organizations, and EBHR increases the financial contributions HR makes to business by effectively leveraging that asset.

Gibbons recommends two initial and simple steps for implementing EBHR: ensure the HR team understands the most important measures used in the enterprise and keep the first project(s) small. Bottom line, you don't need to tackle everything at once, but ignoring EBHR could be a fatal management mistake. If you missed it, check out John’s webinar on EBHR for more information.

Performance management

It became somewhat popular in 2011 to suggest that eradicating the performance appraisal process is what should happen in order to improve the culture. Our research suggests something far different – top organizations more often perfect and leverage the PM process to gain a strategic advantage.

If that’s the case, why does the term performance management evoke so much criticism? Why do so many of us, even the owners of PM, dread it as something to be tolerated at best? If your organization’s approach to PM needs to be re-tooled, familiarize yourself with i4cp’s Performance Management Playbook: Tools and Techniques for Managing Performance. This playbook addresses the fundamental programs and philosophies used by top companies, and expounds on the ideas organizations should consider in building a best-in-class PM program that is strategic, well-understood and expertly executed. It also examines some of the key findings from two i4cp surveys on the topic, and features real world strategies and approaches currently in practice in leading organizations worldwide.

For example, forced ranking and forced distribution has seen a significant decline in high-performing organizations. Why? Mainly because these systems are often “gamed” by managers rather than being applied properly and producing real results. That doesn’t mean it isn’t appropriate for some corporate cultures, but understanding what types of culture are right for these practices is critical to ensuring performance management success.

Contingent workers

The four-year, stomach churning roller coaster that has been the global economy has brought about a great deal of change in approaches to staffing and as a result, the demand for contingent workers has increased. Our research on the use of contingent workers found that now more than ever, there is a demand for agility as well as acumen on several fronts – workers and executives must be equipped with core competencies such as critical thinking, effective communication, creativity and innovation.

Organizations must be able to expand and contract the workforce as needed and knowing how to do that without losing efficiency and effectiveness is critical. This means striking that critical balance of deploying and managing contingent workers strategically while also keeping permanent employees engaged. This is much easier said than done, but our report, The State of the Contingent Workforce, which was featured in the Wall Street Journal, offers insights into road-tested strategies being employed by some of our members.

Embracing technology (when it makes sense)

Like the fallacy that humans use just a small percentage of our brain capacity (so not true!) leaving our full potential untapped, we seem to easily fall into the same line of erroneous thinking regarding new, innovative technology. Take the ubiquitous smartphone for example. In i4cp ’s research in partnership with ASTD we found that just-in-time, always-in-context learning can save a company a tremendous amount of money while improving productivity.

But questions arose too – do content owners need to develop a mobile application for every piece of content they create? If so, does there need to be versions that run on iPhones®, Android®, BlackBerrys® and Windows® phones (among others)? What about tablets? Are there authoring or content creation tools that make this easy? How do we manage all of this – through our existing Learning Management System (LMS)? These and other issues are tackled in our research, and as is often the case, high-performing organizations take a different path than their low-performing counterparts.

Speaking up, even when the news isn’t great

The very basic foundation of an effective HR strategy is a culture that supports all levels of employees in an organization. This is often achieved through effective, coherent internal communication. i4cp’s research on communication, highlighted in our Effective Internal Communications Report, found that high-performing organizations know that internal communications must be strategic in addition to being tactical – they use internal communications to deliver higher level information, including policy changes, company successes, company financials and even pay-for-performance information, while lower performers view it as a vehicle for delivering emergency, crisis and safety information.

There are, of course, myriad issues and concerns beyond these that keep all of us up at night. While the uncertainty of what lies ahead is the one thing we all have in common, the ability to deal with our constantly evolving roles with confidence based on evidence, facts and research will help us sleep a little more soundly.

To all of our i4cp member organizations, thanks for a productive and profitable 2011 – we’re looking forward to even higher performance in 2012.

Lorrie Lykins is i4cp's Managing Editor and Director of Research Services. She has been engaged in the study of human capital management since 2002 and has published widely to include authoring a chapter in the ASTD Leadership Handbook (2010) and publishing feature articles and editorials in various journals and magazines. Her work at i4cp has been featured in both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. She is an adjunct professor at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL.

http://id.mc774.mail.yahoo.com/mc/welcome?.gx=1&.tm=1325769642&.rand=8hdj7rrs8sg41#_pg=showMessage&sMid=42&&filterBy=&.rand=615804856&midIndex=17&mid=1_37440044_AFJUsbcAAKW9TwSTygSxa1AlFqU&fromId=newsletter@us.i4cp.com&m=1_37445632_AMFUsbcAAKyuTwSakQzetVQuCsI,1_37444457_AFNUsbcAARxJTwSXRg3FQ1eNflM,1_37443219_AMFUsbcAAETrTwSUfQpeQBJJv0o,1_37442216_AMBUsbcAAKjgTwSUbQ7FG0AAFHg,1_37441061_AMBUsbcAAJu4TwSUCAGt8yHs2Ec,1_37440044_AFJUsbcAAKW9TwSTygSxa1AlFqU,1_37437674_AFNUsbcAANjjTwSTmg0%2BzR5OqM8,1_37438943_AFJUsbcAAKbMTwSTrAeFNSBNjD4,1_37436438_AMBUsbcAAIR4TwSSWQOKinOCvu0,1_37435210_AMFUsbcAACD8TwSSEgccIwB5oqY,1_37434199_AFJUsbcAAGnNTwSP%2FwyVEQpKPHY,&sort=date&order=down&startMid=25&hash=6677a7687f0a75c36cc3c56e2867ce8b&.jsrand=7310616

10 Things the Top Consultants Do

2012-01-05T20:56:00.000+07:00

10 Things the Top Consultants Do

By Michael W. McLaughlin, Contributing Editor

Every now and then, it's good to remind ourselves of the basics. I don't mean the fundamentals of sales and marketing, critical as they are, but the essential behaviors that separate the best consultants from everyone else.

For all that's been said about making a career in professional services, one thing is clear: we all take unique tacks as we navigate our careers. And, like me, you've probably seen the most improbable people thrive in this business, including some who are minimally talented, egotistical, or anti-social. Others who seem perfectly suited for the work flame out.

For those who do well over the long run, I've found that 10 basic behaviors set them apart from the pack. I know there are others, so feel free to tell me your ideas.

1. Keep Your Own Counsel

The most successful consultants are decidedly independent thinkers. I don't have empirical evidence for this, but I'd guess that they reject (or modify) about half of the advice they get from others.Improve Professional Services Sales
What Top Rainmakers Do that You Probably Don't

Top Traits of Successful Salespeople

They're wary of people who tell them how to dress, what pen to use, and how to determine who in an organization can (or can't) make a buying decision. They consider all of the advice they get with a healthy dose of skepticism, and subject everything to a reality check.

2. Generate Ideas When They Matter Most

By now, we've all heard the echoing message that the path to winning in consulting is being a so-called thought leader. That label is so pervasive that it's lost all meaning. And, according to studies, much of the material claimed as thought leadership isn't particularly thoughtful or worth following.

We should all spend time thinking about the "next big thing" and what the future holds. But what clients really want is practical and workable ideas—just when they need them. That's what you should focus on: creating ideas and alternatives that clients can use to address the issues they face right now, even if those ideas don't aspire to the lofty status of thought leadership.

The timing of your ideas, whether big or small, is what makes the difference for your clients.

3. Aim for Share of Mind

It's always unsettling to hear service providers talk about their plans to snag as large a share as possible of a client's consulting budget. Once they create a revenue target to secure a specific "share of wallet," the result is a not-so-subtle, undesirable shift in their mindset.

Instead of concentrating on the client's goals, their revenue goals take center stage. That puts selling first and client service second. If achieving a revenue goal drives your thoughts and actions, clients eventually sense this and the barriers go way up.

You should look for innovative ways to open clients' minds before asking them to open their wallets.

4. Forget the Metaphors

If you've been around this business for long, you've probably heard someone refer to selling as a hunt or use other inane metaphors to describe a sales effort. In that sort of thinking, a sales opportunity is a chase or a game, and clients are the prize.

The language of sales is full of such counter-productive language. I've heard a seller describe his company's sales strategy as "you eat what you kill." Another referred to a prospective client as a "wallet with legs." We have "hunters" and "farmers." The list goes on and on.

Hopefully, few people probably really view clients as prey, but words affect our thoughts and behavior. So if those metaphors get into your head, don't be surprised if clients keep you at arm's length. You'd do the same if someone treated you as if you had a target on your back.

Successful consultants think about serving clients, not hunting them. They facilitate problem solving instead of farming. They think of revenue generation for their businesses as shared value with clients, not as a win-lose game.

5. Commit to the Art of Consulting

Every successful consultant is a subject matter expert in something. The really great ones have also mastered the process of consulting.

Most people can define and manage a project, but that's hardly enough. Consulting is most often about the nuances of creating influence when you don't have authority, leveraging the skills of others who may not support what you're doing, and speaking with total candor when it's not in your self-interest to do so.

Every discipline is part art and science. The leading consultants commit to mastering both.

6. Be Confident without Arrogance

Few clients will hire (or follow the advice of) a consultant who doesn't possess that intangible ability to set people at ease. Your confidence communicates to clients that things are going to work out.

More than a few consultants, though, have found that their confidence can get the better of them. They've taken on work that stretches beyond the boundaries of their capabilities. Usually, the result isn't pretty.

There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance, which the best consultants recognize and respect. They know when to back off. If you're tempted to venture into unfamiliar project territory, check your justification for doing it. Are you being confident or arrogant?

7. Be Transparent Before Clients Ask

The best consultants know that what may seem trivial to them can be a deal-breaker to a client. For instance, you may have partnerships, affiliate agreements, and other financial arrangements that are a small part of your business. But in your client's view, these relationships could be a big problem.

Maybe you get a finder's fee for introducing others to your client. Or you might receive a commission if you recommend a specific product or system.

Be direct with your clients about anything that may influence your opinions. And do it early in the client relationship. You'll find that it's far simpler to prevent misunderstandings by making early disclosures.

8. Reject the "Under-Promise and Over-Deliver" Ploy

You'll hear consultants suggest a strategy of deliberately under-promising what they'll deliver to a client so they can exceed the understated expectations when a project wraps up.

You shouldn't have to stoop to this tactic, which is manipulative, cynical, and self-focused. If you find ways to bring extra value to clients along the way, that's great. But deliberately understating what you'll deliver is worse than foolish.

Be honest with your clients about what you can and will deliver. Collaborate on an expected result and make it happen. If the agreed-on value of the project is high, you'll cement the client relationship by meeting that expectation.

9. Start Strong to Finish Ahead

Lots of people will tell you that what's important is how you finish, not how you start. Of course, the end result of a project matters, but it's a lot less painful to finish a project if you do a good job launching it.

Once you sell a project, everyone is antsy to get going. But before you do, be certain that you and your client are clear about objectives, scope, work plan, and fee arrangements. Then, clarify how you'll work together, who will have responsibility for specific tasks, and how you will define "done."

And don't forget to agree on how you'll disengage and how you'll know if and when you have met the client's expectations.

10. Be Collegial (to Everyone)

Most consultants are good at managing their relationships with client decision makers and influencers. But some fail miserably when they work with support staff and even with colleagues. We've all got a story or two about insensitive consultants running roughshod over anyone they considered to be beneath them.

Ours is a high-touch, human relations business. Every person, regardless of level or status, deserves to be treated with respect. And, as a consultant, you can succeed only if people willingly follow your lead.

>> Did you find this article helpful? Vote for it in RainToday's Readers' Choice Award for January 4.

Michael W. McLaughlin is a Principal with MindShare Consulting, LLC, a firm that creates innovative sales and marketing strategies for professional services companies. He is the author of Winning the Professional Services Sale and coauthor of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants. His newsletters, Management Consulting News and The Guerrilla Consultant, reach a global audience. Before founding MindShare Consulting, LLC, he was a Partner with Deloitte Consulting, where he served clients and mentored consultants for more than two decades.

http://www.raintoday.com/pages/7872_10_things_the_top_consultants_do.cfm

UNTIL IT SNOWS By Bob Perks

2012-01-03T21:57:00.000+07:00

MY FRIDAY STORY

UNTIL IT SNOWS
By Bob Perks

I love the quiet snow brings. My world is loud and busy.

Until it snows.

I love the pure, white satin finish snow brings. My world is dusty, dirty
and very dull since summer faded leaving me longing for rose
colored days and lilac scented nights. Its stays that way too long.

Until it snows.

I love the peace that snow brings. It makes me stop and think
about peaceful things. My world is not peaceful.

Until it snows.

I love the memories that snow brings. I see the joy of Christmas in
the falling flakes and hear the laughter of children in the piling up of
snow. My world needs joy and laughter more. It lacks so much.

Until it snows.

I love the contrast that snow brings. We get so spoiled with rainbows
and flowers. We are bombarded with images, and flashing, brilliant,
sparkling lights. Black, white, brown and gray limit us and force us to
find the beauty in simple things. My world is overwhelming.

Until it snows.

I love the "slow" that snow brings. Rushing here and going there
never really gets me anywhere. My life is hurried, rushed and moving
too fast through drive thru windows, passing lanes, speed check outs
and express, priority mail.

Until it snows.

Yes, I take so much for granted and lose myself in having too
many choices. In my wanting more of life, I find what I have to
be too much and not enough at the same time.

Until it snows.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bob's signature story, "I Wish You Enough," has been released by Thomas Nelson Publishers and features a collection of his stories based on the eight wishes expressed in the original story. His inspiring true stories are based on the people he meets in his travels. Bob's unique perspective on life makes him "the philosopher of everyday moments." For more information visit his website at: http://www.IWishYouEnough.com or email Bob your comments to: perksblog@hotmail.com

AsAManThinketh quotes

2012-01-03T21:55:00.002+07:00

It's not whether you get knocked down,
it's whether you get back up.

-Vince Lombardi

---------------------------------------------
Happy New Year from MyDailyInsights

Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.

~ Groucho Marx

=================================================

The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.

~Theodore Roosevelt

-------------------------------------------------

"There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them."

Denis Waitley said that and it may mean more right now than at any other time in our lifetime.

There's no doubt about it...

Things continue to be tough for many people right now, and with the current world economic conditions they may be getting even tougher.

But that's EXACTLY why today, more than ever, you need a little something extra. You need an edge... you need an advantage unlike anything you've ever had before.

--------------------------------------------------------

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

~The Dalai Lama

------------------------------------------------------

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.

~Aristotle

-------------------------------------------------

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

~ Epictetus

---------------------------------------------------

What color underwear did you wear on New Year's Eve?

2012-01-02T05:57:00.000+07:00

(CNN) -- What color underwear did you wear on New Year's Eve?

Your choice may say something about your culture and your hopes for 2012 -- as might whether you decide to ring in the new year by smashing dishes, respectfully bowing to your elders or feasting on everything from cabbage to sticky rice soup to black-eyed peas.

As they do every December 31, revelers around the world spent Saturday-into-Sunday ushering in the new year in distinctive ways. One of the most common was by watching fireworks light up the nighttime sky, though this was just one of many ways people found to celebrate and do all they could to ensure that the next 12 months proceed as they wish.

And yes, underwear is one way to state your intentions -- at least in many South American countries, including Brazil and Argentina.

If you wore yellow, that supposedly enhances your chances for abundance and reaping in more money. If it was red, then you'll more likely find love in 2012. And if you were sporting white underpants, preferably new and clean, then peace was your top priority for the coming year.

One New Year's theme that resonates across borders, ages and ethnic groups is feasting on foods in an effort to boost your prospects for the future. But the menu varies from place to place.

Cabbage represents money and sauerkraut is for living a long life for some of Northern European ancestry, for instance. People in Spain and many Latin American countries down 12 grapes, one each to "guarantee" a month of happiness. In parts of the American South, year-round favorites black-eyed peas, ham and collard greens carry special importance over the New Year's holiday.

People in the nation of Georgia don't count on a chef for good luck. Rather, they rely on the first person to come through their home's door after midnight -- a person who, theoretically, will bring them fortune for the following year. Snacking on candy on New Year's Eve is another way, in the former Soviet territory, to ensure that 2012 is likewise sweet, and not bitter.
New Year traditions: Scotland to Spain
New Year traditions: Scotland to Spain

Brazilians try to optimize their prospects for the coming year by jumping waves or, if they are not near the beach, eating lentil soup or handing out money. Besides raucously banging together pots and pans, Filipinos eat round fruits to bring good fortune.

Some New Year's traditions have nothing to do with luck. A front stoop littered with broken plates in Denmark, for instance, suggests that the person inside has a lot of friends since, each New Year's Eve, people throw their old dishes at the doors of their friends' homes.

The agenda for fun in Canada depends on where you are, from partying at a "reveillon" in Quebec to imbibing Screech rum in Newfoundland to savoring "beaver tail" -- a Canadian fried dough treat-- in Ontario.

Still, for all those who partake in grand New Year's events, there are many more who make their own traditions.

It may be a small gathering of family and friends, watching the Times Square ball drop on TV, or loudly running through the neighborhood. Some may simply go to sleep early, so they can be energized for an early New Year's Day hike -- perhaps while wearing underwear that suits their mood, and wishes, for 2012.

CNN's Marilia Brocchetto, George Kazarian, Kenneth Ernhofer, John Sanders, Peter Kaplan, Shruti Pant, Guilermo Arduino, Rafael Romo, Jane Lee, Bonnie Turner, Talia Kayali, Sara Yeglin and Armie Jarin-Bennett contributed to this report.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/31/world/americas/new-year-traditions/index.html

Personal Development

2011-12-15T20:11:00.000+07:00

Vitamins for the Mind
by Jim Rohn
Personal Development

To attract attractive people, you must be attractive. To attract powerful people, you must be powerful. To attract committed people, you must be committed. Instead of going to work on them, go to work on yourself. If you become, you can attract.

We can have more than we've got because we can become more than we are.

The big challenge is to become all that you have the possibility of becoming. You cannot believe what it does to the human spirit to maximize your human potential and stretch yourself to the limit.

Pity the man who inherits a million dollars and who isn't a millionaire. Here's what would be pitiful: If your income grew and you didn't.

The most important question to ask on the job is not "What am I getting?" The most important question to ask on the job is "What am I becoming?"

It is hard to keep that which has not been obtained through personal development.

After you become a millionaire, you can give all of your money away because what's important is not the million dollars; what's important is the person you have become in the process of becoming a millionaire.

Income seldom exceeds personal development.

What you become directly influences what you get.

"Vitamins for the Mind" is a weekly sampling of original quotes on a specific topic taken from The Treasury of Quotes by Jim Rohn. The burgundy hardbound book with gold-foil lettering is a collection of more than 365 quotes on 60 topics gathered from Jim's personal journals, seminars and books and spanning more than 40 years. Click here to order The Treasury of Quotes.

Tebow or Rodgers: Football & Faith

2011-12-11T17:26:00.002+07:00

Madetomatter Devotional & Update
December 8, 2011

Tebow or Rodgers: Football & Faith
by Randy Kilgore

     Tim Tebow isn't supposed to be winning games in the National Football League, experts keep telling anyone who will listen. Tebow was wildly successful as a college quarterback, helping his team to two national championships and winning the coveted Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Trophy awards. So when the Denver Broncos drafted him last year, the sports world watched with more than mild curiosity to see how it might work out.

     My, how it's worked-at least this far: The Broncos are 6-1 with Tebow at quarterback and have moved from last place to first place with him at the QB slot. What's exciting, too, is the world that knows Tebow can play football also knows he loves Jesus Christ, because he takes every opportunity to express that love publicly.

     Therein lies the rub for many, though.

     Should Tebow keep quiet about his faith? Fellow quarterback Aaron Rodgers (of the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers) thinks so, quoting St. Francis of Assissi on his ESPN radio show in Milwaukee, as quoted by CNN/Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King** (see Bold point 9 on page 5). Rodgers and Tebow are both men of faith, and they represent the two sides of an argument Christians who work have been debating for decades, if not centuries. Rogers quotes St. Francis of Assissi, who is reported to have said: "Preach the Gospel always; if necessary, use words." Rogers then goes on to suggest that he wants his personal life and behavior to cause people to ask questions about his faith, and then he feels like it's appropriate to share his beliefs.
Tebow, on the other hand, candidly and tirelessly tells reporter after reporter the same thing: He is so over-the-top grateful for His Savior that he can't help but express his love for Him at every opportunity.

     So who's right?

     Well, in most cases, Scripture would argue for Tebow's actions, though clearly there are times when God says to be silent, and there are people whom God tells to witness silently, so only Aaron Rodgers is in a position to judge Aaron Rodgers' decision.

     Here's why we say that:
(1) When Christians quote St. Francis, we imply (unintentionally) that Christians are living better, holier, cleaner or nobler lives than those who aren't Christians. As a workplace chaplain, I often hear from people of other faiths-and no faith-who are offended by this idea.
(2) Our lives are to be lived as ambassadors of the Savior, to be sure, meaning we should be attempting to live obedient to God's Word. However, at the end of the day we want people to be looking to Christ as an example to emulate, and not ourselves. Moral lives do make people think of faith, and in a Christian society the default faith they think of is Christianity, so there is some truth to the idea that a pointing to Christ occurs when we seek to live more obedient lives. However, Scripture teaches we are never good enough to merit salvation, and we're also never good enough to keep it. That's why it's called grace-unmerited favor bestowed on us by a loving Savior.
(3) Jesus reminds us that if our motive for silence is embarrassment or shame, then He will be ashamed to acknowledge us as He sits at the right hand of the Father advocating for His children. (Luke 9:26) In other words, we should be publicly professing our love for Him.
(4) In Scripture after Scripture, God instructs His children to spread the good news of the love of God and the grace made possible by Jesus Christ. In fact, the feeling one gets is that talking about God should permeate our existence, as in Deuteronomy 6:4-8; Acts 1:8, and Matthew 28:19-20.
(5) Imagine passing a city ordinance in Boston making it illegal to talk about the Boston Red Sox (insert your favorite city and sports team here) at work. Boston is so passionate about baseball and their beloved Red Sox, they cannot help but talk about them on the job. For those of us who have experienced grace, our hearts should be exploding at the chance to express our passion, which is precisely how Tim Tebow has always described his own desire to talk about God.
(6) Plus, for those who believe in a literal Hell (as we here at Madetomatter believe Scripture teaches), there's yet another reason for public and frequent proclamation: Love. We believe our friends and loved ones are headed to a place so terrible that we are being disloyal and unloving (in our hearts) if we're not taking every reasonable and respectful opportunity to point out the danger and the detour around it.
So Tim Tebow is entirely within the realms of appropriate behavior and Scriptural commands when he shares his faith in the ways he has so far; and Christians everywhere should be praying for and encouraging him in those efforts.

     As for Aaron Rodgers, it sounds like he's carefully considered what God wants from him, and we would never presume to second-guess him. Or St. Francis, who actually means by his words this truth: Make sure your deeds are consistent with your words; and that your words are consistent with your deeds.

     Something we should all remember.

--Randy Kilgore
Randy@madetomatter.org
www.madetomatter.org

**King goes out of his way to give his readers enough information to fairly judge individuals and actions he reports on; and generally avoids the 'piling on' that occurs when somebody stumbles. For example, while it appears King supports Rodgers' opinion on faith and football, his comments on Tebow in the first page of the same article are carefully chosen words aimed at painting Tebow respectfully and without caricature.

For more on this topic, including times Christians shouldn't talk about God at work, see here.

Want to comment on this week's devotion, or ask questions of our chaplain and senior writer, Randy Kilgore ? Click here and scroll down to the comments form at the bottom of the page.
Don't miss our latest piece over at Our Daily Bread, on how the Navy honors and remembers Pearl Harbor, and how Jesus gave us instructions on how to honor and remember His sacrifice, too.

Even if you can't help us financially, you can pray for our work, and help us reach others by "liking" us on Facebook, "following" us on Twitter, and forwarding your favorite devotions to friends.
Tebow or Rodgers: Football & Faith
by Randy Kilgore

     Tim Tebow isn't supposed to be winning games in the National Football League, experts keep telling anyone who will listen. Tebow was wildly successful as a college quarterback, helping his team to two national championships and winning the coveted Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Trophy awards. So when the Denver Broncos drafted him last year, the sports world watched with more than mild curiosity to see how it might work out.

     My, how it's worked-at least this far: The Broncos are 6-1 with Tebow at quarterback and have moved from last place to first place with him at the QB slot. What's exciting, too, is the world that knows Tebow can play football also knows he loves Jesus Christ, because he takes every opportunity to express that love publicly.

     Therein lies the rub for many, though.

     Should Tebow keep quiet about his faith? Fellow quarterback Aaron Rodgers (of the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers) thinks so, quoting St. Francis of Assissi on his ESPN radio show in Milwaukee, as quoted by CNN/Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King** (see Bold point 9 on page 5). Rodgers and Tebow are both men of faith, and they represent the two sides of an argument Christians who work have been debating for decades, if not centuries. Rogers quotes St. Francis of Assissi, who is reported to have said: "Preach the Gospel always; if necessary, use words." Rogers then goes on to suggest that he wants his personal life and behavior to cause people to ask questions about his faith, and then he feels like it's appropriate to share his beliefs.
Tebow, on the other hand, candidly and tirelessly tells reporter after reporter the same thing: He is so over-the-top grateful for His Savior that he can't help but express his love for Him at every opportunity.

     So who's right?

     Well, in most cases, Scripture would argue for Tebow's actions, though clearly there are times when God says to be silent, and there are people whom God tells to witness silently, so only Aaron Rodgers is in a position to judge Aaron Rodgers' decision.

