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Home Remedies for Allergies

Quick Description – An allergy or an allergic reaction is an abnormal immune system response to certain stimuli, like food ingredients or dust. Our immune system normally functions to protect the body against infections and any other threats, but under certain circumstances our immune system can malfunction. Individuals who suffer from allergies have certain abnormalities in their immune system response, causing it to mistakenly react to certain substances as if they were harmful to you. This defensive reaction that is triggered by exposure is known as an allergic reaction, and the substance that triggers the immune response is known as an allergen. There are various allergens that could produce such reactions and they could include certain ingredients in your diet, dust or smoke, pollen, chemicals in certain drugs or certain resins, oils and cosmetics. Before turning to any natural allergy remedies it should be kept in mind that the most important step would be to eliminate or minimize any exposure to the allergen before attempting to use any home remedies for an allergic reaction.

Allergies Treatment using Nutrients

Certain nutrients have been found beneficial in the prevention and treatment of allergies. Often the intake of vitamin B5 or pantothenic acid brings great relief to the sufferer. This vitamin may be taken in a dose of 100 mg daily for a month. In such cases, liberal amounts of pantothenic acid help even though the recovery takes several weeks. A dose of 400 mg of vitamin E taken daily for four to six weeks is also beneficial as this vitamin possesses effective anti-allergic properties.

Allergies Treatment using Castor Oil

It is found that five drops of castor oil added to half a cup of water or any fruit or vegetable juice, if consumed on an empty stomach each morning, can be beneficial for various allergic reactions that affect the intestinal tract, skin, and nasal passages.

Allergies Treatment using Lime

Lime is considered an effective remedy for any kind of allergy. Half a lime may be squeezed in a glass of lukewarm water and sweetened with a teaspoon of honey. It can be taken once daily first thing in the morning for several months. This remedy not only flushes the system of toxins but also acts as an antitoxic and antiallergic agent.

Allergies Treatment using Vegetable Juices

A quantity of 500 ml carrot juice or a combination of carrot juice with beet and cucumber juices, has been found beneficial in the treatment of allergies. 100 ml each of beet and cucumber juices should be mixed with 300 ml of carrot juice to prepare 500 ml or half a litre of mixed juice. This should be consumed at least once a day

Allergies Treatment using Gingko Biloba

Gingko biloba is one of the best herbs for allergies like asthma and other respiratory allergies. The leaves of gingko biloba contain vital properties which help in activating platelets in the body which in turn help in fighting allergies like asthma. It also contains natural antihistamines and anti-inflammatory chemicals which are very effective in fighting various allergies.

Allergies Treatment using Reishi Mushroom

The Reishi mushroom has been widely used in Chinese medicine for problems like allergies, asthma, hypertension and various other liver problems. The Reishi mushroom is one of the most effective natural herbs for allergies as it contains powerful anti-inflammatory properties and antihistamines which can effectively fight a variety of allergies including asthma.

Remedies for Allergies

Natural treatment is generally preferred by most individuals in the treatment of allergic reactions because of the recurrent nature of allergic reactions. Repeated or frequent use of pharmaceutical drugs can have severe health consequences and most individuals prefer to avoid them when dealing with mild allergies. Skin allergies on the face, hands, torso, and even on the limbs are quite common and you could try using home remedies for a skin allergy. Apart from contact allergies, food allergies may also cause a puffy face or other skin inflammation.
Keep in mind that most natural home remedies for allergies are simply meant to provide relief, as there are no known allergy cures, natural or otherwise. Allergy remedies during pregnancy can be particularly helpful, when the intake of most pharmaceuticals is advised against. But some natural ingredients can be just as potent and may threaten your pregnancy, so it would be advisable to check with your physician. Similarly allergy treatment and remedies for babies and children may offer some advantages, but the severity of reactions can also be a lot more threatening in kids, which is why medical attention is advisable.

Allergies Diet

Fresh Fruit Juices

An allergy is an erroneous reaction of an individual’s immune system to a harmless substance that it perceives as a threat. This hypersensitivity to a substance can cause a recurrent allergic reaction that is more severe than the first. A juice fast for four to five days can help to restore normal immune system functioning. It would be wise to follow this type of a fast on a regular basis as this will regulate your system and may even help to create a tolerance to the allergen.