     Here's why we say that:
(1) When Christians quote St. Francis, we imply (unintentionally) that Christians are living better, holier, cleaner or nobler lives than those who aren't Christians. As a workplace chaplain, I often hear from people of other faiths-and no faith-who are offended by this idea.
(2) Our lives are to be lived as ambassadors of the Savior, to be sure, meaning we should be attempting to live obedient to God's Word. However, at the end of the day we want people to be looking to Christ as an example to emulate, and not ourselves. Moral lives do make people think of faith, and in a Christian society the default faith they think of is Christianity, so there is some truth to the idea that a pointing to Christ occurs when we seek to live more obedient lives. However, Scripture teaches we are never good enough to merit salvation, and we're also never good enough to keep it. That's why it's called grace-unmerited favor bestowed on us by a loving Savior.
(3) Jesus reminds us that if our motive for silence is embarrassment or shame, then He will be ashamed to acknowledge us as He sits at the right hand of the Father advocating for His children. (Luke 9:26) In other words, we should be publicly professing our love for Him.
(4) In Scripture after Scripture, God instructs His children to spread the good news of the love of God and the grace made possible by Jesus Christ. In fact, the feeling one gets is that talking about God should permeate our existence, as in Deuteronomy 6:4-8; Acts 1:8, and Matthew 28:19-20.
(5) Imagine passing a city ordinance in Boston making it illegal to talk about the Boston Red Sox (insert your favorite city and sports team here) at work. Boston is so passionate about baseball and their beloved Red Sox, they cannot help but talk about them on the job. For those of us who have experienced grace, our hearts should be exploding at the chance to express our passion, which is precisely how Tim Tebow has always described his own desire to talk about God.
(6) Plus, for those who believe in a literal Hell (as we here at Madetomatter believe Scripture teaches), there's yet another reason for public and frequent proclamation: Love. We believe our friends and loved ones are headed to a place so terrible that we are being disloyal and unloving (in our hearts) if we're not taking every reasonable and respectful opportunity to point out the danger and the detour around it.
So Tim Tebow is entirely within the realms of appropriate behavior and Scriptural commands when he shares his faith in the ways he has so far; and Christians everywhere should be praying for and encouraging him in those efforts.

     As for Aaron Rodgers, it sounds like he's carefully considered what God wants from him, and we would never presume to second-guess him. Or St. Francis, who actually means by his words this truth: Make sure your deeds are consistent with your words; and that your words are consistent with your deeds.

     Something we should all remember.

--Randy Kilgore
Randy@madetomatter.org
www.madetomatter.org

**King goes out of his way to give his readers enough information to fairly judge individuals and actions he reports on; and generally avoids the 'piling on' that occurs when somebody stumbles. For example, while it appears King supports Rodgers' opinion on faith and football, his comments on Tebow in the first page of the same article are carefully chosen words aimed at painting Tebow respectfully and without caricature.

For more on this topic, including times Christians shouldn't talk about God at work, see here.

Want to comment on this week's devotion, or ask questions of our chaplain and senior writer, Randy Kilgore ? Click here and scroll down to the comments form at the bottom of the page.

Arthur Murray Was A Wallflower?

2011-12-11T17:15:00.001+07:00

Arthur Murray is the most successful dance instructor in history.

But he didn't start out confident or smooth.

As a child Murray was shy and self-conscious about his tall, lanky appearance.

He wanted to be part of the social activities his friends enjoyed, especially the dances, but he was afraid to approach girls.

At 14, Joe Feigenbaum, a friend who was popular with girls, taught Arthur his first dance steps.

To get practice, Murray attended weddings where he found willing dance partners of every size and age.

Later he attended dance schools, teaching new crazes as the bunny hug, grizzly bear, and the one-step.

There are now hundreds of Arthur Murray studios globally, with specially trained instructors.

I love Murray's story for two reasons.

First, Murray lived by his values.

Friendship.

Fun.

Love.

Murray was painfully shy, but he didn't let that get in the way of what he prized most.

A lot of people want to overcome fears that are holding them back.

The problem is, they haven't clarified their values.

They don't know what really matters to them.

They don't know what they really stand for - what they live for, and what they would die for.

When the fear rises up, they don't have something strong to counteract it.

So they make bad decisions.

They do nothing or they act impulsively.

Second, Murray asked for help.

He went to someone he admired and became a student.

Now this is REALLY rare.

Most people would rather be boiled alive in oil than approach a successful person and ask for help.

Yet here's the strange thing.

If someone approaches YOU for help, how do you feel about him?

Good or bad?

My guess is good.

Most people love to help others.

Now here's the irony.

Most people don't ask for help because they want to appear on-the-ball. "I've got this handled."

My friend, I've got news for you.

You're not fooling anyone.

The people in your life know about your problem.

Whether you're struggling with money, relationships, or career, the people around you know this.

That's why you're better off putting your energy into solving your problem - not covering it up.

And that means asking for help.

A great place to start is my Secrets of Deep Mental Toughness Audio Program.

You learn how to stop selling yourself short and under-estimating your talents...how to stop second-guessing your ideas...and how to overcome performance anxiety to perform well.

The best part is the format.

You don't have to WORK to achieve Deep Mental Toughness.

All you have to do is unleash is using the power of your mind.

That's why I made these audios for you.

All you have to do is hit Play.

Go here:

http://www.thecouragetowin.com/deepmentaltoughness.html

Your friend,
Lisa B.

Who’s Coaching You On Your Path To Success?

2011-12-10T20:44:00.001+07:00

Who’s Coaching You On Your Path To Success? Written by Jack Canfield | Wednesday, 11 May 2011 00:00 You would never expect an athlete to reach the Olympic Games without a world-class coach. Nor would you expect a professional football team to enter the stadium without a whole team of coaches; head coach, offensive coach, defensive coach, and a special teams coach. Yet, many people believe that they can achieve their goals and new levels of success without any outside support or assistance.If you fall into the category of people who believe that a coach is “good for some people, but not right for me,” I urge you to challenge this belief. Because of all the things successful people do to accelerate their trip down the path to success, securing the services of a coach is at the top of the list. A coach helps you clarify your vision and goals, supports you through your fears, keeps you focused, confronts your unconscious behaviors and old patterns, expects you to do your best, helps you live by your values, shows you how to earn more while working less, and keeps you focused on your core genius. The best part? Today, coaches are available to support you in achieving nearly every professional or personal goal, whether growing your business, losing weight or simply achieving the balance life you crave. Worth More Than Money Throughout my career, I have had many coaches who have helped me achieve my goals: business coaches, writing coaches, marketing coaches, and personal coaches. The results have been tremendous. First and foremost, I immediately doubled my free time. I delegated more tasks, scheduled vacations rather than merely thought about them, and hired additional staff that ultimately positioned my business to earn more. And that was just in the first few months. Not only did my business benefit, but my family did as well. For me, coaching wasn’t just about making more money. It was about helping me make better decisions for myself and my business. The truth is, most coaching clients are very smart. Yet they still know the value of accessing someone who can be objective, honest, and constructive about the options they are facing. Why Coaching Works Regardless of whether the program is designed to achieve a specific business goal (say, increasing your real estate listings) or whether it’s set up to help you simply gain more clarity and progress in all areas of your personal and professional life, a coach can help you with the following:• Determine your values, vision, mission, purpose and goals • Determine specific action steps to help you achieve those goals • Help you sort through opportunities • Keep you focused on your top priorities • Achieve balance in your life while still accomplishing your business or career goals Different Formats for Coaching Coaching can be delivered privately or in groups. Most often, it’s done through regularly scheduled telephone contact, although it can also be done in person. Over the course of the sessions, you’ll work together with your coach to develop goals, strategies, and a plan of action that is positive, desirable, and realistic. Support is often provided between sessions through e-mail and other media. Other coaches – typically those who are more established in a certain industry – help many clients at one time via group-coaching programs. This format allows you to tap into the energy of a group and learn from the experiences and challenges of other group members. These programs often feature structured large-group teleconferences in which you listen to valuable information, and then implement what you hear on your own. Some coaches will work with you every week and others once a month. Still another form of group coaching are experiential seminars. These types of events go far beyond a simple lecture and PowerPoint presentation. Instead, they get you out of your seat to participate in hands-on transformational activities, such as small-group exercises, processing and sharing. You do the work you would normally do one-on-one with a coach, but instead you are among dozens or even hundreds of others engaged in the same activities.My company offers all three types of coaching. Because I can make a bigger impact when working with many students at one time, I lead group coaching in the form of my Platinum Group, a small-group yearlong program, and a 7-day large-group program called Breakthrough to Success, where I lead participants through dozens of life-changing exercises and processes. But if you prefer one-on-one work, youcan opt to work with one of my highly trained coaches.How to Find a Coach There are literally thousands of coaches available to work with you. There are personal coaches, life coaches, and business coaches. Some are industry specific (dental, chiropractic, real estate, and speaking), some are job specific (executive coaches), and some are interest specific (strategic planning, health and wellness, finances, and career transition). You can find them on the Internet, in the phone book, and by asking around. There are organizations like Coach U and the International Coach Federation that can help you find a coach near you. In my experience, the reason many of us are not living up to our fullest potential lies in the gap between knowing and doing. Often, we attempt to close that gap with the New Year’s Resolution only to find ourselves back where we started come February or March. If you want to achieve more, find a coach to challenge you to do more and be more.

No matter where you are in life

2011-12-08T19:28:00.001+07:00

No matter where you are in life right now, no matter who you are, no matter how old you are – it is never too late to be who you are meant to be.~Esther & Jerry Hicks

In life, as in football ...

2011-12-08T19:27:00.003+07:00

In life, as in football, you won’t go far unless you know where the goalposts are.~Arnold H. Glasgow

The only reason....

2011-12-08T19:27:00.001+07:00

The only reason we don’t have what we want in life is the reasons we create why we can’t have them.~Tony Robbins

Thanksgiving Success: 12 Must-Dos For First-Time Hosts

2011-11-20T13:34:00.003+07:00

Thanksgiving Success: 12 Must-Dos For First-Time Hosts
By Reagan Alexander, eHow

Hosting your first Thanksgiving for family and friends can be a daunting task. You want the day (and the all-important meal) to be perfect, but you don't want to run roughshod over everyone else's holiday with the iron-fisted dictatorial fervor of a fledgling Martha Stewart. It's not your first Thanksgiving, but the first in which you're in charge, and you feel like the success of the day falls on your willing, but slightly trembling, shoulders. No holiday comes off without a hitch, but you can make the right preparations to ensure that the hitches don't turn into glitches, and the glitches don't land your party at an otherwise empty Chinese restaurant.

1)Make a Guest List
The best, and most logical, place to start is with a guest list. As this is your first Thanksgiving as host, don't overreach and invite too many people, because you'll most likely end up overwhelmed. Take it easy on yourself and start with a modest guest list. There will be people you can't invite, and so there may be some hurt feelings, but remind yourself (and them) that there's always next year.

2)Prepare Your Menu
Once you know who is attending, you can get down to the Thanksgiving Day menu. Have some fun with it, but apply the same caution to the menu that you did to your guest list. Keep things relatively simple. Remember that these are your friends and family, so there's no reason to make it seem like you're auditioning for "Top Chef."

3)Get Your Guests Involved
Once everyone is invited, and you have an idea of your menu, pick up the phone again and get your guests involved. Find out if anyone has any food limitations, and invite people to pitch in and bring a dish. It'll take some of the pressure off of you, while making everyone else feel as if they're more a part of the celebration.

4)Order Your Turkey (or Your Tofu Turkey)
You'll have enough on your plate (literally and figuratively) when the big day comes, so plan ahead and order your turkey well ahead of time, especially if you want a fresh one. Plan on 1 1/4 pounds per each adult, and if need be, know that there are companies that make, and deliver, fresh tofu turkeys as well. Also, defrosting a turkey takes a while (24 hours for every 5 pounds), so if it's frozen, remind yourself well before the day arrives to start the process.

5)Make a Seating Chart
Thanksgiving is a day about being thankful, and when the day comes you'll be thankful that you took the time to make a seating chart. It's your friends and your family, so you should have a good idea of the personalities coming to the table, and where they will work the best. You're the host, but you're also peacekeeper, and maybe matchmaker, and that all starts with a seating chart.

6) Make a Seating Chart
Thanksgiving is a day about being thankful, and when the day comes you'll be thankful that you took the time to make a seating chart. It's your friends and your family, so you should have a good idea of the personalities coming to the table, and where they will work the best. You're the host, but you're also peacekeeper, and maybe matchmaker, and that all starts with a seating chart.

7)Clean Your Home
You're inviting people into your home, and you have to realize that no one is going to be comfortable if your place is dirty or messy. Your guests may even have a different idea than you do of what "clean" is, so give your place a thorough once-over. Pay particular attention to high traffic areas, as well as the bathroom, which should be stocked with fresh linens (and a scented candle).

8)Decorate and Set Your Table
Have fun with this, but try not to go overboard. Bear in mind that come meal time, the table will be brimming with plates, platters full of food and glassware. A cluttered table can detract from the mood of the meal, and you want everyone to be comfortable (and to be able to see each other). You don't have to recreate the Plymouth Rock landing to give the room an autumnal feel. A few candles, some dried maize and a few colorful gourds go a long way.

9)Do Last-Minute Shopping
Remember that second shopping list? Pull it out and get yourself back to the store. We call it "last-minute shopping" but don't wait until then. Try to get it done the day before, or at least during the early morning on Thanksgiving, or you'll find yourself in a packed grocery store that looks like it's been picked over by locusts.

10)Schedule Your Dishes
Cooking takes time, and depending on your menu and your kitchen, you're probably going to have to stagger cooking of some of the dishes. Set a time for dinner, preferably about an hour after everyone arrives, and then count backward, writing down the times that everything needs to go into the oven or the microwave.

11)Take Time to Be Thankful
With everything that you've put into this, it's easy to lose sight of what this day is all about. More than just a harvest celebration, it's a celebration of friends, of family, and all that is good or hopeful in our lives. Take a moment before everyone dives into the meal that you have so lovingly prepared to go around the table so your guests can share one thing they're thankful for.

12)Enjoy Yourself
Your work is done (as long as you're ignoring the stack of dirty pots, pans and dishes waiting in your kitchen). Hunger has been sated, thirsts quenched, belts loosened, and a football game is probably playing in the background. Not only did you survive hosting your first Thanksgiving, but you've given your guests a day they'll not soon forget. Take a moment to appreciate it, as you only have 364 more days before you do it all over again.

5 Mistakes That Can Sink a Good Boss

2011-11-13T07:00:00.001+07:00

5 Mistakes That Can Sink a Good Boss

By Andrea Novakowski

If you own a company or manage a department, part of the reason you’ve come this far is because you’re good at what you do. But inspiring the people who work for you to give their best efforts is another skill altogether. It’s hard to complete tasks well and on time if your staff isn’t on the same page with you, or if they don’t share your commitment to success.

Are you frustrated by employees who don’t perform as well as expected? It may be time to take a look at your leadership style. Here are five common mistaken beliefs that may be interfering with your effectiveness as a boss.

1. Good new hires will know how to do the job right out of the blocks.

Hiring a competent person is only the first step. Even if the new person arrives already accomplished in his field, spend time with him so he can get to know your approach and share your vision. No matter what position he occupies, help him become attuned to your strategic plan. It takes time, but the payoff is huge.

2. No one else can do the job as well as I can.

As your organization grows, you’ll be adding people below you. Why did you hire them if not to help lighten your load, so you can focus on what’s most important? (What’s important may even include your own improved quality of life.) Surround yourself with good people, then give them a chance to show they can handle the responsibility. Step back and let them take some of the weight off your shoulders.

3. If I tell them once, they should be good to go.

Not necessarily. Part of the job of a manager is to provide ongoing feedback. Don’t limit this to just once a year during performance reviews: help your people understand how they can do a better job now. Helping them grow and develop increases their value in the workplace, and more important, to your company.

4. I’m too busy to plan – I need to do!

Do you ever feel as if you spend your whole day at work just responding to the biggest crisis? Take time to sit down and map out a strategy for the future. Planning may seem like a luxury when you have so much on your plate already, but if you don’t invest time now, you’ll find yourself operating in perpetual crisis mode later – which, as everyone knows, is a sure recipe for burnout. Don’t try to muscle your way through every issue that faces you. Think before you execute (or delegate the execution to others).

5. My people know they are doing a good job. I don’t have to tell them.

One of the biggest mistakes managers make is failing to recognize their employees’ successes and only pointing out their faults. Think about it – do you perform better when you know you’re appreciated, or when you’re only chastised for your shortcomings? Letting people know you’re pleased with their achievements will encourage them to continue striving to do good work. It’s human nature!
Coaching Call To Action

Would you rate yourself as an inspiring leader with your people giving their best? If not, choose one or two changes from the above list that will free you and your employees to do the job each of you is supposed to be doing.

Andrea Novakowski is an executive and personal coach who has been helping clients align their professional goals with their personal values since 1997. Contact her at info@coachandrea.com or visit her web site at http://coachandrea.com/.

http://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/bossmistakes.htm

Top 10 Marketing & Sales Strategies for a Slow Economy = How to Attain, Retain and Maintain Customers

2011-11-13T06:57:00.001+07:00

Top 10 Marketing & Sales Strategies for a Slow Economy
How to Attain, Retain and Maintain Customers

by Gregory P. Smith

This economy has created both winners and losers. The quickest road to bankruptcy is to sit on your hands, do nothing, and wait for the economy to improve. No matter what industry you work in a "business as usual" mindset will sink your ship. You have to be innovative, stand out, and market your products and services in a new way.

Now more than ever you have to focus, improve, and possibly even change what you do to attain, retain and maintain customers. Consider the following ten-steps to make your business recession proof.

Strategy 1. Think big and audit your time. No matter the size of your business, place a mental image in your mind as if you are the largest and most successful person in your industry. How much time is consumed by routine office work someone else should be doing? Spend more time with more important tasks such as marketing strategies, improving customer relations, and implementing new strategies to expand your services.

Strategy 2. Be different and stand out from the competition. Jordan Furniture sells more furniture per square foot than any other furniture store in the nation. They transformed their family-owned business into a multi-million dollar corporation by following a principle called "shoppertainment." To surprise employees and customers, Barry and Eliot Tatleman dressed up like the Lone Ranger and Tonto and rode horses in their parking lot. They built an IMax theater inside one store to entertain children while their parents shopped. When you drive around the back to pick up your furniture they provide you free hotdogs and wash your car windows.

Strategy 3. Build relationships with your customers. For each month that goes by, customers lose 10% of their buying power. Create a customer database and contact them on a regular basis. Mail them a postcard, birthday card, sales flyer, newsletter etc. to keep your name, phone number, and service on their mind.

Strategy 4. Collect E-Mail Addresses. As part of your customer relationship process get permission from your customers to use their E-mail address. Periodically send updates and notices to your client list. As long as you have their permission and avoid overuse, E-mail can be a powerful and inexpensive marketing tool. Consider the Fox's Pizza Den in Punxsutawney, PA, they ran an anniversary promotion offering a medium cheese pizza for the 1970 s price of $1.40. To get this special price, customers had to go to their web site and register their email address to have the special coupon emailed to them. An amazing 500 email addresses were collected in two days.

Strategy 5. Avoid poisonous personalities. Unfriendly and negative employees cost you money by chasing your customers away. Spend more time and money interviewing and hiring people who enjoy helping people. Use behavior based interviewing and screening assessments to improve your chances for hiring success. For more information go to www.behaviorprofile.com.

Strategy 6. Put a shopping cart on your website. Online sales are still growing at a dramatic pace. According to Jupiter Research this past year's holiday season generated $13.2 billion in online purchases, a 17% growth rate over last year. This increase of sales is coming from people who want to save time, followed closely by avoiding crowded stores, and the ability to shop outside of store hours. Make an audit of what services and products you can offer online.

Strategy 7. Pay-per-click advertising. Many business owners are cutting back on classified advertising in lieu for pay-per-click advertising. Pay-per-click will insure you receive top visibility on websites driving more customers to your door. Advertisers bid on keywords and the more popular the keyword, the more expensive each click is. Prices vary between a few cents to many dollars. For example, you can pay ten cents a click for the keyword, "pool supply store." The most popular pay-per-click advertisers are found on Google, Yahoo, and Overture.

Strategy 8. Use customer service commandments to create good habits. Bates Ace Hardware store located in Atlanta created "Twenty Customer Service Commandments" modeled after the Ritz-Carlton hotels outlining specific behaviors employees are to demonstrate when dealing with customers and fellow employees. For example, "Accompany a customer to the correct aisle instead of pointing to another area of the store." They print the commandments on a small card and employees carry it with them at work. Furthermore, supervisors reinforce good customer service by quizzing employees on one commandment each day.

Strategy 9. Take your message to the media. Local newspapers and television are always looking for stories and topics of interest. Learn to write a press release or call your local media outlet about a special aspect of your business. The Varsity restaurant in Atlanta featured an employee who had worked there for 50 years. This resulted in a two-page spread about the employee and the restaurant.

Strategy 10. Take advantage of trends. For some this economic downturn is an opportunity in disguise. Consider one entrepreneur who created a special brand of toilet paper. Printed on each piece of toilet paper is the face Osama Bin Laden followed by this saying, "Do your part to wipe out terrorism." I am not sure if this person made any money off his product, but he captured a lot of attention.

Gregory P. Smith shows businesses how to build productive and profitable work environments that attract, keep and motivate their workforce. He is a popular speaker and author of the book, Here Today Here Tomorrow: Transforming Your Workforce from High-Turnover to High-Retention. He speaks at conferences, conducts management training and is the President of a management consulting firm called Chart Your Course International located in Conyers, Georgia. Phone him at 770-860-9464. More articles available: http://www.chartcourse.com

http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/slowecon.htm

10 Rules For Succeeding In Your Own Business by Janet Attard

2011-11-13T06:53:00.002+07:00

10 Rules For Succeeding In Your Own Business
by Janet Attard

Janet Attard offers proven steps for success in a start-up.

What does it take to start and succeed in business? That's a question I get asked a lot by startups and by owners of existing businesses that aren't living up to the owners' dreams. Although there is no one answer that fits all businesses, there are a number of practices followed by successful, happy business owners. No matter what you sell, you'll be ahead of the game if you live by these ten essential rules for succeeding in your own business.

1. Be true to yourself. No matter how much money someone else makes, if you don't enjoy the business, wouldn't be proud to show your relatives what you are doing and how you are doing it, then don't do it. If you run a business you don't like or don't believe in, even if you have temporary success, it will come back to haunt you one way or another.

2. Find a need and fill it. Yes, you've heard that a million times. But it still works. The easiest business to run is one that produces products or services that people already know they need. The reason: you don't have to spend a lot of time and money convincing prospects they need what you sell. You can focus on why you are the best source to satisfy their need. Just be sure the "need" is one people will spend money to satisfy.

3. Choose products or services that you can sell for a lot more than it costs you to make or buy them. If the difference between your cost and selling prices is too low, you will have difficulty growing the business. When profit margins are too low, you won't have enough money to hire employees, pay for rent (when you need to move the business out of the house), advertise more, and do other things needed to expand.

4. Make realistic estimates of your expenses... then double them. Most new businesses either forget about marketing, fulfillment, overhead costs, income taxes and self-employment or greatly underestimate them.

5. Be true to your customers and prospects. Don't promise what you can't deliver. Don't lie or exaggerate the benefits of what you sell and always deliver a quality product or service. Word-of-mouth marketing has always been one of the primary ways small businesses find customers. The Internet and social networking sites spread the word (good or bad) to even more potential customers.

6. Understand the importance of marketing and learn how to do it effectively. The world won't beat a path to your door just because you build a better mousetrap or write a great ebook about how to grow tomatoes or teach a child to read. To get customers you will have to market your products or services effectively and continually.

7. Treat your vendors, manufacturers and service providers with respect and let them know you appreciate them. They are an important part of your team and your success. If you speak down to them, pester them with questions you could answer yourself, imply that they don't' do a good job, nickel and dime them to death, or are an ongoing pain in the neck, they'll never go out of their way to help you -- and might drop you all together. No business needs picky, annoying, time-consuming customers.

8. Embrace the web. No matter what you sell or to whom, there's a good chance your customers will turn to the web in one way or another to make their purchase. They may turn to online yellow pages to find a florist in Florence, SC; or go to Google, MSN or Yahoo and search for a phrase like "Elder law attorney Farmington Hills MI", or "plumber weekends Astoria NY" If customers can't find you in their queries, they are likely to give their business to one of your competitors.

9. Don't expect miracles. Yes, people do make money in their sleep or while they're away on vacation -- the Internet makes that possible. But only after they've invested a lot of time , effort, and money in building the business and building the team that keeps it going and growing.

10. Remind yourself that one is the loneliest number in business. One product, one service, one main client, and all your records stored on one computer hard drive without regular off-site backups is a recipe for failure. If you only have one product or service you're missing out on the chance to profit by selling more things to people who already know and trust you. If you have only one main client, you 're up the proverbial creek if they decide to change vendors or run into cash flow problems. And if all your records are on your computer and you don't have always up-to-date backups of your important files, a hard drive crash could destroy your business.

© 2009 Attard Communications, Inc

About the author:
Janet Attard is the founder of the award-winning Business Know-How small business web site and information resource. Janet is also the author of The Home Office And Small Business Answer Book and of Business Know-How: An Operational Guide For Home-Based and Micro-Sized Businesses with Limited Budgets. Follow Janet on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/JanetAttard.

http://www.businessknowhow.com/startup/startupsuccess.htm

What's It Like To Be Your Customer?

2011-11-13T06:50:00.000+07:00

What's It Like To Be Your Customer?
Courtesy of SmallBizResource.com, a service of bMighty.com

by Gayle Kesten

Think your company is easy to do business with? Here are eight great ways to find out, though the underlying premise is the same for all.

Pose as a customer. Simple, yet makes total sense. With customer confidence remaining at depressed levels, this low-effort way to learn what it's like to engage with your business from an outside perspective could give you insight into customer abandonment rates, among other factors.

Credit for the following tips belongs to Guy Kawasaki, a venture capitalist, author, and entrepreneur whose latest brainchild, Alltop, is an incredible compilation of Web sites organized by tons of categories. (To get an idea, here's the Alltop page that focuses on startups.)

Back from that quick tangent, here's what Kawasaki suggests:

1. Act like a prospective customer and call your company to see how the phone system and receptionist treat you.

2. See if your website has a "Contact Us" section. If it doesn’t, add one. Ensure that it has a street address.

3. Send your company an email asking for customer support and see if someone responds to it.

4. Answer customer support calls or emails (not the one you sent in) for a day.

5. Go out on a sales call with your salespeople and a service call with your service people.

6. Read the documentation or manual that your company provides. Extra credit: See if you can do this without reading glasses.

7. Pretend that you lost the documentation or manual that came with your product or service and try to find it on your website.

8. Register your product or service including finding and reading the serial number of your product. Extra credit: See if you can read your serial number without reading glasses.
Posted on January 21, 2009 at 11:33 AM

http://www.businessknowhow.com/blog/2009/01/whats_it_like_t.php

Lessons Barry Moltz learned when he started his own business

2011-11-02T20:39:00.001+07:00

Dreams are important but they are not enough. Running your own business is not as glamorous and as fun as you think it is.

You must find business partners, employees and vendors who complement your skills.
“Cool” ideas don’t always mean new business.

Start businesses you have an interest in. It doesn’t really matter if it is the hot thing or not.

Don’t bother trying to pick the perfect time for a business launch. Take a leap of faith. If you are unable to take a leap right now, take it as a signal that you are not ready.

It is not enough that you have an idea. You must also execute.

As an entrepreneur, you will have to do tasks you never thought you had to do. You must learn humility. Everything is your job.

Check your attitude. Your moods will affect everyone in your business.

Build your business one customer at a time. Don’t focus too much on the future. Focus on the present moment.

Allow your business to grow at its own pace.

Only you can save your own business.

The most important thing is passion. If you have lost your passion in your business, close your company or transform it into something else you are interested in.

http://appitive.com/business/2011/10/11/lessons-barry-moltz-learned-when-he-started-to-run-his-own-business/

APOLOGETIKA in acrostic

2011-11-02T19:17:00.003+07:00

APOLOGETIKA =

A godly lifestyle - our way
P urpose to equip well
O h apologetic skills
L et's use - our faith defend
O ur world impact with His love
G o!
E nds of the earth to spread
T he pure Gospel
I n grace share
K now Christ
A nd make Him known

Sing to "Stand Up for Jesus"

=======================================
VISI
Pelestarian Kemurnian Injil

MISI
Menyajikan pemberitaan Firman
Menumbuhkan motivasi iman Kristen
Memberikan sajian pokok-pokok dasar iman Kristen
Memelihara, membela dan mempertahankan kemurnian Injil di tengah tantangan jaman

==================
Objectives

Godly Lifestyle (1 Petrus 1:16), Melengkapi dan memberdayakan orang percaya untuk mempunyai gaya hidup yang sesuai dengan kehendak Tuhan.

Apologetic Skills (1 Petrus 3:15), Memperlengkapi orang percaya untuk mampu berapologetik, sehingga dapat membela iman percaya melalui pikiran yang telah dikuduskan oleh kebenaran Firman Tuhan.

Impact the world (Matius 5:13-14), melaksanakan program diakonia berdasarkan Kasih Tuhan.
Research & Development, memberikan bea siswa, dan mengembangkan program berdasarkan riset yang memadai.

Quote

2011-11-02T18:35:00.000+07:00

Inner determination and total commitment to your goals are keys in achieving success. Check out my website at www.successwithbing.com.

--------------------------------

Change the way you look at things - and the things you look at change!

Understanding John Maeda’s 6 Principles For Creative Leadership

2011-10-23T18:35:00.003+07:00

Understanding John Maeda’s 6 Principles For Creative Leadership
By Aziz Ali on October 20, 2011

Leveraging their experience as influential members of the Rhode Island School of Design, John Maeda and Becky Bermont (VP of Media at RISD) have been lecturing, tweeting, and writing about leadership. John Maeda has developed 6 principles to help grow artists to become competent business leaders and also assist business leaders in borrowing artistic strategies. When he gave his Creative Mornings talk at Brooklyn’s Galapagos Art Space, he fleshed out these principles, Redesigning Leadership, a follow-up to his previous work Laws of Simplicity. According to Soulellis:

One can see that these mantras were written as guiding principles for educators or corporate executives who want to learn from artists and lead more creatively. But this is obviously a valuable and inspiring list for any kind of design professional or anyone engaged with creative growth.

Let’s go through the principles to outline the importance of Maeda’s leadership philosophy. Rather than regurgitate John Maeda’s ideas, this post will strive to digest them:

1. Build From Foundations: Even when the end-goal of the artist is to distance themselves from touching their work, Maeda wants to emphasize the need for core skills like sketching, drawing, and having a rigorous eye for studying raw information. This is less about using ‘old school’ design techniques and more about refining and having a method informed by experimentation and the availability of viable options. Having a foundation enables the individual to communicate across cultural barriers and feeds back to enrich a given discipline and its experts.

2. Craft The Team: Maeda is not known for hiding. In fact, Shanghai Daily asserts that he, as president of RISD, is repeatedly willing to work at the school’s cafeteria or helping new students with their luggage. His willingness to expose himself to different people to develop a better idea of what is being experienced by others. Thus, Maeda not only promotes the idea of collaborating and forming a group of specialists to tackle a problem, but he also wants us to get out of our shells to understand how our decisions influence groups of people that we have little to no interaction with.

3. Sense Actively: Sensitivity is important in a fast-changing, hyper-networked world. Sensing actively deepens the quality of our engagement with ourselves and others, making us more aware of our feelings, the details, and context we are walking into. For leaders shouldering responsibility, it forms an emotional bond that fosters an environment of inclusivity and openness.

4. Take Leaps: The image shown above is Patti Brennan’s Hierarchy of Imagination.

Artists take risks by manipulating and questioning why things are done the way they are. The leaps rely largely on their responses to these questions. The overarching point is that while leaders have great problem solving skills and good instincts, they can learn from artists by following their example to find good ideas in completely unstructured environments, activating the imagination, and improving their ability to join ideas. Imagination and creativity come less naturally to business leaders than elements further down the pyramid.

5. Fail Productively: This principle is simple. It points to the importance of rebounding quickly from loss, anticipating failure without the deterioration of determination, and learning from mishaps. This attitude towards failure creates a resilient vision that enables leaders to stay focused on their objectives and hold a strong team together.

6. Grow From Critique: Good criticism feeds growth and confidence. Having foundational principles helps leaders have an easier time dealing with criticism as it gives them intellectual support, especially when the specific manifestations or executions do not work as planned. As Maeda said himself, “the shortest communication path between two people is straight talk” and leaders are masters of growing from criticism.

http://www.psfk.com/2011/10/understanding-john-maedas-6-principles-for-creative-leadership.html

Network Leadership: A Few Ingredients in the Secret Sauce

2011-10-23T18:34:00.001+07:00

Network Leadership: A Few Ingredients in the Secret Sauce

Guest post from Kathy Reich

For a while I’ve been puzzling over what makes a good network leader. The traditional models of organizational leadership clearly don’t apply, but then, which models do? The Grantmakers Gathering on Networks provided a few a-ha moments for me about network leadership:
The first leader or leaders in a network are like first responders at the scene of a crash—they’re in charge of making things happen until the structures get set up to fully address the situation. No one tells them to take on this role—they do it because they see the need, or the crisis, or (best yet) the opportunity. (With apologies to the woman in Rafael Lopez’s network leadership discussion group, who offered this great analogy and whose name I didn’t catch!)
From Leslye Louie of Encore Fellowships (http://www.encore.org/fellowships), network leaders “Seed, then cede.” They find other great leaders within the network, then step back and let them lead.
Developing talent within a network fuels innovation. If you don’t share the leadership, the network won’t remain relevant, and it won’t survive.
When you start building networks, you won’t be out of there by lunch. It takes time, and leaders had better commit to be there for a long time. Years, usually.
Network leaders have to earn their authority within the network. No one is going to hand it to you with flowers and a box of chocolates.
From Marty Kearns (http://www.network-centricadvocacy.net/): Networks empower resilience and redundance in leadership. No one should be irreplaceable in a network.
From Eugene Eric Kim (http://groupaya.net/): the route to change is people.
When it comes to network leadership—and everything else in networks, for that matter—there’s a limit to how much you can prepare. You just have to do, because experience is the best teacher. As Eugene Eric Kim said this morning, “What can you do to start practicing, without having to wait to know what the answers are?”

So, what are you going to do next to lead, in whatever networks you find yourself?

Kathy Reich is program officer for organizational effectiveness and philanthropy at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Follow her on Twitter at @kdreich, or check out the work of the OE program at http://packard-foundation-oe.wikispaces.com/.

http://www.bethkanter.org/secret-sauce/

Aspiring Managers: Learn to Behave Like Adults By Steve Tobak | September 11, 2009

2011-10-22T19:33:00.000+07:00

Aspiring Managers: Learn to Behave Like Adults
By Steve Tobak | September 11, 2009

It’s relatively easy to be a successful child. All you’ve got to do is learn how to be cute, get attention, and cry when you’re hurt or hungry. Learning how to be a teenager is much harder; I’m not sure anybody’s good at it. I certainly wasn’t. As for becoming an adult, I’ve been working on that for decades and making very, very slow progress.

Everything gets harder as you get older, and becoming a good manager is no exception.

In fact, becoming a good manager is harder than all of those other phases combined. Why? Because, it not only depends on how much of an adult you’ve become, but how adult your employees are. Not to mention all the management and leadership skills that so-called experts and gurus aren’t even sure about - they debate this stuff all the time.

So, for all you relatively new, aspiring managers, and for those supposedly seasoned veterans who are honest enough with themselves to admit that they’re still trying to figure it out, here are three relatively critical but not necessarily intuitive tips I’ve learned by trial and lots of error along the way.

Try to act like a mature adult. As I alluded to above, the best managers are those rare individuals who actually behave like mature adults. What does that mean? It means being as honest, comfortable, and empathetic with your own issues and shortcomings as you are with your strengths and skills. Only then can you do the same for others, and that’s what good managers do.

Do the work - hands on. Work your tail off learning the basics of your trade and industry, whatever that is, while you still can - before you get promoted and lose the opportunity. Why? No matter how smart you are, that’s the only way to get hands-on experience that will engender respect from employees and help you to make effective management decisions down the road.

Become adept at 5 things: finance, selling, presenting, negotiating, and business communications.

Finance. I don’t care if you manage engineering, HR, IT, sales, whatever, you need to learn about finance. Why? Because that’s how companies are run and how business works. Period.

Selling. To sell your own programs internally you have to learn how to open doors, help constituents and peers to make informed decisions, and close deals.

Presenting. It’s hard to imagine your career going anywhere unless you can deliver an effective presentation. Unfortunately, most of us aren’t born with the presentation gene.

Negotiating. Negotiation skills are critical to resolving conflicts, driving consensus among peers and other key constituents, and developing your own career.

Communicating. Great managers are also great communicators; it’s a critical success skill. Unfortunately, they don’t teach you about business communications in school.

http://www.bnet.com/blog/ceo/aspiring-managers-learn-to-behave-like-adults/2833?tag=content;drawer-container

10 Things That Good Bosses Do By Steve Tobak | October 22, 2010

2011-10-22T19:31:00.000+07:00

10 Things That Good Bosses Do
By Steve Tobak | October 22, 2010

As we discovered in 7 Signs You May Be a Bad Manager, bosses aren’t usually aware that they are bad bosses. The fact is that nobody wants to believe they’re the problem. Nevertheless, there’s a bell curve for all things involving people, which means there are few really bad bosses, few really good bosses, and most of you fall somewhere in the middle.

To me that says, for the vast majority of you, there’s lots of room for improvement.

So, if you’re not exhibiting any of the 7 Signs, that’s great, pat yourself on the back. Still, if you really want to up your management game, maybe even vault into the executive or ownership ranks someday, you’d better start doing at least a few of these 10 Things That Good Bosses Do.

Incidentally, this isn’t from some academic study. These are real attributes of real bosses, culled from decades of observation, which motivate and inspire employees to perform at their best.
Pay people what they’re worth, not what you can get away with. What you lose in expense you gain back several-fold in performance.
Take the time to share your experiences and insights. Labels like mentor and coach are overused. Let’s be specific here. Employees learn from those generous enough to share their experiences and insights. They don’t need a best friend or a shoulder to cry on.
Tell it to employees straight, even when it’s bad news. To me, the single most important thing any boss can do is to man up and tell it to people straight. No BS, no sugarcoating, especially when it’s bad news or corrective feedback.
Manage up … effectively. Good bosses keep management off employee’s backs. Most people don’t get this, but the most important aspect of that is giving management what they need to do their jobs. That’s what keeps management away.
Take the heat and share the praise. It takes courage to take the heat and humility to share the praise. That comes naturally to great bosses; the rest of us have to pick it up as we go.
Delegate responsibility, not tasks. Every boss delegates, but the crappy ones think that means dumping tasks they hate on workers, i.e. s**t rolls downhill. Good bosses delegate responsibility and hold people accountable. That’s fulfilling and fosters professional growth.
Encourage employees to hone their natural abilities and challenge them to overcome their issues. That’s called getting people to perform at their best.
Build team spirit. As we learned before, great groups outperform great individuals. And great leaders build great teams.
Treat employees the way they deserve to be treated. You always hear people say they deserve respect and to be treated as equals. Well, some may not want to hear this, but a) respect must be earned, and b) most workers are not their boss’s equals.
Inspire your people. All the above motivate people, but few bosses have the ability to truly inspire their employees. How? By sharing their passion for the business. By knowing just what to say and do at just the right time to take the edge off or turn a tough situation around. Genuine anecdotes help a lot. So does a good sense of humor.

All this adds up to an environment where people feel appreciated, recognized, challenged, and appropriately compensated. So what do you think? How do you measure up on the good boss scale?

http://www.bnet.com/blog/ceo/10-things-that-good-bosses-do/5868?tag=content;drawer-container

The Relationship Mirage.

2011-10-21T19:31:00.000+07:00

The Relationship Mirage

Posted by Doug Weaver on October 19th, 2011 at 4:46 pm

A good friend in the industry recently sent me “Selling is Not About Relationships,” a Harvard Business Review blog post by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson. If the subversively counter-intuitive headline doesn’t grab you, the inherent logic of the post and its supporting research surely will. And if you’re hiring sales talent in the digital world, pay close attention.

Through their organization, Corporate Executive Board, Dixon and Adamson studied more than 6,000 sellers across 100 companies and multiple industries and organized them by selling style into five distinct categories: Relationship Builders, Hard Workers, Lone Wolves, Reactive Problem Solvers and Challengers. Of these five groups, Challengers — those who “…use their deep understanding of their customers’ business to push their thinking (and are) not afraid to share even potentially controversial views…” — make up fully 40% of all effective, high performance sellers, regardless of industry. Relationship builders? They’re the least represented of any group among high performers: dead last, with only 7% of all star performers.

How can this be? Sales is all about relationships, right?

Many publishers have created dual strategies to serve these environments. The CRO and sales team drive the right-brain direct sale effort. The left-brain effort is largely outsourced to a huge cast of players (it takes a village) who manage what is collectively called “the remnant strategy” or “secondary market.”

The truth is that relationship sellers often cater to and support their existing relationships to the point where they begin enabling them. They’ll often give the customer the short term “want” rather than exposing the deeper, long term “need.” And it seems to me that relationship sellers often do best work in tight, confined spaces, where there’s a well-defined buying channel: better yet, a single decision maker.

Challengers, on the other hand, use point of view and fresh thinking to positively disrupt the environment. In my mind, they’ll succeed bigger and faster but — perhaps more importantly — when they fail, they’ll fail faster too. What they won’t do is tread water and be put in a subservient position out of deference to “the relationship.” We’re also in a world where the digital media seller (and media sellers in general) will increasingly have to embrace enterprise selling: navigating through big, complex organizations filled with people with whom you don’t yet have relationships . In those kinds of environments, I’ll bet on the challengers to create engagement and traction, while the relationship sellers may end up wondering why they can’t get their calls returned.

For those who may be thinking, “but digital media and marketing are different,” you’re right. There’s a ton of complexity here, lots and lots of moving parts and shifting alliances. So let’s factor in “complexity of sale” into the equation. When you do, Challengers make up 54% of all high performance sellers; Relationship Builders fall to 4% of the total.

In our business, the safest move is always to hire the Rolodex, the rep with the contacts…the relationships. But with those sellers demanding huge hiring premiums today, isn’t it time to break the cycle? Let’s find some Challengers and give them a go.

Posted by Doug Weaver on October 19th, 2011 at 4:46 pm

http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2011/10/19/the-relationship-mirage/?ref=IMEDIANEWS

Anything Is Possible

2011-10-18T07:11:00.002+07:00

Anything Is Possible
Anything is possible (when you believe)
Anything is possible (do you believe?)
Anything is possible (believe!)

What’s your dream
that sometimes seems impossible?
Let the voices fade
that tell you it’s improbable
Hold on to what you love
Hold on to what you Dream of
and you will be unstoppable!

Anything is possible (when you believe)
Anything is possible (do you believe?)
Anything is possible (believe!)

What’s your dream
that sometimes seems illogical?
When you try and fall
your Dream can feel intangible
Chin up, try again!
Stand up and carry on!
and your Dream will become visible!

Anything is possible (when you believe)
Anything is possible (do you believe?)
Anything is possible (believe!)

Hey, hey, I believe!
Hey, hey, I believe!
Hey, hey, I believe
that I am unstoppable, because…

©2011 jen hannah

http://www.nimbitmusic.com/jenhannah/#grateful

Everyone is a Teacher

2011-10-17T07:24:00.000+07:00

Everyone is a Teacher

It’s rarely a surprise to learn that successful people are lifelong learners. The amount of information that’s available in our world is growing at a mind-numbing pace. People who have more information gain a tremendous advantage over people who don’t. What many people don’t realize is that successful people are also usually teachers, as well.

Forms of Teaching

There’s a saying that I share in my annual seminar, Breakthrough to Success: “Be a student to those above you, a fellow traveler to those at the same level, and a teacher to those below you.” In other words, everyone is a teacher.

Here are 4 common ways you can play the role of teacher.

BEing. By simply BE-ing who you are, you can teach others by example. Whether it’s demonstrating grace under pressure, fearlessly pursuing your goals, or simply existing in a place of love and joy, being yourself can be one of the most powerful ways of teaching.

Sharing. Even a simple conversation or passing comment can contain a nugget of wisdom that will profoundly change the life of someone else. People sometimes limit what they’ll share with others for fear of overstepping their bounds, being too personal, being ridiculed or other reasons. If you have an impulse to share something with another person, follow your instinct.

Mentoring. Success Principle #44 is “Find a Wing to Climb Under.” In other words, find a mentor with whom you can study. If you want to achieve a goal, it helps to learn from someone who has already navigated the journey you want to take. Recognize that as a successful person, you can mentor others as they pursue the goals you’ve already achieved.

Study groups. The greatest gift you can give someone is a gift of empowerment and love. What could be more empowering than helping others get free of their limiting beliefs and giving them tools to create the life they truly want?

One way to facilitate this change in the world is to lead a Success Principles study group. You’d be amazed at how radically you can change a family, a team, or a business simply by having everyone use the same success principles at the same time. You don’t have to be a master of the principles; you merely need to be willing to facilitate the discussion. Click here to download free study guide to teaching the basic principles.

Formal teaching. If you want to impact the world in a bigger way, if you have a body of knowledge to share and/or if you are truly passionate about a subject, you may feel called to offer seminars or workshops. Teaching is my core genius and one of my greatest joys, which is why I’ve been leading seminars since very early in my career.

When I recognized that I was ready to impact the world in a bigger way, I started a Train-the-Trainer program so I could personally teach and mentor a small number of people each year how to teach others the Success Principles. Students and graduates of this program include everyone from professional speakers and trainers to managers, business owners, and parents who want to share these valuable principles in more structured ways within their companies and homes.

A Key to Mastery

High achievers often teach from a place of service. They know that the information they have may be exactly what someone else needs to achieve a goal. Because they have an abundance mindset, they recognize that by freely sharing what they know, their generosity will be returned tenfold by the universe.

But teaching can also benefit you directly by helping you develop a deeper understanding and mastery of a topic. To share what you’ve learned, you must clarify your ideas, confront inconsistencies in your own thinking, and more closely walk your talk. Most importantly, teaching requires you to read, study and speak the information repeatedly, which reinforces your own learning. “If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it. If you want to master something, teach it.” ~ Yogi Bhajan

The World Needs You

You are a unique individual, and the lessons you have learned over the course of your life make you a unique teacher. High achievers learn from every experience, not merely from formal learning opportunities, such as attending seminars or reading books.

The lessons you can synthesize from your many experiences are invaluable. By being willing to share what you have learned, whether through informal chats or more formal encounters, such as seminars, you’ll contribute greatly to the success of the people you touch and the world as a whole.

http://www.jackcanfield.com/articles/career-a-business/item/1050.html

5 Ways to Increase Self-Esteem

2011-10-17T07:23:00.000+07:00

5 Ways to Increase Self-Esteem

“I need to increase my self-esteem” is a statement I hear often from my students. Their belief is that once their self-esteem is higher, they’ll be able to achieve more and become greater successes.

While it’s true that a high self-esteem can assist you in creating the life you dream of, the mistake most people make is how they think about self-esteem. It’s not a thing to be increased or decreased, although that is the common terminology. Instead, self-esteem is a verb; it’s the process of esteeming yourself.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, esteem means “to set a high value on: regard highly and prize accordingly.” In other words, the process of boosting your self-esteem starts with deciding that you are valuable and treating yourself as such.

5 Good Habits to Build

• Believe in yourself. The first step in creating greater self-esteem is to believe in yourself. It’s your responsibility to take charge of your own self-concept and your beliefs – including belief in your worth, your talent, your abilities, and your potential.

• Identify 9 major successes. Research has repeatedly shown that the more you acknowledge your past success, the more confident you become in taking on and successfully accomplishing new ones. A simple way to start this process is to take an inventory of your major success. Divide your life into three time periods – from birth to 15, 16 to 30, and 31 to 45. The list three major successes from each time period.

To really convince yourself that you’re a successful person who can continue to achieve great things, keep going with your list. See if you can identify 100 or more of your life successes.

• Keep a victory log. Recall and write down your successes each day. This will log them into your long-term memory, enhancing your self-esteem and self-confidence. Whenever you need a boost of self-confidence, reread what you have written. Keeping and referring to your victory log keeps you focused on your successes instead.

• Display success symbols. What you see in your environment has a psychological impact on your moods, attitudes and behavior. Surround yourself with awards, pictures and other objects that remind you of your successes. Create a special place in your home – such as a hallway, shelf or even the top of your refrigerator – to display your symbols. This will subtly program you to see yourself as someone who has consistent successes in life.

• Keep your agreements. One of the most commonly overlooked ways to boost self-esteem is to keep your word. Every agreement you make is ultimately to yourself, even those that involve other people. Your brain registers agreements as commitments. If you don’t follow through, you learn to not trust yourself. You lose integrity and faith in your ability to produce a result. Don’t undermine your sense of personal power – keep your commitments.

Increase Your Capacity to Take a Risk

To understand the importance of esteeming yourself, imagine you were playing poker. If you have 10 chips and I have 200 chips, who do you think will play more conservatively? You will, of course, because the stakes are higher for you. Two losing bets of five chips each would put you out of the game. I, on the other hand, could lose five chips 40 times before I was out.

Your self-esteem is like a stack of poker chips. The higher it is, the more willing and able you are to take the risks that will lead you to greater success. Use the ideas shared in this article to create and maintain the high levels of self-esteem you need to get where you want to be.

http://www.jackcanfield.com/articles/career-a-business/item/1051.html

Put the Action in Attraction

2011-10-17T07:20:00.001+07:00

Put the Action in Attraction

When activated, the Law of Attraction can make it effortless to achieve your dreams. But many people are missing a key ingredient that negates all of the important inner work they do – action!

Law of Attraction teachers Esther and Jerry Hicks, speak often about the importance of the inner journey and the action journey, explaining that one hour of internal work has the same impact as seven hours of taking action in the outer world.

The problem is that many people spend so much time on inner work, that they fail to spend adequate time in action. Balance between inner and outer work is essential.

Here are 5 ways you can move into action – starting today:

1. Develop a strategic action plan. By creating a detailed list of every action steps that you need to achieve each goal, you’ll find it easier to move into action. You won’t waste time wondering what to do – you’ll see it clearly laid out before you. In addition to creating action plans to achieve your goals, identify steps to take to overcome every one of your obstacles – both inner and outer.

2. Follow the trail. Identifying what action steps you need to take doesn’t have to be difficult. After all, other people have blazed a trail for you to follow. If you want to shorten your learning curve, find someone who has achieved the goal you’re pursing. Ask them what steps they took to achieve success … then follow their lead.

3. Rule of 5. When Mark Victor Hansen and I published our first Chicken Soup for the Soul book, we were overwhelmed with possibilities and ideas for making the book a best-seller. A wonderful teacher, Ron Scolastico, shared a powerful piece of wisdom. “If you would go every day to a very large tree and take five swings at it with a very sharp ax, no matter how large the tree, it would have to come down!” From that lesson came the Rule of 5, which simply means that every day, you must do five specific things to move your goal toward completion. (Daily utilization of our new Top 5 Action Cards is the simplest way to ensure that you are taking meaningful, daily action to achieve your goals.)