Mono Diet of Vegetables or fruits

A mono diet of vegetables or fruits is an extremely effective follow-up diet after the juice fast. For the first week, the patient should have fruits like grapes, or apples and vegetables such as carrots, cucumbers, and green leafy vegetables. During the second week, another food product can be introduced into the patient’s diet and during the third week yet another food product should be included. After the fourth week, the individual can add protein-rich foods to his/her diet, making sure to add just one new food product at a time. As soon as the individual suffers from an allergic reaction, it should be eliminated from the regular diet. Once the patient’s not longer has symptoms of a food allergy, he/she can start to add new food products to this diet plan. In this manner, it is possible to determine which foods cause an allergic reaction and they can then be avoided.

Avoid Food like Tea/Coffee or Containing chemical Additives and Preservatives

You will need to avoid coffee, tea, colas, and all alcoholic beverages. You would also need to avoid chocolate and refine flour and sugar products, especially bakery products like pastries. Fish and milk products should be avoided along with salted, pickled, or smoked food products. Preserved food products, especially those with chemical flavorings and preservatives must be eliminated from the individual’s regular diet.

Diet for Allergies

Food allergies are among the most common of all types of allergies. Addressing food allergies with home treatments such as with dietary changes is not only practical, but extremely effective. Some of the most common types of food allergies include wheat food allergies, corn food allergies, and wheat or gluten allergies. Raw milk allergies are also quite common in babies. Common food allergies tend to cause hives, and such a food allergy rash can easily be treated with common diet home remedies for allergic reactions like hives and rashes.
As with any allergy, the key to treatment is avoidance or limiting of exposure to allergens. A corn allergy diet or a gluten allergy diet would therefore imply diets free of any corn or gluten containing ingredients.

Other Allergies Treatments

Avoid Stress, Do Meditation, Exercise and Mind Control

If it is determined that the patient is suffering from elevated stress levels, relaxation methods such as deep breathing exercises and meditation along with regular exercise can help to reduce the severity of the allergic reaction. This will help in the treatment of allergies.

Yogasanas

Certain yoga asanas like the Half Spinal Twist Pose (ardh-matsyendrasana), the Shoulderstand Pose (sarvangasana) and yogamudra – which are essentially hand postures can be effective in helping to treat allergies. The corpse poses (shavasana) and the alternate breathing method anuloma-viloma pranayama are also very beneficial in the treatment of allergies.

Acupuncture

Using acupuncture for allergies has also become a popular treatment option these days. Many people resort to these forms of treatment to avoid side effects which can be caused by conventional medications and drugs. Acupuncture for allergies not only helps in treating the various symptoms of allergies but also restores the natural balance of the body so that such allergies can be avoided in the future. The acupuncturist places small sterile needles on the point of the allergy symptoms or pain such as the sides of the head and nose so that energy can move freely through the body. Allergy symptoms like headaches, itchy eyes, stuffiness and breathlessness can all be cured completely with acupuncture. By using acupuncture for allergies the underlying cause of various allergies can also be treated to prevent the recurrence of such severe reactions in the future.

This information is directly sourced from www.home-remedies-for-you.com

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Posted by on April 3, 2012 in Real Estate

 

Spring-Cleaning Checklist

There are few rites of spring more satisfying than the annual clean. For many people, however, the pleasure comes only after the work is finished. Your spring cleaning may never become effortless, but you can make the project more manageable –  and even enjoyable. This printable checklist offers an overview of everything you need to know — including information on cleansers, stain removal, fabric care, and storage — to zip through the process and arrive at a happy end.

After you read through the tips and techniques, tailor the list to your home and yard. Create a realistic schedule, keeping in mind that a single weekend won’t suffice, as you’ll need several days for more involved projects, such as shampooing carpets and organizing closets. Whether you prefer to proceed from the attic to the basement or start outdoors and wind your way inside, focus on one task at a time. And be sure to enlist the help of family members.

The information on this checklist was excerpted from "Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook" (Clarkson Potter/Publishers; 2006).

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Posted by on April 2, 2012 in Real Estate

 

Exclusive Interview with AL Grant – Watch out for short sale pitfalls

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Watch out for short sale pitfalls

A short sale can be a good move in many cases. But, whether you are buying or selling, there are some things you need to look out for, as AL Grant of AL Grant Realty Group – Re/Max Allegiance in Washington, D.C., tells MarketWatch Radio’s Adrienne Mitchell… Read the rest of the story

**Make sure to click the Play Button to listen to the Interview

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Posted by on March 30, 2012 in Real Estate

 

10 Ways to Find More Hours in Your Day

We all wish we had just a bit more time.
Just think what you could do with an extra hour or two each day: you could finally stick to an exercise routine, or spring-clean the house, or write your novel, or learn the guitar, or get a new qualification.
I can’t magically make all your days 25 hours long. But I can help you find more hours in your day for the things that really matter.