4. Involve others. If you’ve developed a habit of spending too much time involved with inner work, it’s easy to let yourself slip when it comes to taking action. Sharing your specific commitments with another person can be powerful in ensuring that you follow through on what you vow to do. An accountability partner is someone who meets with you daily by telephone to share your commitments for the day – and to hold you accountable for meeting your goals. A coach can also help to hold you accountable, as well as help you explore what might be fueling your behavior when you don’t keep your commitments. Finally, a business partner can be a tremendous support. I am blessed to be business partners with Patty Aubery, holds me accountable, as well as motivates and inspires me when I’m feeling funky. I do the same for her. We each have unique skills and talents that we bring to our partnership, and we keep each other in action.

5. Check your beliefs. Many of us have beliefs that limit our success – including beliefs about our ability to take action, about our capabilities, and about what it takes to succeed. Take time to identify any negative beliefs that might be impeding your desire or ability to take action, such as If you find that you have negative beliefs regarding action – such as “It doesn’t matter what I do, it’s not going to work anyway.”

Chapter 33 of The Success Principles includes powerful exercises to shift limiting beliefs.

In addition, I’ll offer you something that I use myself: A small sign on my computer that says, “So what? Do it anyway.” So what if you’re afraid? So what if it’s expensive? So what if you’ve never done it before? So what if you don’t have all the information? Do it anyway, because once you take action, you’ll get feedback, and feedback tells you how to do it better.

Remember, the last six letters in the word “attraction” are “action.” If you want to achieve results, you cannot only work on your internal world. You must also take action!

http://www.jackcanfield.com/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=items&id=1037:put-the-action-in-attraction

Go the Extra Mile For Greater Success

2011-10-17T07:18:00.001+07:00

Go the Extra Mile For Greater Success

If you want to really excel in business, school and life, go the extra mile. Give the people around you – your customers, your team, your family – more than they expect, and you’ll be handsomely rewarded with loyalty, referrals, opportunity and money.

Successful people go the extra mile – and they stand out as a result. They get the promotions and the loyal customers. They grow their businesses twice as fast and attract the best employees. They receive financial rewards and job security. Best of all, they go home at night feeling satisfied and bursting with self-confidence.

Don’t Focus on WIIFM
In Marketing 101, you learn that customers are always thinking “What’s In It For Me?” Although this might be common thinking, it’s the kiss of death when it comes to success.

If you want to excel, stop focusing on what’s in it for you. Don’t worry about whether it’s fair to give more when you’re not being compensated or recognized for it. Don’t adopt the “it’s not my job” mentality. This type of attitude shows that you’re focused on yourself, but you’ll see bigger results more quickly if you make other people the focus of your attention.

Going the extra mile shows that you pay attention to detail, that you consider all the small things that really make a business successful, that you care about your image, and that you belong with all the other people who work hard to achieve. You will attract new business and new opportunities.

4 Questions to Ask
Here are four simple questions that can help you evaluate how well you’re putting this principle into play in your life:
What do most people expect? To know how to exceed expectations, you first have to know what expectations are. What level of service do customers expect? What do your vendors want? How about your employees or master mind partners? Look at every important relationship you have, and discover what the minimum expectations are.
Take a candid look at your performance. Do you exceed expectations? Do you surprise people with more than they were expecting from you? Do you look for ways that you could be of more service, or for projects that you could help out on? Or are you skating by, meeting expectations and providing average value?
How are you willing to go the extra mile? What kind of extra service are you willing to provide in order to stand out from the rest? If you aren’t 100 percent willing to deliver service above and beyond expectations, why not?
What can you do to exceed expectations? What added service would your customers love, but don’t expect? How could you better serve your boss and company? How could you provide more value to your students? When Mike Foster ran a computer store, he never let anyone walk out of the store without a box of components. He delivered the computer, printer, modem and other components. He then spent two hours setting up the system and training the customer how to use it. He wildly exceeded customer expectations, and his store dominated his local industry as a result.

Hard Workers Become Success Stories
Listen to any success story and you will hear of someone who worked exceptionally hard to get what they wanted. You’ll hear how they put in the extra time, did what wasn’t part of their job description, and over-delivered on what was asked of them. You’ll hear how they stuck at it until they broke through, and usually you’ll hear how it only took them a couple of years to do it.

What have you been doing for the past couple of years? The same thing? How quickly have you advanced? How quickly has time gone by? Think of what you could accomplish if you made it a habit to exceed everyone’s expectations. Image what doors could be open to you if you decided to be of better service and value.

Be willing to treat everyone like you’d treat your dearest friend. Don’t skimp on service. Don’t be mediocre or run of the mill. Show people what you are capable of. Show them that you care about your image and reputation. When it comes to success, the people who are willing to go the extra mile get there that much faster!

http://www.jackcanfield.com/articles/career-a-business/item/1015.html

Go the Extra Mile For Greater Success

2011-10-17T07:18:00.000+07:00

Seven Qualities of Master Achievers by Brian Tracy

2011-10-17T07:15:00.002+07:00

Seven Qualities of Master Achievers by Brian Tracy

If you think the way successful people think and adopt their success habits, you too can be successful. Here are seven qualities of the top 1% of successful people.

They Are Ambitious
They see themselves capable of being the best. They see themselves with the capacity of being really good at what they do. This was a really big thought for me. It held me back for many years. When I saw people who were doing better than I was, I naturally assumed they were better than I was. And if they were better than I was, then I must be worse than them, so that would mean they were superior and I was inferior. That is a big problem in our society.

We have feelings of inferiority, and these feelings of inferiority are often translated into feelings of undeservedness. We don’t feel we deserve to be a big success. The word “deserve” comes from two Latin words meaning “from service.” You deserve 100% of everything you make and enjoy as long as you get it from serving other people. Your rewards are in direct proportion to your service. If you serve better and serve more and serve at a higher level and serve more enthusiastically and serve a higher quality, then you’ll have a wonderful income and you’ll deserve every penny of it. You must see yourself capable of being the best.

They Are Courageous
They work to confront the fears that hold most people back. The two biggest enemies to your and my success are fear and doubt. Eliminating fear and doubt is the key. The key to eliminating fear: If you want to develop courage, then simply act courageously when it’s called for. When you do something repeatedly, you develop a habit. Make a habit throughout your life of doing the things you fear. If you do the thing you fear, the death of fear is certain. To overcome fear of rejection in prospecting, you must realize that rejection in selling is not personal. Top salespeople do not fear prospecting. Face your fear. Do the things you fear. The ability to confront your fear is the mark of the superior person. If you have high ambition and you decide to be in the top 10%, and you can confront your fears and do the things that are holding you back, those two things alone will make you a great success.

They Are Committed
The top people in every field, especially the top salespeople, are completely committed. They believe in themselves; they believe in their companies; they believe in their products and services; they believe in their customers; they have an intense belief. We know that there is a one-to-one relationship between the depth of your belief and what happens in your reality. And if you absolutely believe in the rightness and the goodness of what you’re doing, you become like a catalyst. You create what is called a transfer, like an electrical transfer of enthusiasm. People like to buy from people who truly believe in what they are doing. People who are not committed to what they do lead very empty lives. The second part is that caring is the critical element in modern selling. Caring is a critical element in life, as well. All men and women who enjoy great lives care about what they do! They have passion about what they do. They love what they do.

They Are Professional
Top salespeople see themselves as consultants rather than as salespeople. When you think of the word “consultant,” what words come to mind? When do you call a consultant? A consultant is a problem-solver. What word does not appear when you think of a consultant—the word “salesperson.” We don’t think of consultants as salespeople. The most successful consultants in America are the very best salespeople of their services. When a person is positioned as a consultant in the mind and heart of the customer, he is not seen as a salesperson. Do people like to be sold? Do people like to be helped to improve their lives and work? So they look upon a salesperson as someone who sells them. Selling is something you do “to” someone, and people don’t like to be done to.

So when you think of being a consultant, here is the key. How do you position yourself as a consultant with your customers? Of course, you act like a consultant, but even before you get the chance to act like a consultant, you build a rapport. And the most simple answer of all, and this is the most profound principle: People accept you at your own evaluation of yourself. Consultants come in and have a cup of coffee. Salespeople wait in the waiting room and have a glass of water. If you say you’re a consultant, your customer will accept you as a consultant. From now on, position yourself as a consultant. Think of yourself as a consultant. Remember, 80% of what you accomplish on the outside is determined by who you are on the inside. How you see yourself determines how the customer responds to you. The customer’s perception of you determines how much they buy and how much they recommend you to other customers.

They Are Prepared
They review every detail in advance. To be in the top 10% requires additional efforts. It requires doing things that the average person is not willing to do. It requires making sacrifices the average person is not willing to make. It requires reviewing every detail of every call or situation before every business meeting. But the difference it makes is extraordinary. Before you go into a meeting, do your homework. Successful people are more concerned about pleasing results than they are about pleasing methods. When you sit down with a client, there is nothing more complimentary to a client than the feeling that you have prepared for the meeting.

They Are Continuous Learners
They recognize that if they’re not continually getting better, they’re getting worse. They read, they listen to CDs and they take additional training. The professional never stops learning. So read, listen to CDs, take continuous training.

They Are Responsible
They see themselves as president of their own personal services corporation. The top people in our society have an attitude of self-employment. We are presidents of our own personal services corporation. You work for yourself. The biggest mistake we can ever make is to think we work for anyone else. We work for ourselves. The person who signs our paycheck may change; our jobs may change, but we are always the same. We are the one constant—we are always self-employed. The fact of the matter is—this is not optional, it is mandatory—you are the president of your own company, you’re the president of your own career, your own life, your own finances, your own body, your own family, your own health. You are totally responsible. We are responsible. No one will ever do it for us. It’s the most liberating and exhilarating thought of all, to think that you’re the president of your own life.

SUCCESS Publisher Darren Hardy presents The New Mentor Package, with his top-selling Living Your Best Year Ever success planning system and three of Jim Rohn’s best-selling CD programs: Challenge to Succeed, The Art of Exceptional Living and Take Charge of Your Life. Plus receive 2 Special Bonuses—ONLY $147! Click here now for complete details or to order!

http://www.yoursuccessstore.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=1647&utm_source=ya_2011-07-20&utm_medium=email&utm_content=articlebutton&utm_campaign=ezines

Are You Living Your Passion?

2011-10-17T07:06:00.001+07:00

Are You Living Your Passion?

If you want to be fulfilled, happy, content, and experience inner peace and ultimate fulfillment, it’s critical that you discover your purpose. Without a purpose as the compass to guide you, your goals and action plans may not ultimately fulfill you.

I believe that each of us is born with a life purpose. Identifying, acknowledging, and honoring this purpose is perhaps the most important action successful people take. They take the time to understand what they’re here to do – and then they pursue that with passion and enthusiasm.

For some of us, our purpose is obvious and clear. We’re born with a set of talents and through persistent practice, we develop our talents into skills.

My children are prime examples. It was clear from the moment they got on the planet what they were interested in. One son wanted to draw all the time, and he is now in the art world. Another son was always tapping out rhythms on paint cans and dishes, and he’s now in the music world, along with one of his brothers. My daughter is in the literary world, and my stepson is definitely in the business world. They had natural talents that were clear indicators for what they ended up ultimately being passionate about.

For some people, though, it’s not as easy to identify a passion. Alternatively, you may enjoy what you do, but on deeper exploration, discover that you’re passionate about something altogether different than what you do. There are two processes that I’ve found to be extremely helpful in discovering – and living – your passion.

The Life Purpose Exercise

The Success Principles describes a simple process that can help you identify your passion in as little as 10 minutes.

The process involves answering three questions:
1. “What are two qualities I most love expressing in life?” For me, it would be love and joy.
2. “What are two ways I most love expressing those qualities?” For me, it’s inspiring people with stories like the Chicken Soup books and empowering people through my live trainings, home study courses, books, DVDs and teleseminars.
3. “What would the world look like if it were perfect right now, according to me?” For me, it would be that everyone was living their highest vision in the context of love and joy.

Once you have answers to all three questions, you can combine them into a single statement. My life purpose is to inspire and empower people to live their highest vision in the context of love and joy, and for the highest good of all concerned.

To identify ways that you can live your passion, ask yourself this additional question: “On a scale of 1 to 10, how actively am I living this passion, or how actively am I living this purpose?”

If your answer is anything less than a 10, ask yourself, “What would I have to do to make it a 10?” The answers that you come up with are the action steps you need to take so that you can begin living your passions on a day-to-day level.

The Passion Test

Developed by Chris and Janet Attwood, the passion test is a simple, yet elegant, process. You start by filling in the blank 15 times for the following statement: “When my life is ideal, I am ___.” The word(s) you choose to fill in the blank must be a verb.

When Janet took me through the process, my statements looked like this:
My life is ideal when I’m being of service to massive numbers of people.
My life is ideal when I’m helping people with their vision.
My life is ideal when I’m speaking to large groups.
My life is ideal when I’m being part of a spiritual leaders network.
My life is ideal when I’m creating a core group of ongoing trainers who feel identified with my organization.
Once you’ve created 15 statements, you identify the top 5 choices. To do this, you compare statements #1 and #2 to identify which is most important. Take the winner of that comparison and decide whether it’s more or less important than statement #3. Then take the winner of that comparison, and decide whether it’s more or less important than statement #4, and so on until you’ve identified the passion that is most meaningful to you. Repeat the process with the remaining 14 statements to identify your second choice. Then repeat the process until you’ve pinpointed your top 5 passions.

Next, create markers for each of your top five passions, so that you can look at your life and easily tell whether you are living that passion. For me, a marker would be “When I’m helping people live their vision I’m giving at least 20 workshops a year for at least 10,000 people total, and at each event, people are coming up afterwards and saying, ‘You’ve really empowered me to live my vision.’”

One you know what your passions are and how your life will look when you are living it, you can create action plans to turn your dreams into reality.

To learn more about this process, I highly recommend the Attwoods’ book, The Passion Test.

Just Lean Into It

Once you identify your passion, you don’t need to overhaul your life completely and all at once. Instead, follow Success Principles #24 and “Lean into it.” Start living your passion, and stay in tune to the feedback you’re receiving and how you’re feeling. Adjust how you’re living your passion, until you feel that you’re living in bliss.

I’ve recently created a new DVD called Discover Your Soul Purpose specifically designed to assist you in identifying your passion and creating plans on how you can be expressing and living your life’s purpose. To learn more about this exciting DVD click here.

http://www.jackcanfield.com/articles/personal-growth-a-spirituality/item/1044.html

Jack Canfield’s Top 7 Success Tips

2011-10-17T07:05:00.000+07:00

Jack Canfield’s Top 7 Success Tips

1.) Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life. One of the greatest myths that is pervasive in our culture today is that you are entitled to a great life-that somehow, somewhere, someone is responsible for filling our lives with continual happiness, exciting career options, nurturing family time and blissful personal relationships simply because we exist. But the real truth is that there is only one person responsible for the quality of the life you live. That person is YOU.

2.) Be Clear Why You’re Here. I believe each of us is born with a life purpose. Identifying, acknowledging and honoring this purpose is perhaps the most important action successful people take. They take the time to understand what they’re here to do-and then they pursue that with passion and enthusiasm.

3.) Decide What You Want. One of the main reasons why most people don’t get what they want is they haven’t decided what they want. They haven’t defined their desires in clear and compelling detail...What does success look like to you?

4.) Believe It’s Possible. Scientists used to believe that humans responded to information flowing into the brain from the outside world. But today, they’re learning instead that we respond to what the brain, based on previous experience, expects to happen next...In fact, the mind is such a powerful instrument, it can deliver to you literally everything you want. But you have to believe that what you want is possible.

5.) Believe in Yourself. If you are going to be successful in creating the life of your dreams, you have to believe that you are capable of making it happen...Whether you call it self-esteem, self-confidence or self-assurance, it is a deep-seated belief that you have what it takes-the abilities, inner resources, talents and skills to create your desired results.

6.) Become an Inverse Paranoid. Imagine how much easier it would be to succeed in life if you were constantly expecting the world to support you and bring you opportunity. Successful people do just that.

7.) Unleash the Power of Goal Setting. Experts on the science of success know the brain is a goal-seeking organism. Whatever goal you give to your subconscious mind, it will work day and night to achieve...To engage you subconscious mind, a goal has to be measurable. When there are no criteria for measurement, it is simply something you want, a wish, a preference, a good idea.

http://www.jackcanfield.com/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=items&id=235:jack-canfields-top-7-success-tips-

Cokelat Turunkan Resiko Wanita Terserang Stroke

2011-10-13T22:06:00.000+07:00

Cokelat Turunkan Resiko Wanita Terserang Stroke
Tribunnews.com - Kamis, 13 Oktober 2011 17:40 WIB

TRIBUNNEWS.COM - Anda penggemar cokelat? Jika iya, berbahagialah Anda karena sebuah penelitian menyebutkan, banyak makan cokelat ternyata dapat menurunkan resiko stroke pada wanita.

Penelitian yang melibatkan 33.000 wanita Swedia ini menambah fakta yang mengatakan bahwa kakao ternyata baik untuk kesehatan jantung.

Peneliti dari Karolinska Institut di Stockholm menganalisis data dari sebuah studi mamografi yang mencakup laporan diri berapa banyak wanita makan cokelat pada tahun 1997. Para wanita tersebut berkisar di usia 49-83 tahun.

Peneliti menemukan selama dekade berikutnya, ada 1.549 kasus stroke, dan para wanita yang makan lebih banyak cokelat memiliki risiko yang lebih rendah terserang stroke.

Asupan coklat tertinggi pada waktu itu adalah konsumsi 45 gram cokelat per minggu. Sementara yang rendah hanya 8,9 gram per minggu.

Meski demikian pemimpin penelitian Susanna Larsson mengatakan, bahwa penelitian ini belumlah sepenuhnya bisa diterapkan di kehidupan nyata. "Mengingat desain penelitian observasional, temuan dari studi ini tidak dapat membuktikan bahwa cokelat itu yang menurunkan risiko stroke," jelasnya.

Sebab menurut Larsson meskipun kakao baik bagi jantung, konsumsi cokelat dalam jumlah tak wajar juga akan memberi efek kontraproduktif. "Jadi penelitian ini tidak memberikan free pass untuk Anda menyantap cokelat," tambahnya.

Stroke adalah suatu kondisi medis yang serius yang terjadi ketika pasokan darah ke bagian otak terputus. Orang berusia di atas usia 65 tahun adalah yang paling berisiko terserang stroke. (Sumber: Sehatnews.com)

Editor: Dewi Agustina | Sumber: Sehat News
Akses Tribunnews.com lewat perangkat mobile anda melalui alamat m.tribunnews.com

Mau Lebih Sukses? Ikuti 4 Kebiasaan Ini

2011-10-13T22:04:00.000+07:00

Mau Lebih Sukses? Ikuti 4 Kebiasaan Ini
Tribunnews.com - Kamis, 13 Oktober 2011 21:16 WIB

TRIBUNNEWS.COM, JAKARTA — Dibandingkan dengan laki-laki, perempuan memiliki tantangan lebih besar dalam menjalankan karier atau bisnisnya. Maka wajar saja, perempuan kerap kali membutuhkan dukungan semangat dari sesamanya. Tak heran jika perempuan cenderung lebih banyak berbagi satu sama lain demi menyuntikkan semangat untuk menghadapi berbagai tantangan dalam pekerjaannya.

Anda mau tahu kebiasaan apa saja yang dapat membantu wanita meraih kesuksesan? Simak tips berikut ini:

1. Selalu percaya diri, tetapi tetap rendah hati
Perempuan memiliki kepercayaan diri yang tak kalah dengan laki-laki. Namun, kecenderungannya laki-laki sering kali terlalu percaya diri. Sedangkan perempuan cenderung menyeimbangkan kepercayaan dirinya dengan kerendahan hati.

Kimberly Roussel, entrepreneur sukses di Los Angeles, pemilik restoran 24 jam, klub di Hollywood, dan perusahaan katering berbagi kiatnya. Roussel meyakini, kepercayaan diri yang ditanamkan orangtuanya sejak kecil membuatnya lebih berani mengambil risiko dan mampu mengatasi rasa takut. Begitu rasa takut dan kekhawatiran mengenai berbagai hal teratasi, atau bahkan hilang, dunia lebih terbuka dengan Anda melalui berbagai cara yang tak pernah disangka, katanya.

2. Memonitor emosi
Emosi bisa menjadi sumber masalah di tempat kerja. Apalagi jika Anda tak mampu mengendalikan dan memonitor emosi. Boleh juga belajar dari pria mengenai sikapnya yang cenderung tak menanggapi suatu masalah secara personal. Karena dengan cara itu, Anda takkan terlibat dalam masalah emosi di tempat kerja.

Johnson Mandell, penulis buku best seller "Career Comeback" menyarankan jika emosi mulai menguasai diri di tempat kerja sebaiknya beri waktu untuk diri sendiri.

"Pergi saja ke toilet, tenangkan diri sendiri," jelas Mandell. Namun, jika hal ini terlalu sering dilakukan, artinya Anda selalu mengalami masalah emosi di kantor. Kalau sudah seperti itu, ada baiknya evaluasi kembali situasi kerja di kantor Anda. Boleh jadi bukan suasana hati Anda yang bermasalah, melainkan memang situasi kantor yang tak kondusif.

3. Terstruktur dan terorganisasi
Untuk mencapai target pekerjaan yang diharapkan, bahkan oleh diri Anda sendiri, Anda harus mengatur strategi. Lakukan semua pekerjaan dengan terstruktur dan terorganisasi dengan baik. Buat daftar pekerjaan yang harus Anda selesaikan setiap harinya, dan fokus untuk menuntaskannya dengan baik.

Samira Asemanfar, pendiri salon di Los Angeles, mengatakan, bekerja memerlukan persiapan. Dan, persiapan tersebut sudah dilakukan Asemanfar setiap sore.

"Saya selalu mengevaluasi diri setiap sore, apa yang sudah saya lakukan hari ini. Apa yang harus saya selesaikan besok, dan apa saja urutan pekerjaannya," tuturnya.

4. Meningkatkan kemampuan berkomunikasi
Perempuan secara alami memiliki kemampuan komunikasi. Bahkan, sosok perempuan introvert sekalipun mampu berkomunikasi. Meski begitu, kemampuan komunikasi pada perempuan tetap perlu ditingkatkan.

Kunci suksesnya bukan pada kemampuan berbicara, melainkan lebih kepada kehati-hatian dalam berbicara atau berkomunikasi. Agar sukses dalam pekerjaan, perhatikan hal detail, termasuk dalam berkomunikasi. Hindari salah bicara, atau salah menuliskan hal kecil yang berdampak terhadap pencitraan Anda.

Maseena Ziegler, penulis buku best seller di Hongkong berjudul "Ladies Who Launch in Hong Kong" mengatakan, tanamkan dalam diri bahwa Anda adalah perempuan cerdas, memiliki tutur bahasa yang baik, dan berkualitas. Sikap positif ini akan membantu Anda untuk menghindari berbagai kesalahan kecil dalam komunikasi, yang bisa merusak citra Anda. Karena jika terlalu sering berbuat kesalahan dalam ucapan atau saat berbicara, menunjukkan karakter yang tak teliti dan tidak mempedulikan sesuatu secara mendetail.

Editor: Dewi Agustina | Sumber: Kompas.com
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Food Timeline FAQs: Mesopotamia through Shakespeare

2011-09-24T21:53:00.003+07:00

Food Timeline FAQs: Mesopotamia through Shakespeare
Safe to eat?
First cooks?
Mesopotamia
Ancient Egypt
Bible food: New Testament
Anglo-Saxon/Norman food
Medieval fare
Marco Polo & the Merchants of Venice
Shakespeare's food (includes Romeo & Juliet)

Safe to eat?
How did the first peoples know which foods were "safe" to eat? Excellent question!
Food historians make educated guesses based on ancient records and modern practices. Based on this evidence, they presume foods were selected or rejected based on observation (they were avoided by the other animals in the area) in conjuction with basic trial and error (if it made the taster sick, it was unlikely others partook). Berries, nuts, fungus, and water sources were especially complicated and concernful.

Myths and legends perpetuated the warnings against consuming known poisonous foods. Advances in technology eventually resulted in the ability (again, probably a matter of trial and error) to modify potentially harmful foods into consumable staples. Meat was preserved; nuts were boiled, vegetables were peeled. Explorers throughout history employed similar techniques when foraging edibles in new environments.

"Considering how few plants are used by the great apes...as food, in comparison with the very great number eaten by primitive peoples in recent times, the experimental consumption of an ever-increasing variety of food-stuffs may be regarded as one of the important conquests of human evolution. Before the domestication of animals, it is unlikely that potential vegetable food would have been given to any other animal species first, to see what effect these would have (perhaps one of the earliest functions of the dog, besides scavenging, was an 'experimental' animal to test 'new' foods--a procedure known to have been practiced in some recent African communities). Thus, even with the exercise of considerable caution, it is likely that many degrees of food poisoning, from mild stomach disorders to death, occurred before man became fully aware of the limits of his food resources-- both plant and animal. It is, of course, impossible to gauge with any certainty as what stage in the million of years of human evolution the quest for a much wider food horizon began. Probably the utilization of new vegetable foodstuffs was a gradual development; it would obviously vary according to the plants available in a particular area. Although a simple knowledge of edible plant resources could be transmitted easily enough in Pleistocene times, it seems unlikely that special methods of food preparation were devised before the Neolithic cultural level. In the case of manioc tubers, for example, which are rich in starch, fat and protein, it is necessary to eliminate...hydrogen cyanide. In order to render them non-toxic, the roots need to be sliced or pulped, soaked in water for a day and the juice then expressed. Such a long, complicated procedure seems unlikely to be pre- Mesothilic in date..."
---Food in Antiquity, Don Brothwell and Patricia Brothwell [Johns Hopkins University Press:Baltimore] expanded edition, 1998 (p. 189-190)

http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq3.html

SO THAT THEY WILL ENDURE FOR MANY YEARS

2011-09-24T21:49:00.000+07:00

SO THAT THEY WILL ENDURE FOR MANY YEARS
by Rabbi Zushe Yosef Blech

Reprinted with permission of Rabbi Blech. Originally published in the MK Vaad News & Views, August 2000
When it comes to food, we generally consider fresh food to be best. We relish fresh fruits and vegetables to the extent that Chazal decreed a special blessing of thanksgiving ("Shehechiyanu") when we first partake of the new crop each season. However, fruits and many vegetables are generally harvested only once a year, and our preference for freshness must also give way to the need to preserve such foods for consumption during the rest of the year. Fruit, vegetables, milk and meat are very perishable, all the more so in the days before modern refrigeration. History is replete with innovations that allow food to be stored for long periods without spoiling. Some hearken back to the times of the Tanach, where they often played a pivotal role in the vicissitudes of history. Noach fermented grape juice into wine, allowing his sons to demonstrate the characteristics that would mark them for eternity. Yosef succeeded in dominating the entire world by developing a means of preserving grain during the seven years of famine (see Rashi, Bereishis 41:48). Yishai sent preserved milk in the form of rounds of cheese with Dovid to provision the army against the Philistines (the first c-rations!), allowing Dovid to be in the right place and the right time to slay Golyas. In modern times, NASA was only able to put a man on the moon after it developed "space food" for its astronauts. The means used to preserve food can result in entirely new foods (as in pickling, smoking, or sausage making), or in the maintenance of the original state of the food for a long period (such as in canning, freezing, and drying). Each process raises its own unique Kashrus concerns.