  1. Get Out of Bed Earlier
    If you normally get up at 7.30am, try getting up at 7am. That half-hour might not sound like much — but it could be time that you use
    to meditate, to exercise, to read that book you’ve been meaning to finish, or simply to get your day off to a calm and organized start.
    The first hour or half-hour of the day is often a great chance to work on something important, before other demands crowd in on you. And if you need your beauty sleep? Just get to bed half an hour earlier.
  2. Use Your Commute Productively
    How much time do you spend commuting every week? Unless you work from home, you’ve probably got at least a couple of hours each week when you’re traveling between your home and your workplace.
    Use your commuting time for something useful. If you drive, you could listen to audio books. If you take the bus or train, you could read a book rather than grabbing a free newspaper. And if your workplace is quite close by, you could try walking or cycling to work — this builds exercise into the natural rhythm of your day.
  3. Tackle the Important Tasks First
    Once you get to work, take a few minutes to
    prioritize your tasks. Get the important ones done first (not the easy ones, or even the urgent ones). You can afford to spend at least an hour working on big, important tasks rather than on all those little urgent ones.
    If you work like this, you’ll usually save time: the urgent tasks will still get done, and you won’t spend hours procrastinating over the important ones.
  4. Don’t Check Email So Often
    Your colleagues and clients can wait for a few hours — or even a day or two — for you to reply to their emails. If there’s something truly urgent, they’ll pick up the phone.
    Keep your inbox closed when you’re working, and only open it when you’re ready to spend 30 minutes or so dealing with emails. It’s much more efficient to
    batch-process your emails than to keep popping in and out of your inbox to deal with individual ones.
  5. Reduce Interruptions
    If colleagues have a habit of hanging around your desk to chat, or if the phone is constantly ringing, you might find that it takes you half the day to finish a simple task like writing a letter.
    Constant interruptions don’t just eat up time — they also break your concentration.
    When you’ve got a big task to focus on, let your calls go to voicemail. If you have an office door, close it. If you work in a cubicle, wear headphones: having them on makes it less likely that people will try to strike up a conversation (you don’t have to listen to anything through them).
  6. Stay Focused on Your Work
    You might have heard the saying “procrastination is the thief of time.” When you want more hours in the day,
    procrastination can be a real problem. A few minutes chatting, browsing the web, updating your Facebook status, and so on, can easily turn into hours of wasted time over the course of a day.
    When you’re working, work. If your concentration is slipping, take a proper break: go and get a glass of water, or stretch your legs a bit. And if you’re facing a difficult task, try breaking it into small steps or stages so that it’s easier to tackle.
  7. Go Home on Time
    If you’re supposed to finish work at 4pm, but you never make it out of the office door until 6pm at the earlier, then it’s no wonder you don’t have enough hours in the day.
    In some jobs, it is difficult to get away on time (if all your colleagues work late, you might feel obliged to do the same). But if you’re staying because you only ever seem to get any work done in a mad dash at the end of the day, then your working habits need to change.
  8. Delegate Some Chores
    Perhaps you seem to be the only person in your household who’s capable of unstacking the dishwasher or ironing the clothes. If your evenings get taken up with a long list of chores, see whether you can delegate some of those.
    Your partner, housemates, or kids can pitch in and help out. Even if you just free up 20 or 30 minutes every evening, you’ll have a bit of extra time to spend on something important to you.
  9. Eat Dinner at Home
    Although going out for dinner might seem like it saves time (after all, you don’t have to cook) — you’ve got the time cost of traveling to the restaurant, ordering the food, waiting for it to arrive, paying the bill … and it might well be faster just to cook and eat at home.
    If you don’t have much time to cook during the week, try making extra portions at the weekend so that you can freeze some. That way, you’ve got an almost-instant meal (and one that’s probably healthier and cheaper than a restaurant meal, too).
  10. Limit Your TV Watching
    If you put the TV on as soon as you get in from work, it’s easy to end up spending hours slumped on the sofa. Instead of watching whatever happens to be showing, try watching just one or two programs each night.
    You might also want to have at least a couple of TV-free evenings; a great chance to read a good book, or to work on a project around the house.

Do you have any great tips for finding more hours in the day? Does one of the above ideas work well for you? Share your thoughts with us in the comments…

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Posted by on March 30, 2012 in Real Estate

 

How to Find Happiness Without Buying It

Our materialistic society has led us to believe that happiness cannot be obtained without having money.
Rather than learning to be satisfied with what we have, we are taught to want more. We learn from advertising, and from the media, that we need to buy trinkets and toys in order to make ourselves happy, or to fulfill emotional needs, and that the purchases they are trying to talk us into will provide us with the psychological comfort we are looking for.

Unfortunately, as a society we have bought into these misguided messages and have come to believe that spending money on certain items will bring us fame, fortune, happiness, beauty, or popularity. We end up using money as a crutch to provide us with something we ultimately must find within ourselves. As we become caught up in this charade, we trade precious hours of our lives trying to earn the money we have been taught to covet so much. We trade hours of our lives working, sacrificing time that could have been spent with our families, for the pursuit of the almighty dollar.
In order to find true happiness, we first must learn to change our
attitudes about money. We must learn that money, and the spending of it, provides only a temporary relief but does not present us with any real long lasting benefits. We end up owning something we either do not really want or do not really need, and the underlying emotional issues remain.
Rather than focus on the temporary satisfaction you may feel from spending money, try the following to bring you happiness without it.

  • Imagine Having no Money
    Imagine what you would do for happiness if you had no money at all. Think about how you would spend your time, and what you would do for enjoyment. Change your focus from material possessions to other things that bring you enjoyment, such as spending quality time with your family and friends. Rather than focusing on the accumulation of possessions, concentrate instead on playing with or reading to your children, or spending time out enjoying nature.
  • Want What you Already Have
    Society teaches us to want what others have. Instead, shift your thinking so that you are satisfied with, or want, what is already yours. What tends to happen is once we reach our goals in terms of owning personal possessions, we trade those old goals in for a set of new ones that involves bigger, better, and grander objects.
    Goals are good to have because they motivate us to work, and to continue to strive for self improvement. The key is to find a balance between having worthy goals and recognizing when we are allowing the desire for possessions to overwhelm the importance of other aspects of our lives. Rather than constantly striving for things we do not have, we need to shift our focus to being thankful for the things we already possess.
  • Volunteer Your Time
    One way to appreciate what you have is to work with others who have nothing, or who have disabilities that no amount of money can overcome. Volunteering time to work in a food bank, or to work with underprivileged children, can really alter your perspective on where you are in life, and can create a deeper appreciation for the gifts you do have in your life.
    Helping others can boost your spirits as well. There is a great deal of personal satisfaction to be gained from giving aid to those who are in need of it, leaving you with a sense of satisfaction that will carry over into your own life. Use the experiences of helping others to teach your children compassion and civic responsibility.

There are a number of ways to enjoy life without the need for a great deal of money. Certainly, it is important to work and earn enough to provide for our basic needs and the needs of our families, but it is important to recognize when the desire for personal possessions becomes overly consuming. There needs to be a balance between a satisfying work life and a rich home life, and the best way to achieve such a balance is to ensure the drive for material possessions does not become all consuming.

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Posted by on March 29, 2012 in Real Estate

 

15 Simple Changes That Will Quickly Improve Your Health

Did you start January full of health resolutions, determined that this would be the year that you ate better, lost weight and exercised regularly?
If you’re back to your usual habits – skipping breakfast, grabbing chocolate to get you through that
afternoon slump, neglecting your fruit and veggie intake and chugging down mug after mug of coffee – don’t feel guilty about it. Your problem isn’t that you lack willpower – it’s that you tried to change too much at once.