Our story begins about two hundred years ago with Napoleon Bonaparte�s famous dictum "An army marches on its stomach." Napoleon�s armies were in the process of conquering Europe, which entailed a lot of marching, and he needed a means of providing his French army with wholesome and palatable provisions. To this end he offered a 12,000-franc prize to anyone who could develop a means of preserving food for the army and navy, which was won French chef named Nicholas Appert in 1809. Mssr. Appert spent 14 years developing his new process, which he published under the title L'Art de conserver, pendant plusieurs années, toutes les substances animales et végétales (The Art of Preserving All Kinds of Animal and Vegetable Substances for Several Years). The process consisted of enclosing it hermetically sealed glass containers and heating it for a period of time. While he did not understand how the process worked (this would wait until Louis Pasteur explained that the heat sterilized the bacteria in the jar and thus prevented spoilage), he was nevertheless able to provision Napoleon�s army and begin the canning industry. In 1810 Peter Durand of England patented the use of tin-coated iron can instead of bottles, forming the basis of modern tin-coated steel cans used today. [The term "tin can" is a bit of misnomer, since only an extremely thin layer of tin covers the steel to prevent rust.] While the history of the process may be of only passing interest, the Kashrus issues relating to it are extremely topical.

http://www.kashrut.com/articles/canning/

Storage Life of Dried Foods

2011-09-24T21:46:00.000+07:00

Storage Life of Dried Foods

Introduction

Four Factors That Effect Food Storage
Temperature
Moisture Content
Container Atmosphere
Storage Container

Storage Life Notes About Specific Foods
The Soft Grains
Hard Grains
Beans
Dehydrated Vegetables
Dehydrated Dairy Products
Flours and Other Products Made From Cracked Seed
Pasta
Dehydrated Fruit
Honey, Salt and Sugar
Peanut Butter Powder
Brown and White Rice
Garden and Sprouting Seed
TVP® (Textured Vegetable Protein)
Yeast

Introduction
Determining the storage life of foods is at best an inexact science as there are so many variables. These range from the condition your food was in when you first purchased it and includes many other factors. This page was written with input by Mr. Stephen Portela who has over 30 years of professional food storage experience. This information should be used as a general guide only, and should not be followed "as the gospel truth" because your results may be different.

Four Factors that effect food storage:
Factor #1: The Temperature:
Temperature has more to do with how long well dried foods store than anything else. The USDA states, "Each 5.6 C. (10.08F) drop in temperature doubles the storage life of the seeds." Obviously, there is a limit as to how far this statement can be taken. However I expect it basically holds true from room temperature down to freezing. No doubt, the inverse could also be considered true. "Each 5.6C. (10.08F) rise in temperature halves the storage life of seeds." This theory holds true for non-garden seeds as well.
Storage Life Differences
Depending on Temperature
Constant Storage Storage life Temp in degrees F In Years ---------------- ------------ 39.76 - - - 40 49.84 - - - 30 59.92 - - - 20 70.00 - - - 10 80.08 - - - 5 90.16 - - - 2.5 100.24 - - 1.25
Note: the above chart is not for a specific food but shows the relationship between temperature and storage life.

Let's look at a couple of real life examples of good and poor food storage practices:
About a year ago we got an unopened paper bag of white flour which had been stored at 70 degrees F, in a dry climate. It had been sitting for 3 years in a closet. It made fine looking bread but had such an 'old' and bad flavor that it was difficult to eat. For another example, a couple of years ago in the Puget Sound area we were given a 4 gallon can of wheat that had been stored up high in a garage for about 30 years. This part of the country is not as hot as some places, yet in the summers the average garage still gets up into the 90's. Even though wheat will store for 30+ years under good conditions, the bread from this particular wheat was very bad tasting and after a few batches we ended up throwing the wheat away (something I always dislike doing).

The experts give brown rice a 6 month storage life because of all the oils in it that go rancid. Yet, Mr. Portela has been eating from a supply of brown rice that has been in his basement over 10 years. It is still wholesome! In another example, there is a family living near him who purchased a supply of food in #10 cans 30 years ago. Their basement hovers around 58 degrees F. After 28 years, Mr. Portela took a sample of many of these items to the Benson Institute at BYU to have it tested. The results can be seen at the bottom of Mr. Portela's welcome page. You will see everything tested had a 'good' to 'satisfactory' rating except for the eggs which had a 'minimum passing' rating. After 28 years I think it is most interesting that it passed at all. Mr. Portela tells me as 30 years have now passed, their storage is still in very good condition.

The bottom line is even with the very best packaging methods, if you are planning on storing your food in a warm environment, it will only last a fraction of the time it would last if stored in a cool, dry place. It is important you also find a place where the temperature remains constant. Frequent temperature changes shorten storage life. If you don't have a cool place for your food storage, plan on rotating your storage quickly enough to prevent food loss. See our underground storage area pages for ideas.

Factor #2: Product moisture content:
By looking at the USDA nutritional tables, dry beans, grains, and flours contain an average of 10% moisture. Although it is very difficult and unnecessary to remove all moisture from dry foods, it is imperative that any food be stored as dry as possible. Foods with excess moisture can spoil right in their containers. This is an important consideration when packing food with dry ice as moisture condenses and freezes on the outer surface of the dry ice. For long term storage, grains should have a moisture content of 10% or less. It is difficult to accurately measure this without special equipment. See the misc.survivalism faqs for a quick and easy way of getting a rough estimate of the water content in your foods.

Factor #3: Atmosphere the product is stored in:
Foods packed in air don't store as well as in oxygen free gasses. This is because air contains oxygen which oxidizes many of the compounds in food. Food storage companies have a couple of different processes for removing the oxygen:

Displacing the oxygen: This is done by purging out all the air in the product with an inert gas. Nitrogen is almost always used because it is the most inert gas known. People doing their own packing occasionally use dry ice which gives off carbon dioxide gas, and probably works just about as well.
Absorb the oxygen: Oxygen absorber packets do just that. Air contains about 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, leaving about 1% for the other gasses. If the oxygen is absorbed, what remains is 99% pure nitrogen in a partial vacuum.
If oxygen absorber packets are used, care must be taken to use a storage container that can stand some vacuum. As air is sucked into your container as the oxygen is absorbed, it reintroduces more oxygen that must be absorbed. Before long, the oxygen absorbers will have absorbed all the oxygen they can. Obviously, your product won't be oxygen free under these circumstances. We get around this problem with our plastic Super Pail buckets by purging the product first with nitrogen before tossing in the two oxygen absorber packets. This way the absorbers have little or no oxygen to absorb and don't create a vacuum within the pail. As cans work well under a partial vacuum, purging them with nitrogen isn't necessary before inserting the oxygen absorber packet and sealing the lid.

Seeds store better in nitrogen. On the other hand, seeds you plan on sprouting, such as garden seed, or seeds set aside for growing your own sprouts store better in air. For this reason we can our garden seed packs in air.

Factor #4: The container the product is stored in:
To get the best storage life out of your product it must have a hermetic (air tight) seal. Containers that do this well are:

#10 Cans
Sealable food storage buckets
Sealable food quality metal or plastic drums.
Whatever container you use, be sure it is food grade as your product can be tainted with whatever the container is made from. Plastic sacks are not good air tight containers, for even if they are sealed, the relatively thin plastic 'breathes,' allowing air to pass through. Paper sacks are of course even worse.

There is some concern as to how good a seal is made by the lids on plastic buckets used by food storage companies. Manufacturer studies show an extremely small amount of air transfer. This amount is so small, however, that it can be considered a hermetic seal. It has also been found that the lids can be re-used several times without dramatically degrading the performance of the seal.

People who purchase products from food storage providers are often concerned about receiving their buckets bulging or with one side collapsed in. Collapsed buckets occasionally occur when ordering from us as the elevation of our packing facility is above 6,000 feet. As the buckets are shipped to a lower elevation, the increased ambient air pressure can sometimes push in one side. If a side is popped in, it is a great indication that the bucket is indeed sealed. And this also holds true for buckets that might be under a slight amount of pressure. If either condition concerns you, crack the lid to equalize the air pressure. You can do this without seriously degrading the storageability of the product within the bucket. Remember to re-seal the lid after doing this.

Bulging cans: Some bulging cans have been returned to us. In almost every case, these cans held mixes that contained baking powder or soda. These cans were sent off for bacteria analysis and came back negative. It is believed that occasionally the extremely small amount of moisture found in the product interacts over time with the baking powder or soda and creates a small amount of carbon dioxide gas.

Storage Life Notes About Specific Foods:
Barley
Hulled or
Pearled Oat
Groats
Rolled Oats
Quinoa
Rye
The Soft Grains
Soft Grains have softer outer shells which don't protect the seed interior as well as hard shelled seeds and therefore won't store as long. Hermetically sealed in the absence of oxygen, plan on a storage life of 8 years at a stable temperature of 70 degrees F. They should keep proportionately longer if stored at cooler temperatures.

Buckwheat
Corn, Dry
Flax
Kamut
Millet
Durum wheat
Hard red wheat
Hard white wheat
Soft wheat
Special bake wheat
Spelt
Triticale
The Hard Grains
The Hard Grains all store well because of their hard outer shell which is nature's near perfect container. Remove that container and the contents rapidly deteriorate. Wheat, probably nature's longest storing seed, has been known to be edible after scores of years when stored in a cool dry place. As a general rule for hard grains, hermetically sealed in the absence of oxygen, plan on a storage life of 10-12 years at a stable temperature of 70 degrees F. They should keep proportionately longer if stored at cooler temperatures.

Adzuki Beans
Blackeye Beans
Black Turtle Beans
Garbanzo Beans
Great Northern
Kidney Beans
Lentils
Lima Beans
Mung Beans
Pink Beans
Pinto Beans
Small Red Beans
Soy Beans
Beans
As beans age they lose their oils, resist water absorbtion and won't swell. Worst case, they must be ground to be used. Storing beans in nitrogen helps prolong the loss of these oils as does cool temperatures. Hermetically sealed in the absence of oxygen, plan on a storage life of 8-10 years at a stable temperature of 70 degrees F. They should keep proportionately longer if stored at cooler temperatures.

Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Celery
Onions
Peppers
Potatoes
Dehydrated Vegetables
Dehydrated vegetables store well if hermetically sealed in the absence of oxygen. Plan on a storage life of 8-10 years at a stable temperature of 70 degrees F. They should keep proportionately longer if stored at cooler temperatures.

Cheese Powder
Cocoa Powder
Powder Eggs
Butter/margarine pdr
Powder Milk
Morning Moo
Whey Powder
Dehydrated Dairy Products
Dehydrated Dairy Products generally store very well if stored dry in hermetically sealed containers with the oxygen removed. Plan on a storage life of 15 years if stored at a stable temperature of 70 degrees F. They should keep proportionately longer if stored at cooler temperatures.

One exception is Morning Moo. As a new whey based product, it hasn't been tested for long term storage. Plan on rotating this product after 5 years.

All Purpose Flour
Bakers Flour
Unbleached Flour
White Flour
Whole Wheat Flour
Cornmeal
Mixes
Refried Beans
Cracked Wheat
Germade
Gluten
Granola
Wheat Flakes
Flours and Other Products
Made From Cracked/Ground Seed
After seeds are broken open their outer shells can no longer protect the seed contents and seed nutrients start to degrade. Don't try to store unprotected flours longer than a year. Hermetically sealed in the absence of oxygen, plan on a storage life of 5 years at a stable temperature of 70 degrees F. They should keep proportionately longer if stored at cooler temperatures. Note: Granola is not a long storing food because of the nuts. They contain high concentrations of oil which go rancid over the short term. Expect granola to last about 6-9 months.

Macaroni
Noodles
Ribbons
Spaghetti
Pasta
Pasta will store longer than flour if kept dry. Hermetically sealed in the absence of oxygen, plan on a storage life of 8 - 10 years at a stable temperature of 70 degrees F. Pasta should keep proportionately longer if stored at cooler temperatures.

Dehydrated Fruit
Fruit doesn't keep as well as many dehydrated items. Hermetically sealed in the absence of oxygen, plan on a storage life of 5 years at a stable temperature of 70 degrees F. They should keep proportionately longer if stored at cooler temperatures.

Honey, Salt and Sugar
Honey, Salt and Sugar should keep indefinitely if stored free of moisture. Watch out for additives in the honey. It is possible to buy honey with water and sugar added. This honey generally doesn't crystallize like pure 100% honey does when stored for a long time. If there are additives, there is no saying how long it will last.

Peanut Butter Powder
Peanut butter powder will not store as long as wheat flour. Hermetically sealed in the absence of oxygen, plan on a storage life of 4-5 years at a stable temperature of 70 degrees F. It should keep proportionately longer if stored at cooler temperatures.

Brown and White Rices
Brown and white rices store very differently. Brown rice is only expected to store for 6 months under average conditions. This is because of the essential fatty acids in brown rice. These oils quickly go rancid as they oxidize. It will store much longer if refrigerated. White rice has the outer shell removed along with those fats. Because of this, white rice isn't nearly as good for you, but will store longer. Hermetically sealed in the absence of oxygen, plan on a storage life for white rice of 8-10 years at a stable temperature of 70 degrees F. It should keep proportionately longer if stored at cooler temperatures. Stored in the absence of oxygen, brown rice will last longer than if it was stored in air. Plan on 1 to 2 years. It is very important to store brown rice as cool as possible, for if you can get the temperature down another ten degrees, it will double the storage life again.

Garden Seed or Sprouting Seed
All viable seeds are hibernating tiny living plants that only need moisture and warmth to sprout. And much like a chick in an egg, all the nutrients this little life needs to spring into existence is contained within it's shell. Like boiling an egg, heating a seed will kill that little life within it. However, unlike an egg, a seed can withstand cold temperatures. As seeds usually remain edible after the life within it dies, we must use different criteria when determining sproutable seed storage life. And again the big deciding factor is temperature. The big seed companies freeze their seed between seasons to promote long life. Of course, you can also do the same thing. Plan on a storage life of 4 years at a stable temperature of 70 degrees F. They should keep proportionately longer if stored at cooler temperatures. And remember, you want to store all of these seeds in air. Packed in nitrogen, the viability of some seeds will last longer than others. This is still to a large degree an unexplored science, and therefore we recommend you store all the seeds you plan on sprouting in air.

Alfalfa is a unique seed as it actually germinates better if the seed is 2 or 3 years old. Most any sample of alfalfa contains 'hard' seed and 'soft' seed. Soft seed germinates within two days while hard seed germinates in about a week. The problem is, by the time the soft seed sprouts are ready to harvest, the hard seed may not have germinated yet. As storage time draws on, the hard seed turns into soft seed. Older seed germinates closer together. Stored in cool conditions, alfalfa seed should have a good percentage of germination up until it is 8 years old.

Textured Vegetable Protein
Textured Vegetable Protein, made from soy beans, has an unusually long storage life. Hermetically sealed in the absence of oxygen, plan on a storage life of 15-20 years at a stable temperature of 70 degrees F. TVP should keep proportionately longer if stored at cooler temperatures.

Yeast
Yeast, a living organism, has a relatively short storage life. Keep yeast in the original metal foil storage containers. If the seal remains intact, yeast should last 2 years at 70 degrees F. However it is strongly recommended that you refrigerate it, which should give you a storage life of 5 years. Frozen yeast should store for a long time.

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Joseph in Egypt

2011-09-24T21:43:00.001+07:00

Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

Joseph and the Engineering Wonders of Egypt

When American engineer Francis Whitehouse was asked to come up with a scheme to irrigate large portions of 19th-century Egypt, his British employers little realized the astounding conclusion he would present them with! After surveying the FAYUM PROVINCE of Egypt and discovering the remains of a HUGE FLOOD CONTROL AND IRRIGATION PROJECT from the ancient past, Whitehouse soon realized this to be the work of a brilliant Hebrew administrator -- none other than the biblical JOSEPH! A study of history and the Bible reveals the role YEHOVAH God played in the life of Joseph -- from the time of his arrival in Egypt as a Midianite prisoner to his meteoric rise to become the second most powerful man in the country! History reveals that centuries later another man, called by YEHOVAH God to a special task would, like Joseph, also rise to become second in command in Egypt and REBUILD the works of Joseph long since fallen into disrepair.

By John D. Keyser

Eighty-one miles S.S.W. of Cairo by rail, lies Medinet-el-Fayum -- the capital of the Fayum province of Egypt. The Fayum proper is an oasis in the Libyan desert, 669 square miles in area and lying below sea level within a vast depression. The oasis is encircled by the Libyan hills, which separate the province from the Nile valley. The lowest part of the Fayum -- the northwest end -- is occupied by the Birkat Qaroun, or Lake of Qaroun, whose surface level is 140 feet below that of the sea.

The region (one of the most fertile in the whole of Egypt) produces cotton, flax, hemp, rice, sugarcane, roses, oranges, peaches, pomegranates, figs of exceptional quality, grapes and olives. The occupations that contribute the most to the economy of the Fayum are poultry and sheep raising, fishing, and the making of most of the attar (fragrant floral oil) of roses produced in Egypt.

With a population of well over 1 million, the Fayum contains several towns besides that of Medinet-el-Fayum. Senuris and Tomia lie to the north of Medinet; while Senaru and Abuksa are found on the road to the lake and are served by railroads.

Within the Fayum province are the ruins of many ancient cities and villages -- including Arsinoe, an important archaeological site situated north of the capital.

Differing from the typical oasis, the fertility of which depends on the water obtained from underground springs, the cultivated land in the Fayum is formed of Nile mud which is brought down from the river in a huge canal called the BAHR YUSUF. Radiating out from this main feeder canal are many smaller irrigation canals that distribute the mud to the surrounding land. The Bahr Yusuf supplies the Fayum region with life-giving mud and water through a gap in the encircling Libyan hills.

Notes author Samuel Kurinsky:

A visitor to Egypt today, if he would abjure the euphoria of viewing a mere mirage of Egypt from the deck of one of the floating hotels on the Nile, and would instead thread carefully through the countryside parallel to the Nile, could not but be impressed by the multiplicity of farms and orchards being watered by the WEB OF CANALS drawn from the BAHR YOUSEF. This elaborate network of waterways has converted more desolate desert into rich, arable farmland than does the Aswan Dam. No electricity is produced by the Bahr Yousef, but neither does it foster the ecological damage that the Aswan dam is inflicting upon Egypt as a byproduct of its function. -- The Eighth Day: The Hidden History of the Jewish Contribution to Civilization. Jason Aronson, Inc. Northvale, N.J. 1994, p. 90.

The mother of Egypt is, of course, the River Nile. Without it there would be no Egypt! It is also true to say that Egypt as we know it would not have existed without the system of canals radiating out from the Bahr Yousef across fruitful fields that were once part of the great Libyan desert. The region east of the Nile, where only occasional isolated areas of agriculture exist, contrasts sharply with the region west of the Nile through which the canal flows -- an area in which groves of date palms alternate with green fields of grain, richly verdant patches of vegetables and vast expanses of white-capped cotton plants. But, it was not always so; until the Bahr Yousef was constructed, Middle and Upper Egypt was almost entirely a desert with civilization centered mainly in the Delta region of the Nile.

Discoveries in the Fayum!

An American engineer, Francis Cope Whitehouse, was among a group of engineers retained by the British administrators of Egypt more than a century ago to resolve the problem of increasing the amount of arable land in the desert areas of the country. Whitehouse astonished his employers by reporting that he had verified the existence of a huge artificial lake created during the time of Pharaoh Moeris (Mery-Ku-Re of the 10th Dynasty), and that the most practical method of irrigating the arid Egyptian desert was to RECONSTRUCT the system of irrigation that had been so skillfully put in place 3,500 years previously!

What had Whitehouse discovered that so astonished the British rulers of Egypt?

Whitehouse, a distinguished technician with a number of inventions to his name, was amazed when he started surveying the el-Fayum province. He became intrigued by the existence of a small lake known as Birkut el-Qarun or Lake Karoun -- which was a freshwater lake in the midst of the great Libyan desert, yet had no visible source.

According to author Samuel Kurinsky:

The lake supported a fair-sized community, which was economically far better off than most of the rest of Egypt owing to the productivity of the rich agricultural lands still being served by the lake. Around the lake's perimeter, as well as at a considerable distance from its shores, Whitehouse came across the ruins of ancient DAMS, DITCHES, AQUEDUCTS, and a variety of structures that mutely testified to the existence of a VAST AND SOPHISTICATED IRRIGATION SYSTEM. Ancient fish bones, shells, and other signs scattered about the sands surrounding the oasis unmistakably demonstrated that the lake had once been MANY TIMES ITS CURRENT SIZE; that yet ANOTHER LAKE had existed that had since dried up, and that the CANAL SYSTEM that fed into and out of the lakes had extended the arable land FAR BEYOND its contemporary boundaries. -- Ibid., p. 88.

His curiosity aroused by this extraordinary discovery, Whitehouse visited numerous libraries in the Cairo area and soon discovered that the medieval maps of the Fayum province showed TWO LAKES in the basin. "He was baffled by the fact that not only was the Birkut el-Qarun shown to be much larger but that the twin lake, named LAKE MOERIS in the aged and yellowed documents, FAR EXCEEDED the dimensions of the Birkut el-Qarun at its erstwhile greatest dimensions" (Ibid., p. 88).

Francis Whitehouse was further amazed to learn that the medieval maps were, in fact, MERE COPIES of maps drawn by Ptolemy of Alexandria -- who lived in the 2nd-century A.D.!

Not content to stop here, Whitehouse dug deeper into the Egyptian archives and discovered corroboration for the existence of ARTIFICIALLY CREATED LAKES in the literary works of such ancient historians as Pliny, Strabo, Herodotus, Mutianus and Diodorus. These lakes were evidently quite ancient at the time of the Ptolemies (rulers of Egypt -- 323 to 30 B.C.), and the huge expanses of fresh water astounded the ancient writers no less than it did Whitehouse!

"By extensive surveying Whitehouse confirmed the fact that a vast network of canals flanking the Nile had existed long before the Ptolemaic era; they had been far more extensive, and further, a HUGE RESERVOIR had been created consisting of TWO LAKES which, if the canal system had not been debased by the Greeks and other succeeding rulers, would have continued to guarantee water to a vast area. The Greeks, ignorant of the hydrology of the system, in attempting to increase acreage by reducing the extent of the lakes, had instead caused large areas of rich soil to return to dusty sand. Once fertile fields had relapsed into an arid landscape of sand, dust, and rock" (The Eighth Day: The Hidden History of the Jewish Contribution to Civilization, p. 88).

When Whitehouse consulted the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus (484?-425 B.C.) he discovered a CLUE to the reason for the existence of the second and much larger lake: "The water of the lake does not come out of the ground, which is here extremely dry, but is introduced by A CANAL FROM THE NILE" (Persian Wars, 2.149).

Diodorus Siculus (another Greek historian, of the first-century B.C.) adds admiringly that the lake was so huge that "its circumference they say, is 3,600 stades (400 miles), its depth at most points fifty fathoms." The circumference of 400 miles equaled the entire length of Egypt along its sea coast!

Diodorus goes on to add: "Between the river [Nile] and the lake HE constructed a CANAL 800 stades [89 miles] in length and 300 feet in breadth. Through this canal, at times HE admitted the water of the river, at other times HE excluded it, thus providing the farmers with water at fitting times by opening the inlet and again closing it scientifically and at great expense" (The Pyramids of Egypt, by I. E. S. Edwards. Viking Press, London. 1986, p. 235).

Whitehouse uncovered sections of this huge canal leading into the Fayum basin and feeding Lake Karoun, and also learnt from the local inhabitants WHO the mysterious "HE" was (in the writings of Diodorus) who constructed it!

This canal, which incredibly STILL waters A THIRD OF EGYPT, appears on modern maps of Egypt under its Arabic name -- BAHR YOUSEF, or "THE SEA OF JOSEPH"!!

Whitehouse reported back to his astonished employers that he had confirmed the existence of a vast lake artificially created by the Hebrew patriarch Joseph in the time of the PHARAOH MOERIS, and that "the most practical method of irrigating the arid Egyptian desert was to reconstruct the system of irrigation which JOSEPH had instituted 3,500 years ago"!

According to Samuel Kurinsky:

Whitehouse fervently presented his discoveries in April 1883 to the Khedival Geographical Society in Cairo; in June of the same year Whitehouse pressed his case before the Society of Biblical Archaeology in London. He pressed his views with enthusiasm with a series of lectures and pamphlets, but went unheeded and ignored. Desperate, Whitehouse even sued the authorities, but after his death in 1911 he was honored solely by a long obituary in The New York Times. Thus was forgotten the discovery of an American engineer that some 3,500 years ago it was A HEBREW PATRIARCH who had conceived, engineered, and carried out the WORLD'S LARGEST WATERWORKS PROJECT UNTIL THE TVA [Tennessee Valley Authority]. -- The Eighth Day, p. 89.