Instead, try making some of these very easy changes to your eating, drinking andexercising habits. Once you’ve got used to a few of them, add in more. You’ll be making huge strides towards your health goals, with hardly any conscious effort. Sound good? Read on…
Easy Changes to Your Eating Habits

  1. Eat a piece of fruit before lunch
    Get into the habit of eating an apple, banana, pear or other piece of fruit before lunch each day. It’ll take the edge off your appetite – making you less likely to dig into greasy fast food or bag or crackers. You’ll also be one step closer to hitting your five-a-day.
  2. Don’t use vending machines
    Let’s face it, have you ever bought anything healthy from a vending machine? They’re overpriced and full of sugar-and-salt packed stuff that your body doesn’t need. Plus, they’re open all hours (unlike your corner shop) and they won’t look at you funny if you buy ten candy bars at a time. Make a pact with yourself not to buy anything except bottled water from vending machines.
  3. Go vegetarian one night a week
    Most nutritionists agree that we eat more meat than we need to. Have a meat-free dinner once a week – it’s a great opportunity to try out some new recipes that are packed with vegetables and flavours. You’ll also save yourself some money.
  4. Switch to wholegrain bread
    If your lunchtime sandwich or sub is always on white, switch to wholegrain. The extra goodness in the grains (including lots of fiber, B vitamins, vitamin E, and various minerals) helps keep your heart healthy and
    cut your risk of cancer. Plus, fiber-rich foods make you feel you full for a longer period of time – very helpful if you’re trying to lose weight.
  5. Switch to skim milk (1% or less fat)
    Do you drink whole milk or put it on cereal? If so, switch to skim (less than 0.5% fat) or 1% milk. It might seem odd for the first few days, but stick with it for a week or so: your taste buds will quickly adjust. You’ll be getting just as much calcium and protein as before, but cutting fat.

Easy Changes To Your Drinking Habits

  1. Keep a bottle of water on your desk
    Many people mistake slight thirst for hunger, leading to unnecessary snacking. Keep a bottle on your desk and drink it whenever you get a little mouth crazing. Getting sufficient water also helps
    prevent you from becoming constipated. Note: Save money by using a refillable thermos or water bottle instead of purchasing bottled water.
  2. Switch half your cups of coffee to herbal tea
    How many coffees (or regular mugs of tea) do you drink in an average day? Try having just half of your usual amount – and make the rest a herbal, caffeine free tea. Many government health authorities recommend that we
    limit caffeine intake to 400mg per day, which is the equivalent of four cups of brewed coffee, or seven cups of instant.
  3. Avoid milky drinks from coffee outlets
    Do you have a giant latte every morning? You could be clocking up
    over 300 calories in just one drink, and chances are, it doesn’t fill you up at all. And don’t assume that being caffeine-free means you can get away with this: a hot chocolate with whipped cream has over 400 calories
  4. Have four alcohol-free days per week
    If you go out drinking every day after work, or split a nightly bottle of wine with your partner over dinner, your habits are putting your liver under pressure. They could also be stopping you from losing weight: alcohol makes you peckish, and contains calories (around 200 calories in a bottle of beer or a medium-sized glass of wine).
  5. Swap soda for water
    Are you
    addicted to soda? Even diet sodas aren’t great for you – they generally contain a lot of additives. Try swapping some of your sodas for plain water (add a slice of lemon, or a dash of cordial, if you don’t like your water unflavoured). If it’s the fizz you miss, try carbonated water.

Easy Changes to Your Exercise Habits

  1. Go for a twenty minute walk every lunchtime
    If you’re struggling to fit exercise into your day, get away from your desk for a twenty-minute walk each lunchtime. It’s a good way to force yourself to take a break from work, and refreshes your mind and your body.
  2. Walk (some of) your commute
    Can you walk all or part of your commute? That might mean jumping off the subway a stop earlier, or even just leaving your car in the furthest part of the car park.
  3. Take a gym class once a week
    Wherever you live or work, chances are that you can find a convenient exercise class somewhere nearby. (Many gyms have quick pre-work slots and lunch-time classes, as well as several evening options.) Find one class you can do, once a week – and stick with it.
  4. Make Sunday afternoons active
    As Monday looms ever closer, you might find that your mood and energy levels take a dive. A great way to counter this is to do something active on Sunday afternoons. Mix this up from week to week: how about a long walk, a swim, ice-skating, having a kick around in the park…?
  5. Exercise during commercial breaks
    Whenever you’re watching TV and adverts come on, get up off the sofa and do some exercise. Fit in a few stretches, some jogging on the spot, or some weight lifting. You might only fit in a few minutes at a time, but over the course of an evening’s TV viewing, that could easily add up to half an hour. And if it stops you grabbing yet another snack, it’s definitely helping…

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Posted by on March 28, 2012 in Real Estate

 

Let Spring Cleaning Begin – 3 Homemade Natural Cleaning Products

One of my earliest memories is of my mother cleaning with what looked to me like cooking ingredients. She would be listening to the radio as she poured baking soda, lemon, and vinegar combinations on the surfaces of our home. Magically these natural cleaning products kept our home clean and smelling fresh, without stretching an already thin household budget. Here are a few basic household ingredients and items you can use to clean your home.

Vinegar

Uses:

Vinegar naturally cleans like an all-purpose cleaner. Mix a solution of 1 part water to 1 part vinegar in a new store bought spray bottle and you have a solution that will clean most areas of your home. Vinegar is a great natural cleaning product as well as a disinfectant and deodorizer. Always test on an inconspicuous area. It is safe to use on most surfaces and has the added bonus of being incredibly cheap. Improperly diluted vinegar is acidic and can eat away at tile grout. Never use vinegar on marble surfaces. Don’t worry about your home smelling like vinegar. The smell disappears when it dries. Here are some uses for vinegar in the rooms of your house. Use it in the…

  1. Bathroom – Clean the bathtub, toilet, sink, and countertops. Use pure vinegar in the toilet bowl to get rid of rings. Flush the toilet to allow the water level to go down. Pour the undiluted vinegar around the inside of the rim. Scrub down the bowl. Mop the floor in the bathroom with a vinegar/water solution. The substance will also eat away the soap scum and hard water stains on your fixtures and tile. Make sure it is safe to use with your tile.
  2. Kitchen- Clean the stovetop, appliances, countertops, and floor.
  3. Laundry Room- Use vinegar as a natural fabric softener. This can be especially helpful for families who have sensitive skin. Add ½ cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle in place of store bought fabric softener. Vinegar has the added benefit of breaking down laundry detergent more effectively. (A plus when you have a family member whose skin detects every trace of detergent.)
Lemon Juice

Uses:

Lemon juice is another natural substance that can be used to clean your home. Lemon juice can be used to dissolve soap scum and hard water deposits. Lemon is a great substance to clean and shine brass and copper. Lemon juice can be mixed with vinegar and or baking soda to make cleaning pastes. Cut a lemon in half and sprinkle baking soda on the cut section. Use the lemon to scrub dishes, surfaces, and stains. Mix 1 cup olive oil with ½ cup lemon juice and you have a furniture polish for your hardwood furniture.

My favorite use for the fruit is to put a whole lemon peel through the garbage disposal. It freshens the drain and the kitchen. Orange peels can be used with the same results.

Baking Soda

Uses:

Baking soda can be used to scrub surfaces in much the same way as commercial abrasive cleansers. Baking soda is great as a deodorizer. Place a box in the refrigerator and freezer to absorb odors. Put it anywhere you need deodorizing action. Try these three kitchen ingredients as natural cleaning products in your home.

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The finest compliment I can receive is a referral from a friend, client or colleague. If you know of someone thinking of purchasing or selling a home, I would appreciate an introduction. Be assured, I will extend to them my highest degree of service and professionalism.

 

 
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Posted by on March 26, 2012 in Real Estate

 

Time to Kill Your Mental Boundaries


What do you believe about yourself? It is remarkably easy to become convinced of your limitations. Frequently, people discuss what they would love to have or do but “can’t” for one reason or another. In some cases, there are huge challenges to overcome; however, all too often, what we perceive to be a physical, economical, physiological, or social boundary ends up being a mental boundary.
Buying into these mental limitations can be detrimental to your success. Here are 3 reasons to destroy your mental boundaries!