Contemporary scientists finally came to appreciate the validity of the ancient system and to reconstitute it as much as they could.

The vast irrigation project was created during the time Joseph was the administrator of Egypt -- the time in which several hundreds of patriarchal progenitors of the Israelites brought prosperity to their communities and TO THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT. The story is a fascinating one.

The Shiqmona Scarabs

All Bible students know the story of Joseph. The first of Jacob's two sons by his beloved Rachel, Joseph grew up with his family at Succoth, Shechem and Bethel respectively. Later, on the way from Bethel to Ephrath (Bethlehem), Joseph's mother died while giving birth to Benjamin.

He is first mentioned in the Bible when a youth of 17 years. While tending sheep with his brothers, Joseph brought a bad report about them to his father -- and this exacerbated an already smoldering hatred because his brothers perceived that their father Jacob loved him more than he did them. Jacob had shown his preference by making Joseph a dress which appears to have been a long tunic with sleeves, worn by youths and maidens of the richer or RULING CLASS.

Jacob was a man of renown in the land of Canaan. The Phoenician historian Sanchoniathon spoke of him in his works which have been preserved by Eusebius in Preparation of the Gospel, book i, chapter x. Sanchoniathon states: "Chronus, whom the Phoenicians name ISRAEL [JACOB] and who was, after his death, consecrated into the star SATURN, when HE WAS KING OF THE COUNTRY, and had by a nymph of that country, named Anobret, an only begotten son, whom, on that account, they called JEUD, (the Phoenicians to this day calling an only begotten son by that name), he in the dread of very great dangers that lay upon the country from war, ADORNED HIS SON WITH ROYAL APPAREL, and built an altar, and offered him in sacrifice."

While this passage of Sanchoniathon probably mixes several traditions, it shows that JACOB WAS REGARDED AS A KING IN CANAAN!

An ancient scarab (a seal shaped like a beetle) was unearthed by archaeologists from a Middle Bronze Age IIB tomb at Tell Shiqmona, near Haifa in Israel -- 1.3 kilometers southwest of the Carmel Cape. On the flat side of the scarab can be seen the Egyptian transliteration of the Semitic name YAQUB (JACOB) spelled out in the center of the seal as Y'QB-HR. A second such scarab, bearing a virtually identical inscription FRAMED IN A CARTOUCHE, was also uncovered. With the same name Y'QB-HR on it, it identifies the owner as A CANAANITE CHIEF OR KING! These seals were dated to before 1730 B.C., thus placing them close to the time of the biblical JACOB!

Around the peripheral of the scarabs are SPIRAL MOTIFS, which are a CHARACTERISTIC OF ISRAELITE ART and can be found on pottery and other art forms of the Minoans, the Mycenaeans, the Etruscans, and most of the Celtic tribes. Today, in Ireland, these spiral motifs can be found on the lintels of ancient tombs and carved on rocks scattered around the countryside.

Joseph Arrives in Egypt

In Genesis 37:5-7 we read that Joseph dreamed a dream foreshadowing his future power over his brothers -- which further increased their hatred of him! Eventually he was sent by his father to visit his brothers who were tending flocks in the fields of Dothan. They resolved to kill him, but he was saved by Reuben, who persuaded the brothers to cast Joseph into a dry pit, with the intent of restoring him to Jacob. When Joseph arrived they stripped him of his long striped garment and followed through on Reuben's recommendation. Subsequently, as a caravan of Ishmaelites came into view, Judah, in Reuben's absence, persuaded the others that, rather than kill Joseph, it would be advantageous to sell him to the passing merchants. Genesis 37:21-27 tells the story.

Despite Joseph's plea for compassion, his brothers sold him for 20 pieces of silver and later deceived Jacob into believing that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Jacob was so grieved over the loss of his son that he refused to be comforted.

Insight On the Scriptures notes:

Eventually the merchants brought Joseph into EGYPT and sold him to Potiphar, the chief of Pharaoh's bodyguard (Ge. 37:28, 36; 39:1). This purchase by the Egyptian Potiphar was not unusual, ANCIENT PAPYRUS DOCUMENTS indicate that Syrian slaves (Joseph was half Syrian [Ge. 29:10; 31:20]) were valued highly in that land. As Joseph had been diligent in furthering his father's interests, so also as a slave he proved himself to be industrious and trustworthy. With Jehovah's blessing, everything that Joseph did turned out successfully. Potiphar therefore finally entrusted to him all the household affairs. Joseph thus appears to have been a superintendent, A POST MENTIONED BY EGYPTIAN RECORDS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE LARGE HOMES OF INFLUENTIAL EGYPTIANS. -- Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1988, pp. 106-107.

The First Intermediate Period

Joseph's arrival in Egypt coincided with a period of time modern historians call the FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD. Following the close of the Old Kingdom, Egypt experienced one of the darkest periods in her long history. Not only was little attention paid to the development of arts and crafts, but most of the temples and tombs of the Pyramid Age -- with their artistic masterpieces and untold treasures -- were systematically pillaged and destroyed. According to the Egyptian scribe Manetho, two dynasties of short-lived rulers (namely the VIIth and the VIIIth Dynasties) occupied the throne AT MEMPHIS, but their authority was only LOCAL -- and complete anarchy prevailed throughout the GREATER PART of Egypt. In fact, the chaos was so great that much of the land remained uncultivated; and in a number of nomes (counties) there was famine.

I. E. S. Edwards notes:

At some time during the VIIIth Dynasty an attempt seems to have been made to restore order in the eighth southernmost nomes, where a CONFEDERATION WAS FORMED under the hegemony of the nomarch of COPTOS. About forty years later, however, a nomarch of Heraklepolis Magna named KHETY conquered THE WHOLE OF UPPER EGYPT as far as the First Cataract at Aswan and became THE FOUNDER OF THE IXth DYNASTY. -- The Pyramids of Egypt, p. 207.

Khety's (also called Akhtoy) kingdom extended northwards as far as MEMPHIS, but evidently did not include the Delta, part of which was still under the control of Asiatic invaders. His city of Herakleopolis (known by the Egyptians as "Nen-Ny-sut") occupied the site of present-day Ahnasyeh, on the west side of the Nile -- just south of THE ENTRANCE TO THE FAYUM!

Assuming the throne name Mery-yeb-Re, Khety (or Akhtoy) and the 17 Herakleopolitan kings of the 9th and 10th Dynasties who succeeded him ruled altogether about 190 years. Except for its founder, we know very little about the 13 kings of the 9th Dynasty, most of whose names are listed in whole or in part in the tattered fragments of the TURIN PAPYRUS.

With the 10th Dynasty, however, we are on much firmer ground. The Turin Papyrus lists five rulers; and the last three kings of the HOUSE OF HERAKLEOPOLIS are major players in the story of Joseph. The third king of this dynasty -- Wah-ku-Re Akhtoy IVwas a man of great talents. History tells us that Wah-ku-Re REGAINED CONTROL OF THE DELTA, driving out the Asiatic invaders and INAUGURATING A PERIOD OF INTENSIVE RECONSTRUCTION UNDER A WELL-PLANNED ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM DIRECTED FROM MEMPHIS.

"Memphis...remained, as before, the seat of the pharaonic government and the site of the royal cemetery. To facilitate communications between the ancient capital and THE KING'S RESIDENCE AT HERAKLEOPOLIS, a CANAL FIFTY-FIVE MILES IN LENGTH now linked the two cities. With the recovery of the Delta harbors trade was reopened with the Syrian coast, and fine coniferous woods were again imported into Egypt." (The Scepter of Egypt, by William C. Hayes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1960, p. 144).

There is a record of how Akhtoy IV, after restoring order in Egypt, traveled up and down the Nile River with AN ENORMOUS FLEET, and was hailed upon his return to the royal palace at Memphis.

THIS WAS THE PHARAOH WHO RULED LOWER EGYPT WHEN JOSEPH ARRIVED IN THE LAND as a prisoner of the Midianites!

The "Instruction to King Mery-ku-Re"

Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV was the author of the famous INSTRUCTION TO KING MERY-KU-RE -- who was his son and heir. Accepted by scholars as an OUTSTANDING example of Egyptian didactic (moral instruction) literature, this composition added a new dimension: it was a royal instruction; the testament of a departing king to his son and successor, and as such it embodied a treatise on kingship. Like all other Instructions that have come down to us, it is preserved in papyrus copies of later times; and its date must be determined from internal evidence. Apart from the historical significance of this work, it is famous for its LOFTY MORALITY which even goes far beyond the pragmatic wisdom of the famous Egyptian Ptahhotep. In reading this work you can't help but get a feeling for this king's morality and humility. No proud boasts and flowery language we usually associate with the inscriptions of the Egyptian pharaohs -- just plain, down-to-earth advice and instruction to his son.

Notice:

The beginning of the instruction which the King of Upper and Lower Egypt...made for his son, King Meri-ka-Re.... Be a craftsman in speech, (so that) thou mayest be strong, (for) the tongue is a SWORD to [a man], and SPEECH IS MORE VALOROUS THAN ANY FIGHTING. No one can circumvent the skillful of heart....They who know his wisdom do not attack him, and no [misfortune] occurs where he is... Copy thy fathers and thy ancestors....Behold, their words remain in writing. Open, that thou mayest read and copy (their) wisdom. (Thus) the skilled man becomes learned....Advance thy great men, so that they may carry out thy laws....Mayest thou speak justice in thy (own) house, (that) the great ones who are on earth may fear thee. Uprightness of heart IS FITTING FOR THE LORD.... Do justice whilst thou endurest upon earth. Quiet the weeper; do not oppress the widow; supplant no man in the property of his father; and impair no officials at their posts. Be on thy guard against punishing wrongfully. Do no slaughter: it is not of advantage to thee. (But) thou shouldest punish with beatings and with arrests; this land will be (firmly) grounded thereby -- Do not prefer the wellborn to the commoner, (but) choose a man on account of his skills....(Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, edited by James B. Pritchard. Princeton University Press, Princeton.)

King Wah-ku-Re then goes on to say how he pacified the Delta region of Egypt and created A SPECIAL DISTRICT which he filled with A SPECIAL PEOPLE:

I arose as lord of the city,
Whose heart was sad because of the Northland;
From Hetshenu to Sembaqa, and south to Two-Fish-Channel
I pacified the entire West as far as the coast of the sea.
It pays taxes, it gives cedar wood,
One sees juniper wood which they give us....
THE INNER ISLANDS ARE TURNED BACK,
AND EVERY MAN WITHIN,
The administrative districts say: "Thou art more honored than I."
The land they had ravaged has been made into nomes,
All kinds of large towns [are in it];
What was ruled by one is in the hands of ten,
Officials are appointed, tax-[lists drawn up].
WHEN FREE MEN ARE GIVEN LAND,
They work for you like a single team;
No rebel will arise among them....
The due of the Northland are in your hand,
For the mooring-post is staked IN THE DISTRICT I MADE IN THE EAST
FROM HEBENU TO HORUSWAY
IT IS SETTLED WITH TOWNS, FILLED WITH PEOPLE,
OF THE BEST IN THE LAND....
Medenyt [in the Fayum] has been restored to its nome,
Its one side is irrigated as far as KEM-WER,
It is the [defense] against the Bowmen.
Its walls are warlike, its soldiers many,
Its serfs know how to bear arms,
Apart from the free men within.
The region of Memphis totals ten thousand men,
FREE CITIZENS WHO ARE NOT TAXED;
Officials are in it since the time it was residence,
The borders are firm, the garrisons valiant.
Many northerners irrigate it as far as the Northland,
TAXED WITH GRAIN IN THE MANNER OF FREE MEN;
Lo, it is the gateway of the Northland,
They form a dyke as far as Heracleopolis.
Abundant citizens are the heart's support....

Ancient Egyptian Literature, by Miriam Lichtheim. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA 1975, pp. 103-104).

The "Two-Fish Channel" mentioned above is the name for the branch of the Nile that flowed through the nome of Letopolis -in other words the Canopic branch. In this passage IT DESIGNATES THE SOUTHERN BOUNDARY OF THE WESTERN DELTA. Hetshenu was a town near Heliopolis.

The "Inner Islands"!

The phrase "The Inner Islands are turned back" has puzzled the scholars and produced a variety of less than satisfactory explanations. Under Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV Egypt became a VAST MEDITERRANEAN POWER, and one of the areas early settled by the Egyptians at this time was CRETE (an important naval gateway) AND OTHER ISLANDS of the Mediterranean Sea.

Herman L. Hoeh of Ambassador College notes: "From CreteCaphtor in Hebrew -- came the Philistines (Jer. 47:4 and Amos 9:7). The Philistines descended from MIZRAIM, father of the Egyptians (Gen. 10:13-14). RULING OVER THE EGYPTIANS AND PHILISTINES IN CRETE AND THE EASTERN NILE DELTA WAS A LITTLE-KNOWN DYNASTY OF EGYPTIAN KINGS. They are mentioned in the Book of Sothis by Syncellus. Manetho does not include them among true Egyptian dynasties because THEIR SEAT OF GOVERNMENT WAS ON CRETE. The Cretan king of this dynasty, WHO WAS SUBJECT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE GREAT PHARAOH IN EGYPT [Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV], was Rameses" (Compendium of World History. Ambassador College, 1963. Vol. II, pp. 46-47).

The links between Egypt and Crete become obvious when one understands that Crete was a part of the land of Goshen. When British archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie unearthed the village of KAHUN (consisting of 2,000 separate dwellings dispersed over 18 acres and built to house the Israelites who were erecting the tomb of Sesostris II), he discovered some beautifully crafted pieces of pottery. "These sherds turned out to be 'KAMARES WARE', a distinctive type of painted vase named after THE CAVE SANCTUARY ON MOUNT IDA IN CENTRAL CRETE where they were FIRST FOUND. Similar vases also emerged in Sir Arthur Evan's 'FIRST PALACE LEVEL' at Knossos [on Crete]...." (Discovering the World of the Ancient Greeks, by Zofia Archibald. Facts-On-File, N.Y. 1991, p. 64).

A number of facts should be highlighted here: This pottery, discovered by Petrie, was used by the ISRAELITES erecting the pharaoh's pyramid; and the town built to house the workers was called "KAHUN" -- a Hebrew word derived from KOHAN meaning "priest"! Since this pottery has not been found amongst the general necropoles of the Egyptians, it must have been manufactured by the Israelites themselves!

As well as at Kahun, Kamares pottery has been excavated from ILLAHUN (another Hebrew name) and Abydos.

One of the things that struck the archaeologists was the beauty and exquisiteness of this pottery; it is of superb craftsmanship, and only in later Venetian glass, according to the experts, can equal feeling in color effects be found. "It is said that the potters who produced this fine work ADMIRED THE SHEEN WHICH THE WORKERS IN BRONZE HAD MANAGED TO ATTAIN and had finally succeeded in achieving it in their own 'eggshell' pottery" (The House of the Double Axe: The Palace of Knossos, by Agnes Carr Vaughan. Doubleday & Co., N.Y. 1959, pp. 139-140).

A characteristic of this style of pottery is the SPIRAL MOTIF (found delicately incorporated into the design) which, as mentioned earlier, is a NOTABLE FEATURE of pottery from Mycenae, Etruria, and other sites that were inhabited by the Celtic tribes.

The Kamares pottery (which prevailed for about 300 years in Crete) was highly valued by the pharaohs, and a vessel of this type was found in the tomb of King Senusert III (Sesostris) at Abydos in Upper Egypt.

Another link between Egypt and Crete was forged when a statue of an Egyptian dignitary, crafted in diorite stone and inscribed with his name in Egyptian hieroglyphics, was found IN A COURT OF THE PALACE AT KNOSSOS in Crete. Its style makes it evident that it was sculptured during the 12th Dynasty -- the time that Egypt was at the height of her power and had control of the Mediterranean!

The late professor Percy Newberry, addressing the British Association in 1923, pointed out that at the very beginning of the historic period in LOWER EGYPT the CULT OBJECTS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTH-WESTERN DELTA (nearest to Crete) "included (1) THE HARPOON, (2) THE FIGURE OF EIGHT SHIELD with crossed arrows, (3) THE MOUNTAIN and probably, (4) THE DOUBLE AXE and, (5) A DOVE or Swallow. With the exception of the Harpoon ALL OF THESE CULT OBJECTS ARE ALSO FOUND IN CRETE" (Quoted in The Bull of Minos, by Leonard Cottrell. Facts-On-File Publications, N.Y. 1984, pp. 200-201).

Even the Harpoon may have been later modified into the familiar MINOAN TRIDENT -- which appears on the walls of Knossos and Phaestos, usually in association with Poseidon.

"The district I made in the East" can only refer to the area the Bible calls GOSHEN, and the confines of the district ("from HEBENU [another Hebrew name] to HORUSWAY") refers to somewhere near modern Minich in Middle Egypt to the Suez frontier on the Way-of-Horus -- the road that led from Egypt to Canaan. "Thus the east Delta was anchored along a newly established frontier line" (Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, footnote 31, p. 416). "Horusway" and "Horusways" are synonymous with the eastern frontier fortress of SILE.

Kem-Wer was a town of the FAYUM district; and under Wah-ku-Re "the east bank of the twenty-second nome was recovered by the Heracleopolitans and brought under cultivation up to the point where it joined the Fayum which they had held all along" (Ancient Egyptian Literature, footnote 16, p. 108).

Such were the conditions in Egypt when Joseph arrived with the Midianite traders.

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

While working as a superintendent of Potiphar's household, Joseph (who evidently was a very handsome young man) was noticed by Potiphar's wife who became infatuated with him. "Archaeological evidence indicates that the arrangement of Egyptian houses appears to have been such that a person had to pass through the main part of the house to reach the storerooms. If Potiphar's house was laid out similarly, it would have been impossible for Joseph to avoid all contact with Potiphar's wife." (Insight on the Scriptures, p. 107).

Eventually Potiphar's wife took advantage of the situation when there were no other men in the house, and grabbed hold of his garment, saying: "Lie down with me!" Joseph, being obedient to the laws of YEHOVAH God, fled the scene leaving his garment in her hand. Potiphar's wife began to scream and made it appear that Joseph had made immoral advances toward her. Upon relating this to her enraged husband, Potiphar had Joseph thrown into the prison house where the king's prisoners were kept under arrest.

This event in the life of Joseph did not go unnoticed by the Egyptian bards. There is a papyrus in the British Museum (#10183), dated to the 19th Dynasty, that tells the story of a conscientious young man who was falsely accused of adultery by the wife of his elder brother after he had rejected her advances. The Story of Two Brothers is so similar to the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife that it must be based on the remembrance of Joseph's ordeal in the household of Potiphar.

During the course of centuries the story of Joseph attracted occasional details from other popular stories which had nothing to do with Joseph. The Story of Two Brothers is the story of Anubis and Bitis. Bitis was the younger, and was entrusted with all the older brother's property -- just like Joseph was entrusted with all the affairs of Potiphar. The affectionate relationship between the two brothers was disturbed, however, by the wife of Anubis. One day, when Bitis went to the house to get some seed, the wife attempted to seduce him. He angrily resisted, but said nothing to the brother. That evening, when Anubis came home, the wife complained to her husband that she had been mistreated by Bitis, whereupon the latter was forced to flee for his life. "This story corresponds so EXACTLY to the biblical tale of Joseph and the wife of Potiphar (Gen. 39:7ff) that scholars have generally taken it as a MYTHOLOGICAL ACCRETION TO THE LIFE OF JOSEPH." (Biblical Archaeology, by G. Ernest Wright. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia. 1962, p. 54).

Numerous other elements in the Book of Genesis have been explained in a similar fashion -- but none as clear as this!

Notice:

Now [after] many [days] after this, they were in the fields and ran short of seed. Then he sent his younger brother, saying "Go and fetch us seed from the village." And his younger brother found the wife of his elder brother sitting and doing her hair. Then he said to her: "Get up and give me (some) seed, for my elder brother is waiting for me. Don't delay!" Then she said to him: "Go and open the bin and take what you want! Don't make me leave my combing unfinished!" Then the lad went into his stable, and he took a big jar, for he wanted to carry off a lot of seed. So he loaded himself with barley and emmer and came out carrying them. Then she said to him: "How much (is it) that is on your shoulder?" [And he] said to her: "Three sacks of emmer, two sacks of barley, five in all, is what is on your shoulder." So he spoke to her. Then she [talked with] him, saying "There is [great] strength in you! Now I see your energies every day!" And she wanted to know him as one knows a man.

The Story of the Two Brothers continues:

Then she stood up and took hold of him and said to him: "Come, let's spend an [hour] sleeping (together)! This will do you good, because I shall make fine clothes for you!" Then the lad [became] like a leopard with [great] rage at the wicked suggestion which she had made to him, and she was very, very much frightened. Then he argued with her, saying: "See here -you are like a mother to me, and your husband is like a father to me! Because being older than I -- he was the one who brought me up. What is this great crime which you have said to me? Don't say it to me again!....

But the wife of his elder brother was afraid (because of) the suggestion which she had made. Then she took fat and grease, and she became like one who has been criminally beaten, wanting to tell her husband: "It was your younger brother who did the beating!" And her husband left off in the evening, after his custom of everyday, and he reached his house, and he found his wife lying down, terribly sick. She did not put water on his hands, after his custom, nor had she lit a light before him, and his house was in darkness, and she lay (there) vomiting. So her husband said to her: "Who has been talking with you?" Then she said to him: "Not one person has been talking with me except your younger brother. But when he came [to] take the seed to you he found me sitting alone, and he said to me: 'Come, let's spend an hour sleeping (together)! Put on your curls! So he spoke to me. But I wouldn't listen to him: 'Aren't I your mother? -- for your elder brother is like a father to you!' So I spoke to him. But he was afraid, and he beat (me), so as not to let me tell you. -- Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, p. 24.

Joseph's Rise to Power

Evidently, Joseph was initially treated severely in prison, as Psalm 105:17-19 points out: "He sent a man before them --Joseph -- who was sold as a slave. They HURT HIS FEET WITH FETTERS, HE WAS LAID IN IRONS. Until the time that his word came to pass." Later, however, the chief officer of the prison house placed Joseph in a position of trust over the other prisoners because of his exemplary behavior under adverse conditions. In this capacity, the prisoner Joseph again showed himself to be AN ABLE ADMINISTRATOR by ensuring that all the work was done in the prison.

Later on, when two of Pharaoh Achtoy's officers -- the CHIEF OF THE CUPBEARERS and the CHIEF OF THE BAKERS -- were thrown into the same prison, Joseph was assigned to wait upon them. During their incarceration, both of these men had dreams which Joseph explained to them. Since the cupbearer's dream indicated that he was to be restored to his position with the pharaoh in three days time, Joseph requested that the cupbearer remember him and mention him to the pharaoh so that he might be released from prison. The baker's dream was interpreted by Joseph to mean that he would be put to death in three days time. Both dreams were fulfilled on schedule -- on the pharaoh's birthday. By this time some 11 years had already passed since his being sold by his brothers.

Insight on the Scriptures reveals what happened next:

Again restored to his position, the cupbearer forgot all about Joseph. (Ge. 40:23) However, at the end of two full years, Pharaoh had two dreams that none of Egypt's magic-practicing priests and wise men could interpret. It was then that the cupbearer brought Joseph to Pharaoh's attention. At once Pharaoh sent for Joseph. In keeping with EGYPTIAN CUSTOM, Joseph, before going before Pharaoh, shaved and changed his garments. Also in this case he did not take any credit to himself but ascribed the interpretation to God. -- Page 107.

Joseph then explained that both of Pharaoh's dreams pointed to SEVEN YEARS OF PLENTY to be followed by SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE. Also, he recommended measures to be taken to alleviate the upcoming famine (Gen. 41:1-36).

The pharaoh, in his wisdom, realized what must be done:

Pharaoh recognized in 30-year old Joseph the man wise enough to administer affairs during the time of plenty and the time of famine. Joseph was therefore constituted SECOND RULER IN EGYPT. Pharaoh gave Joseph his own signet ring, fine linen garments, and a necklace of gold. (Ge. 41:37-44, 46; compare Ps. 105:17, 20-22) This manner of investiture IS ATTESTED BY EGYPTIAN INSCRIPTIONS AND MURALS. It is also of interest that from ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RECORDS it is known that several Canaanites were given high positions in Egypt and that Joseph's change in name to Zaphenath-paneah is NOT WITHOUT PARALLEL. Joseph was also given Asenath the daughter of Potiphera (from Egyptian, meaning "He Whom Ra Has Given") the priest of On [Heliopolis] as a wife. -- Ge. 41:45.

Thereafter Joseph toured the land of Egypt and prepared to administer affairs of state, later storing great quantities of foodstuffs during the years of plenty. Before the FAMINE arrived, his wife Asenath bore him two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. -- Ge. 41:46-52. (Ibid., p. 108).

As pointed out in the quote above, the position to which Joseph attained in Egypt is well illustrated by inscriptions and reliefs. "Joseph not only was SECOND IN POWER to none but Pharaoh, but in view of the approaching FAMINE he was placed in control of all grain and granaries. From EGYPTIAN RECORDS we should judge that he therefore COMBINED IN HIS PERSON TWO OFFICES: that of 'governor' or Prime Minister at the head of the government, and that of 'superintendent of the granaries.' The duties of the Prime Minister were various; he was not only minister of the interior and chief magistrate, but occasionally MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORSHIP also" (Biblical Archaeology, pp.. 54-55).

The office of "Superintendent of the Granaries" was extremely important at all periods of Egyptian history because the real wealth and stability of the nation lay in its grain. The prime responsibility of the Superintendent was to see to it that the supply was plentiful; and every year, in a solemn ceremony, the Superintendent presented to the pharaoh an "account of the harvests." If there had been a bumper crop -- "a better harvest than for thirty years" -- then the official would be given special honors by the pharaoh, anointed and arrayed with valuable necklaces.