Mental Boundaries Cause Us to Accept Limitations That Are No Longer There
Much behavior is controlled by the subconscious mind. The subconscious is our autopilot, and one of its functions is to keep us in our comfort zones. This actually is very beneficial in many cases. For example, it would be a waste of time to relearn menial tasks everyday, such as buttoning a shirt, so the mind maps a blueprint of actions and behaviors required to button shirts, eliminating the need to pay too much attention.
Nonetheless, there are definitely other situations where ignoring the auto-response can be the difference between success and failure. For example, trainers shackle young elephants with heavy chains using deeply embedded stakes, so that the young elephants learn to stay in their place. The training is so thorough that even when the elephants are older and more powerful, they never attempt leaving, despite having the strength to pull up the stake and walk away. Even when there’s only a small unattached metal bracelet, meaning the stake is no longer there, the powerful elephants are still hostage to their previous programming. The key is that it is no longer the stake that is holding them prisoner. Their mental barriers are really limiting their movements.
All too often, we impose needless restraints on our lives. We have been so thoroughly convinced of our limitations that we dare not question them, even in cases where those boundaries no longer exist or no longer possess the power to stop our progress. There will always be seemingly valid justifications for why you can’t start that business, give the object of your affections a call, pursue that degree, or lose weight. Those justifications only point out the size of the problem, but they ignore the size of you. Do you know how great you are?
Recognize when your subconscious is acting as the personal saboteur to your dreams and aspirations. Don’t allow the shackles of failure to bind you when the only true barrier is your mind.
Mental Boundaries Will Limit Our Potential
Mental boundaries are also a great danger to your potential. Possibilities for you are determined by your capacity to believe. While this statement may be motivating, the tragedy occurs when your belief system refuses to acknowledge your ability to achieve the seemingly improbable. It was improbable that someone fired for lacking creativity went on to found one of the most creative and magical places on earth, yet
Walt Disney persisted. It was improbable that someone ousted by his own board would go on to helm another company and lead it to unprecedented heights then return to his previous company and shatter record after record, yet Steve Jobs persisted. Just because a dream is seemingly improbable, doesn’t mean that you lack the potential to bring it into manifestation. Improbable is not impossible.
Sometimes we acquire these mental barriers from other people. Roger Bannister, the first man recorded to run the 4-minute mile was told by physiologists of his time that not only was running the 4-minute mile impossible for man to do but attempting to do so was dangerous to man’s health. Obviously, they were wrong, and once Roger Bannister proved so, the world was not only stunned, but the collective mental barrier was decimated. In around 3 years from the time Roger Bannister first ran a sub-4 minute mile, 16 runners did so as well, even though no others had accomplished this feat during the previous century. This substantiates that the speed barrier was only secondary to the mind barrier. Once Roger Bannister changed the expectation of possibilities through the achievement of his high goal, the entire paradigm through which the other runners viewed the world changed accordingly. He changed their potential by shattering their mental barriers.
Mental Boundaries Are Rooted in a Negative Sense of Worth
Too many people die with their music still in them. Steven Covey argues that we all desire to “live, to love, to learn, and to leave a legacy.” However, it is hard to achieve something substantively meaningful when you feel miserable and unaccomplished. Likewise, developing a positive self worth is part of the basis for making deposits of success in OTHER areas of your life (health, spiritual, mental, etc) if you are out of a job. That way, your measure of success and failure won’t be wholly-defined by your job situation.
I recently became aware of Sylvester Stallone’s powerful story. Early on, he found it difficult to realize his dream of becoming an actor/writer. After watching a boxing match between
Mohammad Ali and Chuck Wepner, he became inspired to write the script for Rocky. He then took his script to producers; they loved the idea but were not pleased that he wanted to be the lead actor in his own star vehicle. They even offered him $325,000 for the script only. This would translate into an inflation-adjusted $1.3 million in today’s dollars. Stallone turned it down, adamant that he should star in the film. Eventually, they acquiesced to his demand at the risk of losing the script, and he was paid $35,000 to star in Rocky. Now, films that he has starred in have grossed upward of $2.6 billion worldwide, earning him both critical and commercial acclaim. He clearly made the best decision. However, suppose he had bought into the producers’ assessment of his value rather than adhering to his own sense of his worth?
A real danger of having a negative sense of worth is that you never know when you are going to get a chance to do the extraordinary. If you don’t feel worthy of the opportunity, then it is hard to capitalize on it.
Winston Churchill said “to every man there comes in his lifetime that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered a chance to do a very special thing, unique to him and fitted to his talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour.”
Closing Thoughts
I hope you are convinced that it is not within your best interest to blindly accept mental barriers to your success. While such justifications may keep you comfortable, your reward is often in the discomfort. Don’t allow yourself to be robbed of victory due to false beliefs of who you are, what you can do, and where you can go. You possess the power to eliminate so many shackles and solve problems that enrich the world. Break free of your chains today!

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The finest compliment I can receive is a referral from a friend, client or colleague. If you know of someone thinking of purchasing or selling a home, I would appreciate an introduction. Be assured, I will extend to them my highest degree of service and professionalism.

Source: http://www.dumblittleman.com/2012/03/time-to-kill-your-mental-boundaries.html

 
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Posted by on March 12, 2012 in Real Estate

 

Spring Forward This Sunday!

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Spring Forward!