Joseph and Asenath

The Bible account of Joseph's rise to power states that Pharaoh Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV gave him a new name -- Zaphnath-Paaneah -- and then "gave him as a wife ASENATH, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On" (Genesis 41:45).

Two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, were born to this union, and they received not only the BIRTHRIGHT blessings promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or Israel, but were also given the claim to the name of "Israel" itself.

From these two sons of Joseph and Asenath have come the modern nations of Great Britain and the United States, as well as the British colonies of Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

Many people have wondered: "Are these nations, therefore, half Israelite and half Egyptian in their heritage?" On the surface it certainly seems that way. Wasn't Asenath, the daughter of the Priest of On, an Egyptian? Let's not jump to conclusions!

Ancient historians have indicated that Egypt had its beginning as a colony founded by Nimrod and his father Cush. Herman L. Hoeh (historian of the Worldwide Church of God), in his Compendium of World History, lists Cush as the FIRST pharaoh of Egypt. When Cush died, his wife SEMIRAMIS married their son NIMROD and instituted the great Mystery Religion that was, in effect, the worship of a deified Nimrod.

Hoeh points out that SHEM (the son of Noah) also traveled to Egypt to kill Nimrod and stamp out this new PAGAN religion. Eventually Shem caught up with Nimrod in ROME where he executed him.

Shem founded a settlement in Egypt and spent all his energies fighting the new pagan heresy. During this time, and after the death of Semiramis, Egypt LEARNED THE TRUTH OF YEHOVAH GOD from Shem and his descendants.

Notes C. Kenneth Rockwell --

For several generations the Egyptians actually tried to worship the true Creator God knowing Him by the name of AMEN. For generations they even named their own Pharaohs in honor of the Great God. Thus we have recorded in Egyptian history the names: AMENemhet, who according to Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia, means the God Ammon or Amen, and was given prominence over other deities. Listed in addition to Amenemhet are AMENhotep I, AMENhotep II, AMENhotep III, and AMENhotep IV. However, most people today are more familiar with King Tut, whose full name is King TutankhAMEN. -- Voice from Afar Newsletter, Oct/Nov. 1994.

Astute historians have called Shem an iconoclast (one who destroys icons or idols) and have attributed him with disfiguring or destroying many of the pagan idols and monuments of Egypt.

However, after the death of Shem, Egypt went on to MIX the true worship of YEHOVAH God with the paganism of the land, and were soon FAR REMOVED from the truth Shem so energetically restored. Throughout much of this time a COLONY OF THE DESCENDANTS OF SHEM lived on in Egypt near the city of On -- keeping a spark of the truth alive in a sea of degenerate religious practices.

Smith's Bible Dictionary indicates that the city of ON was "a town of lower Egypt, called BETH-SHEMESH in Jer. 43:13. On is better known under its Greek name Heliopolis. It was situated on the east side of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, just below the point of the Delta, and about twenty miles northeast of Memphis" (page 466).

Pleubet's Dictionary also mentions that the meaning of the word "ON" is light.

Smith's Bible Dictionary goes on to say that "On is to be remembered not only as the HOME OF JOSEPH, but as the traditional place to which his far-off namesake TOOK MARY AND THE BABE JESUS IN THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT" (page 467).

It turns out that both AMEN and ON are two of the many names that refer to Yeshua the Messiah! Notice Revelation 3:14: "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the AMEN, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:' " And now look at John 1: 4-7: "In Him [Christ] was life, and the life was the LIGHT of men. And the LIGHT shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness to bear witness of the LIGHT, that all through Him [the LIGHT] might believe" (NKJ Version).

When Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt -- and eventually rose to second in command under Pharaoh Achtoy IV -- he married a woman whose father was, of all things, A PRIEST OF ON OR THE MESSIAH!

Notes C. Kenneth Rockwell --

In all probability, he had not married an "Egyptian" at all! Asenath was most likely not a descendant of either of the blood lines of Ham or Japheth, but from THE RIGHTEOUS LINE OF SHEM. Joseph then, had married the very daughter of a PRIEST OF THE TRUE GOD -- the PRIEST OF ON (LIGHT); and this statement, as recorded in Genesis 41:45, is not referring to a place at all, but instead to an ENTITY -- THE GOD OF LIGHT!!! In short, Joseph had married back into the very same blood line from which he himself had descended. -- Ibid.

The children of Joseph were not, therefore, half Israelite and half Egyptian -- they were of the line of Shem through both their father AND their mother!

The Seven-Year famine

The biblical story of SEVEN YEARS of famine was not at all unusual in Egypt. Many inscriptions speak about famines in the land, and at least two officials, giving glowing summaries of their good deeds on the walls of their tombs, tell of distributing food to the hungry "in each year of want." One inscription that Herman L. Hoeh of Ambassador College (now Ambassador University) latched upon to prove his particular arrangement of the Egyptian dynasties, is that written under Pharaoh Djoser of the Third Dynasty. Carved on a rock on the island of Siheil near the First Cataract of the Nile, the inscription reads, in part, as follows:

I was in distress on the Great Throne, and those who are in the palace were in Heart's affliction from a very great evil, since the Nile had not come in my time for a space of seven years. Grain was scant, fruits were dried up, and everything which they eat was short....The infant was wailing; the youth was waiting; the heart of the old man was in sorrow....The courtiers were in need. The temples were shut up....Every(thing) was found empty.-- Translated by J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 31.

That this particular famine was NOT the one of Joseph's time is evidenced by a number of observations. First of all, the reign of Pharaoh Djoser of the Third Dynasty was far TOO EARLY to coincide with Joseph's sojourn in Egypt -- there are many factors that PROVE the time of the bondage and exodus was in the MIDDLE KINGDOM, and counting back the 400 years the Israelites were in Egypt brings us to the First Intermediate Period, NOT the time of Djoser!

Also, famines of seven year's duration are not uncommon in Egyptian history. G. Ernest Wright notes "that seven-year famines [plural] were otherwise known in Egypt" (Biblical Archaeology, p. 53). The text of the inscription at the First Cataract states that Djoser's Prime Minister was Ii-em-(ho)tep, the son of Ptah -- NOT Zaphenath-paneah or Joseph! Ii-em-(ho)tep (or Imhotep) was famous in Egyptian history, and later became deified.

Finally, in reading the inscription, we learn that the "seven lean years...by a contractual arrangement between pharaoh and a god, were TO BE FOLLOWED BY YEARS OF PLENTY." (Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 31). The Bible plainly shows that SEVEN YEARS OF PLENTY WERE TO BE FOLLOWED BY SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE -- not the other way around!

To top this off, there is some question regarding the authenticity of this inscription -- James Pritchard notes that "it is a question whether it is a PRIESTLY FORGERY of some later period, justifying their claim to territorial privileges, or whether it correctly recounts an actual grant of land more than 2,500 years earlier. This question cannot be answered in final terms." (Ibid., p. 31).

There are numerous inscriptions of the First Intermediate Period that tell of the terrible famine of Joseph's time. One in particular (the stela of the Butler Merer of Edfu) contains an important CLUE for dating the inscription and the famine.

Notice:

An offering which the king gives (and) Anubis, who is upon his mountain and in the place of embalming, the lord of the necropolis, in all his good and pure places: an offering for the revered one, the Sole Companion, Butler and Overseer of the slaughterers of the House of Khuu in its entirety, who says: I was the priest for slaughtering and offering in two temples on behalf of THE ruler. I OFFERED FOR THIRTEEN RULERS without a mishap ever befalling me....I buried the dead and nourished the living, wherever I went IN THIS DROUGHT WHICH HAD OCCURRED. I closed off all their fields and mounds in town and countryside, not letting their water inundate for someone else, as does a worthy citizen so that his family may survive. When it happened that Upper Egypt barley was given to the town, I transported it many times. I gave a heap of white Upper Egyptian barley and a heap of hmi-barley, and MEASURED OUT FOR EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS WISH....(Ancient Egyptian Literature, p. 87).

Now the sentence "I offered for THIRTEEN RULERS without a mishap ever befalling me" poses problems for the historians. Obviously, Butler Merer could not have "offered" for 13 consecutive kings -- he would not have lived long enough! The historians explain it away by saying: "The point Merer is making is that he served his superiors without ever making a mistake. These superiors may have been dead rulers for whom he performed funerary sacrifices." As far as I am concerned the "historians" can explain it away any way they like -- the fact remains that Merer meant what he said! He offered for 13 rulers all right, not consecutive or dead rulers but 13 CONTEMPORARY ONES!

Who could these 13 rulers be? We will answer that question shortly!

Another stela of the First Intermediate Period, that of the Treasurer Iti of Imyotru, deals with the SAME FAMINE and relates how he supplied his town during the famine and also helped the towns of Hefat and Iuni, while not attempting to help the hungry citizens of Thebes. The similarities in style and content make it certain that this stela is CONTEMPORARY with that of Merer.

It reads, in part:

An offering which the king gives (and) Anubis, who is upon his mountain and in the place of embalming, the lord of the necropolis: an offering for the revered one, the Royal Seal-bearer, Sole Companion, Seal-bearer of the God, Iti, who says: I was a worthy citizen who acted with his arm. I was a great pillar in the Theban nome, a man of standing in the Southland. I NOURISHED IMYOTRU IN THE YEARS OF MISERY. Though four hundred men were in straits through it, I did not seize a man's daughter, nor did I seize his field....(Ancient Egyptian Literature, pp. 88-89).

A stela discovered in the necropolis of Naqada, which lay within the Coptic nome (the fifth nome of Upper Egypt -- 25 miles N.E. of Thebes), refers to the SAME PROLONGED FAMINE once again and is known as the stela of the Steward Seneni of Coptus: "An offering which the king gives (and) Anubis, who is upon his mountain and in the place of embalming, the lord of the necropolis: an offering for the Eldest of the House Seneni, who says: I MEASURED OUT UPPER EGYPTIAN BARLEY AS SUSTENANCE FOR THIS WHOLE TOWN IN THE GATEWAY OF THE COUNT AND CHIEF PRIEST DJEFI, IN THE PAINFUL YEARS OF DISTRESS. Having acted in the proper manner, I was praised for it by the whole town. Never did I do what everybody hates. The royal chamberlain Senen(i)." (Ibid., pp. 89-90).

In all likelihood, these contemporary stelae from the First Intermediate Period record the great SEVEN-YEAR FAMINE in the time of Joseph.

Jacob's Arrival in Egypt

The great seven-year famine not only affected Egypt, but also surrounding countries. Eventually Canaan was also languishing under drought conditions and Jacob was forced to send his sons (Joseph's half-brothers) down to Egypt to buy food. When Joseph finally revealed himself to his brothers, he said: "I am Joseph; does my father still live?....But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing or harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a FATHER TO PHARAOH, AND LORD OF ALL HIS HOUSE, and a RULER THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT." (Gen. 45:3-8, NKJV).

Joseph then directed his brothers to return to Canaan and bring his father with them to Egypt: "Hasten and go up to my father, and say to him, 'Thus says your son Joseph: "God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry. You shall dwell in THE LAND OF GOSHEN, AND YOU SHALL BE NEAR TO ME, you and your children, your children's children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; FOR THERE ARE STILL FIVE YEARS OF FAMINE."'" (Ibid., verses 9-11).

Pharaoh Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV was almost as excited as Joseph, and provided wagons for Joseph's brothers so that they might bring Jacob and his entire household to Egypt.

When Jacob heard the news he could not believe that his son Joseph was still alive. But, when finally convinced, the 130-year-old Jacob exclaimed: "It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die" (Gen. 45:28, NKJV). Later, on the way to Egypt with his household, Jacob had a vision from YEHOVAH God at Beer-sheba. In the vision, YEHOVAH God gave Jacob His divine approval for the move and told him: "I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on yours eyes" (Gen. 46:4). Joseph, therefore, was to be the one to close Jacob's eyes after his death. Since the FIRSTBORN customarily did this, YEHOVAH thereby revealed that Joseph was to receive THE RIGHT AS FIRSTBORN.

Having been advised of his father's arrival within the borders of Egypt by Judah -- who had been sent in advance -- Joseph prepared his chariot and went to meet Jacob IN GOSHEN.

The Stone That Roared!

With Jacob when he arrived in Egypt was a MYSTERIOUS STONE -- a stone that was destined to travel to the ends of the earth and become the center of legends and traditions that have been preeminent amongst various Celtic tribes.

The story begins early in Jacob's life:

Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. AND HE TOOK ONE OF THE STONES OF THAT PLACE AND PUT IT AT HIS HEAD, and he lay down in that place to sleep. -- Gen. 28:10-11, NKJV.

During the night Jacob dreamt of a ladder going up to heaven with angels ascending and descending on it. YEHOVAH God then made certain promises to Jacob regarding the future of his descendants and the greatness they were to attain.

"Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it'....Then Jacob rose early in the morning, AND TOOK THE STONE THAT HE HAD PUT AT HIS HEAD, SET IT UP AS A PILLAR, AND POURED OIL ON TOP OF IT....Then Jacob made a vow, saying, 'If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. And THIS STONE which I have SET AS A PILLAR shall be God's house...." (Gen. 28:16, 18, 20-22, NKJV).

A number of historians, including Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, record the removal of Jacob's STONE to Egypt: "The stony pillar on which Jacob slept at Bethel was by his countrymen TRANSPORTED TO EGYPT." (Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey. John Murray, London. 1876, p. 57).

Also, author Raymond F. McNair notes: "Tradition identifies this stone [the Coronation Stone in Westminster Abbey, London] with the one upon which JACOB RESTED HIS HEAD AT BETHEL...Jacob's sons CARRIED IT TO EGYPT...." (Quoted in the manuscript "In Search of the Lost Ten Tribes" from the Westminster Abbey Official Guide).

After Jacob and his household were settled in Goshen, tradition seems to support the idea that a building or temple was built to house the stone which, according to the Cronicon Rythmicum, became known as the "LAPIS PHARAONIS" or "PHARAOH'S STONE."

Why was Jacob's pillow stone known as "Pharaoh's Stone"? Because Jacob was a KING in Egypt!

A tradition arose in the land of Egypt of a "VOCAL-STONE" that "ROARED" whenever a prince of the ROYAL LINE OF THE HEBREWS sat or stood on it: "If it would make a noise under the person who sat on it, it was an infallible sign of his accession to the crown; but if it proved silent, it precluded him from any hopes." (Ogygia, or, a Chronological Account of Irish Events, by Roderic O'Flaherty -- translated by James Hely. W. M'Kenzie, Dublin. 1793, pp. 66-68).

Ancient authors have made mention of a "vocal-stone" which was evidently housed in a statue of an Egyptian king (Jacob?) which was afterwards broken by Cambyses to the middle of the breast.

The Land of Goshen

After greeting his father when he arrived in Goshen Joseph, along with five of his brothers, requested an audience with Pharaoh Achtoy.

Insight On the Scriptures relates what transpired in the presence of the pharaoh:

As directed by Joseph, his brothers identified themselves as herders of sheep and requested to reside as aliens IN THE LAND OF GOSHEN. Pharaoh granted their request, and Joseph, after introducing his father to Pharaoh, settled Jacob and his household IN THE VERY BEST OF THE LAND. (Ge. 46:28-47:11) Thus, wisely and lovingly Joseph made the best of an Egyptian prejudice against shepherds. It resulted in safeguarding Jacob's family from being contaminated by Egyptian influence and eliminating the danger of their being completely absorbed by the Egyptians through marriage. -- Page 109.

Exactly where is the land of Goshen?

Modern scholars try to tell us that "the best of the land" is a small, semi-desolate region east of the Nile -- halfway between the Nile and the Suez Canal today. More generous scholars, such as G. Ernest Wright, allow that it was the Wadi Tumilat: "This Wadi (the Arabic for a river bed which is usually dry except in the rainy season) is A NARROW VALLEY BETWEEN THIRTY AND FORTY MILES LONG, connecting the Nile with Lake Timsah. In both ancient and modern times the area around the Wadi Tumilat, especially to the north of it, was one of the richest sections of Egypt [outside of the Fayum], truly 'the best of the land,' as it is described in Gen. 47:11. The great American explorer, Edward Robinson, reported in 1838 that it yielded more revenue at that time than any other province in Egypt, and that there were more flocks and herds there than elsewhere. The population was half migratory, large numbers of people still retaining their nomadic habits. This was exactly the situation in Joseph's day, as we infer both from the Bible and from Egyptian texts. If there is any place in Egypt where the Hebrew shepherds should have settled, THIS was the region" (Biblical Archaeology, p. 56).

The question is, how could an area such as this between the Nile and the Suez Canal support a population of 600,000 Israelite men -- excluding women and children -- at the time of the exodus? Similarly, how could a narrow wadi between thirty and forty miles long support such a population? These areas probably could not have sustained more than 6,000 men (exclusive of women and children) along with all their cattle! So -- is the Bible wrong? No, the so-called scholars simply have not understood WHERE the land of Goshen was!

Let Herman L. Hoeh explain:

Genesis 46:28 tells us more of the story. "And he (Jacob) sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen." Jacob was coming down from Beersheba in Palestine into Egypt. "And they came into the land of Goshen. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went UP (NORTHWARD) to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him."

Did you notice that Joseph was not in the land of Goshen? Joseph dwelt where Pharaoh was. AND PHARAOH WAS AT MEMPHIS, the [administrative] capital of lower Egypt. "Joseph made ready his chariot, AND WENT UP TO MEET ISRAEL his father." He went up to Goshen. He was going NORTH. Therefore, the land of Goshen was NORTH of the capital of Egypt at this time. -- Compendium of World History, vol. II. Ambassador College, 1963, pp. 224-225.

If we turn to Genesis 46:33 and 34 we read: "So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, 'What is your occupation?'" Here Joseph instructs his father to reply: "...you shall say, 'Your servants' occupation has been with livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers"...' Why did Joseph tell Jacob to say this? "...that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians." The Egyptians quite often hired foreigners to take care of their cattle; so the purpose was to have the children of Israel live in the land of Goshen and tend the Pharaoh's cattle there.

The story continues in Genesis 47:5. "Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, 'Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell IN THE BEST OF THE LAND; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock."

Herman Hoeh asks: "Did you notice that Pharaoh said to the children of Israel, 'The land of Egypt is before you, THE BEST OF THE LAND, the land of Goshen.' This is the portion of Egypt that Pharaoh is actually turning over to the children of Israel because of what Joseph did!"

We should recall that YEHOVAH God told Abraham (Gen. 15:18) that his descendants were going to control land all the way to the river of Egypt -- the Nile! YEHOVAH was now beginning to fulfill that promise.

So the land of Goshen was NORTH of Memphis and stretched all the way from the Nile to the eastern border of Egypt. Since the river Nile had many branches where it approached the Mediterranean, the land of Goshen must have stretched to the westernmost branch -- therefore the ENTIRE DELTA REGION was included in the land of Goshen!

If we read verse 11 of Genesis 47, we learn that the land of Goshen was also called "THE LAND OF RAMESES": "And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, IN THE LAND OF RAMESES, as Pharaoh had commanded."

The best of the land, in verse 6, is called "the land of Goshen," while in verse 11 the best of the land is called "the land of Rameses." Obviously, then, the land of Goshen and the land of Rameses are the same! It is the ENTIRE delta region of Egypt!

The Proof of "Sais"!

Historical proof that the land of Goshen stretched to the westernmost branch of the Nile can be found in the town of SAIS. An ancient city of the Egyptian Delta, Sais lay WESTWARD of the Thermuthiac or Sebennytic branch of the Nile. It was the capital of the 5th nome of Lower Egypt, and was an important town from very remote times. Today, all that remains to be seen of Sais is the brick enclosure wall of the temple near the little village of Sa-el-hagar (Sa of stone), and crude brick ruins and rubbish heaps scattered over the site.

By the time of the exodus Sais was an important city held by the Israelites and a DEPARTURE POINT for those escaping from the harsh rule of the 12th Dynasty pharaohs.

According to The Harmsworth Encyclopedia CECROPS (who was, it can be proven, none other than CHALCOL of I Kings 4:31 and brother to DARDA) was the "mythical" founder of ATHENS and its FIRST KING. He was said to have been the LEADER of a band of HEBREW COLONISTS FROM EGYPT!

This is confirmed by Diodorus Siculus who says: "Now the Egyptians say that also after these events [the plagues of the exodus] a great number of colonies were SPREAD FROM EGYPT all over the inhabited world....They say also that those who set forth with Danaus, LIKEWISE FROM EGYPT, settled what is practically the oldest city of Greece, Argos and that the nations of the Colchi in Pontus and that of the Jews (remnant of Judah), which lies between Arabia and Syria were founded as colonies by certain EMIGRANTS FROM THEIR COUNTRY [EGYPT]; and this is the reason why it is a long-established institution among these peoples to circumcise their male children, THE CUSTOM HAVING BEEN BROUGHT OVER FROM EGYPT. Even THE ATHENIANS, THEY SAY, ARE COLONISTS FROM SAIS IN EGYPT." (Diodorus of Sicily, by G. H. Oldfather. Vol. I, bks. I-II, 1-34, p. 91).

The Greek philosopher Plato (about 427-347 B.C), in his Dialogues, makes the SAME connection:

In the Egyptian Delta, at the head of which the river Nile divides, there is a certain district which is called the district of SAIS, and the great city of the district is also called Sais, and is the city from which King Amasis came. The citizens have a deity for their foundress; she is called in the Egyptian tongue NEITH, and is asserted by them to be the same whom the Hellenes call Athene; THEY ARE GREAT LOVERS OF THE ATHENIANS, AND SAY THAT THEY ARE IN SOME WAY RELATED TO THEM. (Translated into English by B. Jowett. Vol. 2. Random House, N.Y. 1937.)

Geoffrey Keating puts a date on the emigration, as follows: "Cecrops was the FOUNDER OF THE ATHENIAN NATION. He was A NATIVE OF EGYPT. He led his colony to Attica about 1556 YEARS BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA." (The History of Ireland. Translated by John O'Mahony. P. M. Haverty, N.Y. 1857. Footnote p.152).

Obviously Sais, in the very western part of the Delta, was inhabited by the Israelites and therefore a part of Goshen!

Who Was Rameses?

One of the titles belonging to rulers of the Delta and the island of Crete was "Rameses." This title was used by these rulers LONG BEFORE the pharaoh "Rameses the Great" came on the scene, and can be found mentioned in the Book of Sothis by Syncellus. Manetho does not mention them because their SEAT OF GOVERNMENT WAS ON CRETE. When Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV pacified the Delta region he took control of Goshen away from "Rameses" and made it his own personal property or estate. It was this land that he gave to the father and brothers of Joseph!

As Herman L. Hoeh notes:

Ancient Egypt was a feudalistic world. In feudalism the king claims theoretically to own everything. He leased the land out to his princelings and lords (who lease parts of their land to others of still lower rank), but the king reserves a certain portion for himself. Pharaoh naturally reserved the BEST land for himself -- the land of Goshen. IT BELONGED PERSONALLY TO PHARAOH. So Pharaoh was not taking land leased to his lords. He is granting this territory to Joseph, who was next highest in the kingdom, for his services. The fee for receiving the land of Goshen or Rameses is stated in verse 6: "And if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers of MY cattle." Compendium of World History, vol. II, p. 227.

So by the command of Pharaoh Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV all the land of Goshen (the land of Rameses), including THE ISLAND OF CRETE, was given to the children of Israel as partial fulfillment of YEHOVAH's promise that Abraham's seed should extend to the river of Egypt -- to the Nile!

Jacob -- A Ruler Under Pharaoh?

As we have seen, Jacob was a man of renown in Canaan, and scarabs have been unearthed showing that he was a chief or king in the land. When Jacob moved to Egypt and took up residence in Goshen, he also became KING over the newly acquired territory!

Notice:

The king [of Egypt] with the unmistakable Hebrew name YAAKOV, as JACOB is pronounced in Hebrew, PROVIDES A PARALLEL to the biblical name of the father of Joseph. The name YAAKOV appears on NUMEROUS SCARABS OF THE PERIOD FOUND IN EGYPT, [and] in NUBIA (biblical Kush)...in the form of the Egyptian transliteration Y'QB-HR....Another scarab, almost identical to that of the Shiqmona, was published by Martin Pieper in 1930 and so closely resembles the Shiqmona scarab it appears to be produced by the same artisan. The SINGLE DIFFERENCE between the two scarabs is, however, highly significant: THE NAME Y'QB-HR IS FRAMED ON THE LATTER SCARAB BY A CARTOUCHE, THE USE OF WHICH INDICATES ROYALTY AND IDENTIFIES THAT YAAKOV AS A KING IN EGYPT....(The Eighth Day:The Hidden History of the Jewish Contribution to Civilization, p. 67).

If you will recall, the stela of the Butler Merer of Edfu states the following: "I offered for THIRTEEN RULERS without a mishap ever befalling me." I mentioned earlier that modern scholars are in a quandary regarding the identity of these rulers, and usually dismiss them as being metaphoric. However, these kings were real! The thirteen rulers were JACOB AND HIS 12 SONS!

Let's examine the evidence. The Icelandic LANGFEDGATAL, which traces the ancestry of Odin, shows that he was descended from KING SATURNUS OF KRIT. Who was this Saturnus of Krit?

Herman L. Hoeh reveals the answer:

In modern English the name would be SATURN OF CRETE. There were many Saturns in antiquity, often confused with one another. Usually the name was applied to a man who FLEES or who HIDES himself. Saturn is a Latin word derived from a root meaning TO FLEE INTO HIDING. The Greek term was KRONOS. This particular SATURN OF CRETE was so famous that the Phoenician historian Sanchoniathon spoke of him. Fragments of his works have been preserved by Eusebius in Preparation of the Gospel, book i, ch. x. Here are his words: "For Kronos or (Saturn), whom the Phoenicians call ISRAEL...." (Corey's Ancient Fragments of the Phoenician, Carthaginian, Babylonian, Egyptian and other Authors, by E. Richmond Hodges, page 21.)

Israel was the name of JACOB....But why was Jacob called Saturn? Because Jacob became famous for fleeing or hiding from his enemies. Jacob's mother warned him of his brother Esau's wrath: "Now, therefore, my son, hearken to my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother in Haran" (Genesis 27:43). "And it was told Laban...that Jacob was fled" -- this time back to Palestine. (Gen. 31:22). But how is one to account for the title to Crete in Jacob's name? Certainly Jacob did not have title to it prior to descending into Egypt. The answer is, JACOB OBTAINED IT FROM PHARAOH IN EGYPT. -- Compendium of World History, vol. II, pp. 44, 45-46.

Since Crete was part of Goshen, JACOB WAS THEREFORE KING OF THIS NEWLY ACQUIRED TERRITORY! He was the overall king, or HIGH-KING of Goshen!

Now what about the other 12 KINGS mentioned by the Butler Merer of Edfu?

According to the History of Herodotus, THE EGYPTIANS WERE THE FIRST PEOPLE TO RECOGNIZE A PANTHEON OF 12 GODS and to divide the solar year into 12 months, each month being dedicated to one of the gods. Later they divided all Egypt into 12 regions and appointed a king over each. THIS COMMEMORATED A PREVIOUS ERA WHEN THE GODS RULED IN PERSON OVER THE 12 PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. The 12 kings were UNITED BY FAMILY TIES and also by a strict treaty which they renewed at regular formal meetings IN ONE OF THE 12 TEMPLES. -- Twelve-Tribe Nations, by John Michell and Christine Rhone. Phares Press, Grand Rapids, MI. 1991, p. 38.

Clearly, when Jacob and his 12 sons received title to the land of Goshen, Jacob divided the land into 12 districts or nomes and placed his sons over each of the divisions! It also seems evident that the Israelites built a TEMPLE in each of the nomes.

The memory of the rule of Jacob and his 12 sons over the land of Goshen was incorporated into Egyptian folklore, with Jacob becoming known as HEPHAESTUS (the god who limps) and Judah becoming known as the Egyptian and Cretan ZEUS. According to Greek mythology Hephaestus became lame because of a quarrel with Zeus about Heracles. "Zeus threw him down from Olympus. Hephaestus' fall lasted for A WHOLE DAY: towards the evening, he hit the ground in the island of Lemnos, was rescued by the Sintians and restored to life, BUT HE REMAINED LAME" (The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology, London. 1991, p. 180).

This myth parallels the story of Jacob in Genesis 32, where he wrestled with an angel for THE BEST PART OF A NIGHT and, as a consequence, became LAME for the rest of his life! Notice: "Then Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that he did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and THE SOCKET OF JACOB'S HIP WAS OUT OF JOINT as He wrestled with him....Just as he [Jacob] crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, AND HE LIMPED ON HIS HIP. Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the MUSCLE THAT SHRANK, which is on THE HIP SOCKET, because He touched the socket of JACOB'S HIP in the muscle that shrank" (Gen. 32:24-32, NKJV).

It is recorded by Eustathius that every year the ancient Ethiopians used to "fetch the images of Zeus, and other gods from the great temple of Zeus at Thebes. With these images they went about a certain period in Libya, AND CELEBRATED A SPLENDID FESTIVAL FOR TWELVE GODS" (Eustathius on Homer's Iliad, lib. i. II., pp. 423-425).

After the Famine

As the famine continued, the Egyptians gradually exhausted all their money and their livestock in exchange for food. Finally they even SOLD THEIR LAND and themselves as slaves to Pharaoh. Then Joseph settled them in cities -- doubtless to facilitate the distribution of grain. This was probably a temporary measure because the Egyptians would eventually have to return to their fields to sow seed.

After the seven-year famine passed, the land of Egypt gradually returned to normal. Once they were again enjoying a harvest from the land, the Egyptians (according to Joseph's decree) were required to give a fifth of their produce to Pharaoh for using the land. Josephus makes the comment that "when this misery [the famine] ceased, and the river overflowed the ground, and the ground brought forth its fruits plentifully, Joseph came to every city, and gathered the people thereto belonging together, and gave them back entirely the land which, by their own consent, the king might have possessed alone, and alone enjoyed the fruits of it. He also exhorted them to look on it as every one's own possession, and to fall on their husbandry with cheerfulness; and to pay, as a tribute to the king, the fifth part of the fruits for the land which the king, when it was his own, restored to them." (Antiquities of the Jews, chap. VII, sec. 7).

The Bible, however, gives no indication that the land was returned to the people of Egypt. There is evidence "that the lands were not properly restored, and this fifth part reserved as tribute only, TILL THE DAY OF SESOSTRIS [pharaoh of the 12th DYNASTY]." (Ibid., footnote p. 54).

Approximately 12 years after the famine ended, Joseph brought his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, before Jacob for a blessing. It was then that Jacob indicated that the right of firstborn was to be Joseph's, Ephraim and Manasseh being viewed as equals of Jacob's direct sons. From Joseph were to spring TWO DISTINCT TRIBES, WITH TWO SEPARATE TRIBAL INHERITANCES. Although it displeased Joseph, Jacob, in blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, kept his right hand placed on THE YOUNGER, EPHRAIM. By giving the preference to Ephraim, HE PROPHETICALLY INDICATED THAT THE YOUNGER WOULD BECOME THE GREATER (Gen. 47:28-29; 48:1-22 and also Deut. 21:17; Joshua 14:4 and I Chron. 5:1).

This has unerringly come to pass in the form of Great Britain and her daughter nations and the United States of America today. There are many evidences to show that Great Britain, who came to power first, is directly descended from MANASSEH, while the United States, who came to power afterwards, is the younger -- EPHRAIM!

Shortly after Jacob finished blessing the sons of Joseph, he died. Joseph had the Egyptian physicians embalm his father's body in preparation for the trip to Canaan, where he was buried in the cave of Machpelah.

The Incredible Engineering Project!

Eventually Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV himself died and his son MERY-KU-RE (MOERIS) ascended the throne of Egypt. Joseph served the new pharaoh with as much dedication and loyalty as he did Wah-ku-Re, but soon ran into the same court jealousies and backstabbing as Moses did centuries later. Joseph was a hero in Egypt, and the court magicians, advisors and other functionaries wanted to cut Joseph down to size and remove him from his exalted position!

Zeccarria Sitchin, linguist and biblical scholar, reports what happened:

It was, historians related, when Joseph was more than 100 but still held a high position in the Egyptian court. The other viziers and court officials, envying Joseph, persuaded the Pharaoh that to remain venerated Joseph should not rest on his laurels. He must PROVE AGAIN his abilities. When the Pharaoh agreed, the viziers suggested an impossible project -- TO CONVERT THE DESERT INTO A FERTILE AREA. "Inspired by God" Joseph confounded his detractors by succeeding. HE DUG FEEDER CANALS AND CREATED THE VAST ARTIFICIAL LAKE IN 1000 DAYS. -- The Jewish Week and the American Examiner, July 22, 1983.

In honor of his pharaoh the lake was named MOERIS -- a Greek rendition of the name "MERY," and the huge feeder canal that runs parallel to the Nile River was forever named after Joseph -- the BAHR YOUSEF or Sea of Joseph! It can still be seen on the maps of Egypt today -- a lasting tribute to the awesome engineering feats of a man of God.

After Joseph

Joseph survived his father Jacob by about 54 years, reaching the grand age of 110 years. His advanced age at death made such an impression on the Egyptians that several papyri from the Middle Kingdom cite 110 as the ideal age for a man to attain! It was Joseph's privilege to see even some of his great-grandsons. Before his death, Joseph requested that his bones be taken to Canaan by the Israelites at the time of their exodus. At death, Joseph's body was embalmed in the custom of the Egyptians and placed in a coffin to await his removal to the Promised Land.

During the 10th Dynasty the kings of Heracleopolis made every effort to consolidate and defend the territory regained in Lower Egypt. However, they did little to expand their kingdom to the south, and merely tried to protect their southern boundary and maintain peaceful relations with the rising dynasty of Thebes -- which had now become the leader of the allied nomes of Upper Egypt. That peace with the south existed for long periods of time is indicated by the fact that the rulers of the 10th Dynasty were able, probably through an arrangement with Thebes, to obtain blocks of red granite from the quarries at Aswan. The peace was not to last. During the latter half of the 10th Dynasty border skirmishes with the warlike Thebans became increasingly frequent and increasingly serious. To hold them at bay the kings at Heracleopolis depended mainly upon the ability and loyalty of the nomarchs of Si'ut (Asyut), the capital of the 13th nome of Upper Egypt.

Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV was able to gain a temporary victory:

Aided undoubtedly by one of the nomarchs of Si'ut, King Wah-ku-Re was enabled temporarily to occupy the border fortress of Thinis, -- a deed which...had not previously been accomplished, even by his distinguished ancestor Achtoy I. His triumph, however, was short lived; for the Thebans under WAH-'ONEKH IN-YOTEF not only captured Thinis but PUSHED NORTH of it as far as Aphroditopolis, in the 10th Nome of Upper Egypt.-- The Scepter of Egypt, by William C. Hayes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1960, p. 144.

Wah-ku-Re Achtoy IV was forced to meet the Thebans not far to the south but on the borders of his own province.

Soon after ascending the throne, Wah-ku-Re's son Mery-ku-Re began to find himself in real difficulties. During his reign Si'ut fell to the Thebans and the fighting moved north into the Fifteenth, or Hermopolite, Nome, which was soon overrun by the undisciplined armies of the contending dynasts. The new Theban offensive was now being led by KING MONTUHOTPE II, whom Mery-ku-Re was unable to repel.

At his death Mery-ku-Re (Moeris) was buried at Memphis -- his administrative capital -- in a pyramid called "Flourishing-are-the-abodes-of-Mery-Ku-Re." His tomb was located near that of King Tety of the Sixth Dynasty.

The last of the Heracleopolitan pharaohs -- King Neb-ku-Re Achtoy V -- is probably to be identified with the pharaoh in The Protests of the Eloquent Peasant, a popular story of the time preserved in a papyrus of the Middle Kingdom. This tale, which reflects a concern for social justice on the part of King Neb-ku-Re, tells the story of an Egyptian peasant who, having been robbed of his belongings by a wealthy landowner, addressed his complaints to the king's high steward. The peasant presented his case with such extraordinary eloquence that the pharaoh had him present his case again and again purely for the pleasure which he derived from hearing the peasant talk.

Neb-ku-Re's reign did not last long, and his dynasty was soon terminated by a complete victory for Thebes and a NEW UNION of Upper and Lower Egypt under KING NEB-HEPET-RE MONTU-HOTPE of the ELEVENTH DYNASTY.

During this period of fighting and the eventual takeover of the Fayum province by the Thebans of the Eleventh Dynasty, much of Joseph's magnificent engineering works in the Fayum fell into disrepair.

According to Sir Allan Gardiner:

The ORIGINAL LAKE sank to below sea-level through the SILTING UP of the channel until A KING OF DYNASTY XII, by widening and deepening it, AGAIN brought the lake into equilibrium with the river [Nile]. Thus was [re]formed the famous lake of Moeris, which by functioning as a combined flood-escape and reservoir, not only protected the lands of lower Egypt from the destructive effects of excessive high floods, but also increased the supplies of water in the river after the flood season had passed. -- Egypt of the Pharaohs. Oxford University, Oxford. 1979, p. 35).

The Rise of the 12th Dynasty

The Theban Dynasty XI ruled over all of Egypt for 43 years. Soon after the death of SEANKH-KA-RE MENTHOTEP (the successor of NEBHEPET-RE), the country was once again thrown into confusion-and anarchy reigned in many areas. Another Mentuhotep, who bore the name NEB-TAWI-RE, occupied the throne for part of the seven years which elapsed before law and order was restored. But, for reasons that are still unclear, later records do not credit him with having been a legitimate ruler.

Neb-tawi-Re was succeeded by his VIZIER and COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AMENEMHAT. Evidently Amenemhet conspired against his royal master and, after some years of confusion, mounted the throne in his place and ushered in the 12th Dynasty -- a dynasty that is regarded as one of the GREATEST in the annals of Egypt. The new dynasty was composed of four kings named Amenemhet, three kings named Sesostris, and a queen named Sebek-neferu.

The name of the founder means literally "Amen-is-at-the-head." He was born in Thebes, but his forbears, however, may have lived in El-Eshmunein. The inscriptions on the Egyptian monuments make it clear that his elevation to the throne was no peaceful hereditary succession, but a STRUGGLE for the crown and scepter that continued for some time. He fought his way to the throne, and was accepted as Pharaoh only because he triumphed over his rivals. After the fighting was ended and the towns of Egypt subdued, the new king began to consolidate his hold on the country and to strengthen the borders of Egypt.

He did not follow the example of the kings of the XIth Dynasty by making Thebes his capital but, profiting from their experience (and perhaps from his own knowledge of the difficulty which they had found in maintaining control over Lower Egypt from such a distance), he transferred his seat of government northwards and established it at a place called IT-TAWI, "SEIZER OF THE TWO LANDS."

Amenemhat's military expeditions do not seem to have resulted in conquests; and their aim was perhaps to protect Egypt from predatory incursions by striking terror into the tribes upon the frontier. He did not extend the boundaries of Egypt but was content to "stand on the (old) boundaries of the land, and keep watch on its borders;" to rule all Egypt "from Abu (Elephantine) to the Athu (the marsh region of the Delta)" was enough for him-- we do not find him establishing any military posts in the countries which he invaded.

Amenemhet was the pharaoh "who did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8), and he "set taskmasters over them [the Israelites] to afflict them with their burdens....And...[he] made their lives bitter with hard bondage -- in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field" (Exodus 1:11,14). One of the things the new pharaoh forced the Israelites to build was A GREAT WALL and a FABULOUS PALACE.

Notice:

....he followed up his victories by BUILDING A WALL, or defensive work, upon his own frontiers, for the purpose of "keeping off the Sakti," or, in other words, of checking and repelling their incursions. This post was probably a little to the east of Pelusium, near the western extremity of the lake Serbonis....HE [AMENEMHET I] WORKED THE QUARRIES of Mokattam and Hammamat, adorned Memphis, and constructed two CONSIDERABLE EDIFICES, which have perished -- A PALACE, supposed to have been situated at Heliopolis [On], and A PYRAMID, known as Ka-nefer, "Lofty and Handsome." Of the former [the palace], he tells us that it was "adorned with gold; its roof was painted blue; the walls and the passages were of stones fastened together with iron cramps"; it was "made for eternity," he says....(History of Ancient Egypt, by George Rawlinson. Dodd, Mead & Co., N.Y. 1882, p. 149).

Under the next king of Egypt (Usurtasen I) the Israelites were put to work raising a temple complex to the sun-god in the city of Heliopolis.

Henry Brugsch-Bey writes about this HUGE project:

....a remarkable document on parchment, which I had the good fortune to acquire at Thebes in 1858, and which for some years past has been in the possession of the Berlin collection of Egyptian antiquities, make the fact certain, that USURTASEN I., at the very beginning of his reign, OCCUPIED HIMSELF WITH BUILDINGS AT THE TEMPLE OF THE CITY OF THE SUN. This important material informs us how, in the third year of his reign, he assembled round his throne the first officials of his court, to hear their opinion and their counsel as to his intention of RAISING WORTHY BUILDINGS TO THE SUN-GOD...After the address, the assembled counselors unanimously approve the good intentions of their lord, and encourage him to carry out the same without delay. The pharaoh immediately gives his command to the proper court official, enjoins him to watch over the UNINTERRUPTED PROGRESS OF THE WORK which has been determined upon, and then begins the solemn ceremony of laying the foundation-stone by the king himself. -- A History of Egypt Under the Pharaohs, pp.. 151-152.

Eventually a third Usurtasen, distinguished by the additional name of Sha-kau-ra, mounted the throne of Egypt and became one of the MOST REVERED monarchs of the 12th Dynasty. "Manetho says, that he was regarded by the Egyptians as the GREATEST OF THEIR KINGS AFTER OSIRIS [NIMROD]; and it is certain that he was in such high repute with the monarchs of the eighteenth dynasty, that they worshipped him as a god and built temples in his honor" (History of Ancient Egypt, p. 162).

The reason for this pharaoh's popularity was that he was regarded as the CONQUEROR OF ETHIOPIA. He permanently annexed to Egypt the tract known as Northern Nubia, or the entire valley of the Nile between the First and the Second Cataract. "What gave him his fame was the fact that, having finally settled Ethiopia, he was the king to whom its conquest was attributed; and as this was the only considerable tract which the monarchs of the old empire subjugated, those of the new, bent upon conquest themselves, singled him out for approval and admiration. (Ibid., p. 164).

Towards the end of his reign, Usurtasen III BEGAN RECLAIMING THE WORKS OF JOSEPH IN THE FAYUM.

The Improvements of Amenemhat III and Moses!

The successor of Usurtasen III was another AMEN-EM-HAT, THE THIRD OF THAT NAME. According to the monuments he reigned for 42 years and, as this is the exact number of years assigned to him by the TURIN PAPYRUS, we may safely conclude that this was indeed the FULL length of his reign. Instead of following in his predecessor's footsteps and directing the forces of Egypt to the conquest of new territory he, AFTER ONE WAR WITH THE NEGROES (which was evidently PROVOKED BY AN INCURSION), threw the whole energy of himself and THE ISRAELITE SLAVES into RECLAIMING THE VAST ENGINEERING WORKS OF JOSEPH.

Incidentally, this incursion by the Ethiopians is the one mentioned by Josephus, who tells how MOSES, at the head of the Egyptian army, routed the enemy and forced the Ethiopians to come to terms.

With the assistance of the Hebrew MOSES, Amenemhat III started by clearing out the SILTED-UP CANAL that fed the lakes, then constructed a VAST DAM or dyke that formed the boundary of Lake Moeris to the north and west. Built of solid masonry, earth and pebbles this dyke, forty feet high in places, extended to the range of hills which separated the basin of the Fayum from the Nile valley.

George Rawlinson notes:

The artificial barrier ran a little east of north, from Talut in the south to Biamo in the centre of the Fayoum, a distance of FIFTEEN MILES; at Baimo it made a right angle, and was then carried in a line a little south of east from Biamo, past El Ellam and El Edrua, to the eastern range in about lat. 29 degrees 26 minutes, making a distance of about TWELVE MILES more. Thus the entire dyke had a length of TWENTY-SEVEN MILES, and, if it be regarded as averaging thirty feet in height, and at least the same in width, would have CONTAINED A MASS OF MATERIAL AMOUNTING TO NEARLY FORTY-EIGHT MILLIONS OF CUBIC YARDS, or three-sevenths more than the cubic contents of the Great Pyramid of Ghizeh. -- History of Ancient Egypt, pp. 168-169.

Josephus, in his Antiquities of the Jews, also relates the work the Israelite slaves did for Amenemhet III and Moses in the Fayum:

....and having, in length of time, forgotten the benefits they [the Egyptians] had received from JOSEPH, particularly THE CROWN BEING COME NOW INTO ANOTHER FAMILY, they [the Egyptians] became very abusive to the Israelites, and contrived MANY WAYS of afflicting them; FOR THEY ENJOINED THEM TO CUT A GREAT NUMBER OF CHANNELS [CANALS] FOR THE RIVER...AND RAMPARTS THAT THEY MIGHT RESTRAIN THE RIVER, AND HINDER ITS WATERS FROM STAGNATING UPON ITS RUNNING OVER ITS OWN BANKS....(Bk. II, chap. IX, sec. I).

Also, under previous rulers of the 12th Dynasty, the Israelites "built walls for their cities...they [the Egyptians] set them also to build pyramids, and by all that wore them out; and forced them to learn all sorts of mechanical arts, and to accustom themselves to hard labour" (Ibid.).

While engaged in the completion of his great work of reclamation in the Fayum province Moses, under the direction of Amenemhet, also had the Israelites build some structures on the eastern side of Lake Moeris that became the talk of the ancient world! At a point on the eastern side, projecting towards the west, he built what really seems to have been a temple, but what the Greeks and Romans called a "LABYRINTH," and believed it to be an architectural puzzle. It was constructed of white siliceous limestone and red granite and comprised, the ancients tell us, of 3,000 chambers -- half above ground, and half below. Besides chambers, it possessed numerous colonnades and courts, covered with sculptures and roofed, Herodotus says, with stone. At one corner of this complex was a huge pyramid 240 feet high according to one authority, and according to modern measurements, 300 feet square at the base.

To supply the materials for Amenemhet's grandiose projects, the Israelite slaves labored in the quarries at Hammamat, where inscriptions belonging to Amenemhet's reign record the instructions which he gave his overseers on various occasions. There is one inscription there that records a personal visit of the pharaoh in connection with ornamental work for the Fayumincluding a colossal statue of himself to be set up at the provincial capital.

Not only did the Israelites work the quarries at Hammamat, but they also served with rigor in the mines of the Sinai peninsula-- at Wady Magharah and at Serabit el-Khadem.

The Greatest Era in Egyptian History!

The story of Joseph and the Israelites is the story of Egypt at its apogee. During the Middle Kingdom Egyptian civilization attained the fullest expansion that it ever reached under the pharaohs. New openings were made for trade, new routes established and provided with wells and guards, forts built and a HUGE WALL AND CANAL erected on the eastern frontier to check invasion, mines worked, the Nile carefully watched and measured, and finally the RECLAMATION OF THE HUGE RESERVOIR CONSTRUCTED BY JOSEPH IN THE 10th DYNASTY. As well as reclaiming Lake Moeris, a gigantic irrigation system was established along the whole of the western bank of the Nile river from Beni-Souef to the shores of the Mediterranean.

At the same time commercial intercourse was established with the Nubians, who furnished cattle, gold and slaves; with the East African tribes (and through them with Arabia and even India) for spices, gums, rare woods, precious stones and exotic animals; and with the Syrians for kohl or stibium, ladanum and balsam.

The Egyptian empire of the 12th Dynasty appeared to the world of that time as the CENTER of civilization, and of all progress in the areas of intellectual, artistic and commercial activity. Art, in the different spheres of its activity, reached a height and perfection NEVER AGAIN TO BE REACHED; and the stone memorials and tomb walls were of the finest in symmetry and precision.

Not least among the many marvelous materials to which the Egyptians were made acquainted during the time the Israelites were in the land was a diversity of metals. Silver, more precious than gold in Egypt, was smelted from argentiferous Asian ores imported from the Ararat mountains of the Hurrian land of Mitanni and from the Zagros mountains of the Hittite land of Anatolia. As well as being mined in the Sinai, copper was imported into Egypt from the island of Cyprus where it tended to be more abundant and cheaper than that from Sinai.

The Israelites showed the Egyptians how to improve the quality of their copper by adding arsenic and then by alloying it with another metal -- processes hitherto unknown in Egypt! Tin was carried on the backs of asses into Egypt from the far-off mountains of Badakhshan, more than 3,000 miles away. The Egyptians were taught to alloy copper with this wonder metal to form a new, harder and more durable material -- bronze. Bronze tools, because they were harder than anything the Egyptians had before, could be honed sharper; and they lasted longer because bronze resisted decay better; they were more penetrating because the tools could be lighter and wielded with more force. Other new metals were ushered into the metallurgy of Egypt by the Israelites, AND EGYPT WAS THRUST INTO THE BRONZE AGE -- a new stage of civilization!

The production of fabrics, made of flax introduced from Asia by the Israelites in the time of Joseph, was enhanced by the introduction of Asiatic spinning devices. "The upright loom, long known in the lands to the east, revolutionized the Egyptian weaving craft. As production was increased, the cost of fabrics was reduced and they became universally available. New fibers and new fast dyes made fabrics more durable and colorful and added another dimension to the quality of life" (The Eighth day: The Hidden History of the Jewish Contribution to Civilization, p. 116).

The widespread adoption by the nobility and commoners alike of the anthropoid coffin made a remarkable change in Egyptian burial customs. Introduced during the 12th Dynasty, the coffin as a sort of rectangular wooden house is replaced by the anthropomorphic case decorated to represent the deceased. The lack of good lumber restricted the craftsmen of Upper Egypt to carving out coffins from the coarse-grained logs of the sycamore-fig tree, similar to how dugout canoes are carved. The more sophisticated carpentry of the Israelites in the Delta and the availability of suitable woods quickly brought the anthropoid coffin into Egyptian popularity.

Wise men taught astronomy and medicine and mathematics in the land of Goshen. The Israelites impregnated Egypt with cultural refinement by enhancing the gentler arts. New musical forms appeared -- made possible by the introduction of a rich variety of Mesopotamian musical instruments. The multi-fretted lute, which later found its way into Europe, and the multi-stringed harp -- both with elaborate forms of tuning -- gave music in Egypt wide scope and flexibility of tone. The lyre was regarded as a "foreign" instrument long after the Israelites left Egypt, and was always represented in the tomb paintings of the 18th Dynasty as being played by Canaanite women. Legends, both Hebraic and Arab, have it that JOSEPH AND HIS PEOPLE MADE A GREAT AND EVERLASTING CONTRIBUTION TO THE CIVILIZATION OF EGYPT. The application of metallurgy, arts and crafts and mathematics expanded the more primitive culture and propelled Egypt to heights never before attained. And of all the wonders the Israelites wrought for Egypt, probably none exceeds the great flood control and irrigation works that Joseph constructed in the Fayum for King Mery-ku-Re, and which Moses, under the reign of Amenemhet III, reclaimed and added to with almost equal brilliance! "Today, after more than three thousand years, the BAHR YOUSEF still functions vigorously and its feeder canals irrigate more territory than does the Aswan Dam" -- a lasting tribute to Joseph and the Israelites who followed him! (Ibid., p. 128).

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