Don’t forget to move your clocks 1 hour up this weekend!

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Posted by on March 9, 2012 in Real Estate

 

Five Great Ways to Conquer Your Fears

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Five Great Ways to Conquer Your Fears

It is a rare person who lives without fear of one kind or another. You may fear heights, or spiders, or new situations, or rejection–whatever your fears may be, you can either let those fears form boundaries beyond which you can’t move or grow, or you can face them head-on and allow them to become opportunities to move into new places in your life. The choice is truly yours.

Fear can be paralyzing, literally, for some people.

Fear is not always a bad thing. There are obviously some things about which we should be afraid and in which we should exercise appropriate caution. But if our fears control us, or prevent us from taking certain risks, we allow those fears to define us, to limit us only to courses of action that we deem sufficiently safe, and as a result, many of us never achieve our potential–or we cheat ourselves out of the richness that life could otherwise hold for us.

1. Realize that everyone is afraid of something.

Others may not fear the same things you fear, but everyone fears something, and understanding this can help you not to feel isolated in your fear. You’re not alone, and the fact that you are fearful in some area doesn’t make you a weak person.

Try this: find someone to talk to about your fears–you may find that someone else has faced the same fears as you, and has found a way through them that can help you.

2. You don’t have to overcome your fear all at once.

Try this: write down something you are afraid of, some fear you want to overcome, and make a list of three small steps you think you CAN make to begin facing up to your fear. Choose one and do it tomorrow.

3. Approach your fears as opportunities for growth.

You don’t really want to be afraid, do you? If you think about what your life might be like if you weren’t afraid of that thing, whatever it is, you know that things would be better. If you look beyond the fear to the benefits of overcoming the fear, you may see a world that might just be worth taking some risk to live in.

Take a few minutes and make a list of the pros and cons of dealing with the thing that you’re afraid of:

  • What are the potential benefits of overcoming that fear?
  • How might your life be different if you weren’t afraid of it?
  • What would you be free to do that you aren’t free to do now because of your fear?
  • What do you have to lose by giving up that fear?

If you can objectively appraise the advantages to moving past your fear, you may come to see your fear as an opportunity to grow. The adage, “nothing ventured, nothing gained,” and all of its various permutations (e.g., “no guts, no glory”) are based on the time-tested principle that we can’t grow if we don’t allow ourselves to be stretched. You know this is true in the physical realm–a muscle that isn’t regularly used eventually atrophies and becomes useless–and it is no less true in other areas of our lives.

Try this: write a paragraph or two about how your life will be different when you overcome that fear that has dogged you for so long, and why the potential benefits are worth some risk.

      4. Be careful how you talk to yourself about what you fear.
Sometimes we are fearful of what we imagine might happen if we step outside of our comfort zone. It’s all too easy to convince yourself that your reasons for being afraid are all valid. I once heard a wise man say, “More important than what happens to us is how we talk to ourselves about what happens to us.” This is so true–we can imagine all sorts of negative things when we contemplate something we’re afraid of, but this doesn’t make those things real.

It is entirely natural to be fearful of the unknown. You don’t know what might happen if you make that phone call to the person who intimidates you, or you’re not sure how the boss might react if you really speak your mind. Why not go ahead and make a list of the possible outcomes? What do you really have to lose if you take the risk? Seeing that list on paper may help you see how irrational some of your fears really are. Don’t forget to include in your list the possibility that things might turn out for the better.

Try this: instead of convincing yourself to believe the worst about something you fear, try imagining the best.

      5. Failure isn’t necessarily the end of the world.
If there is one fear that is common to nearly all of us, it is the fear of failure. While there are some scenarios in which failure is potentially devastating, or perhaps even life-threatening, most of the time it isn’t. Yet the fear of failure short-circuits ideas, stymies careers and deprives us of experiences and opportunities that could enrich our lives.

If you have an idea and don’t try it for fear of failure, you’ve just given someone else the chance to try it instead–and someone else will, if you don’t.

Our failures can be dead-ends or learning experiences that can lead us to try other routes to success, depending on how we treat them. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” That’s a very old saying, but it’s great advice.

Try this: if you’re afraid to fail at something, make yourself a list of the things you can try if you do fail at first. It never hurts to plan ahead. (They put redundant systems on the Space Shuttle for this very reason.)

So what are you afraid of?

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Posted by on March 6, 2012 in Real Estate

 
 
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