Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Meet India's `Google girl`
She is just seven years old, but she is already a human search engine in the making. Meet child prodigy Meghali Malbika Swain who has all the information about geography at her fingertips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZR_ZawUrOI
Friday, December 27, 2013
11 Reasons Why You Aren’t Getting Results
All of us have goals. Goals like losing weight, earning more money, finding a life partner, setting up our business, achieving performance targets, being fitter, building better relationships, and so on. Some people seem to have no problem achieving their goals. Some, on the other hand, don’t seem to be able to make any progress.
At the end of the day, if you find yourself stuck in your goals, it boils down to one (or some) of these 11 reasons:
You Procrastinate. You keep putting things off. You talk about how you want to do something but you don’t act on it. You are like the howling dog. I recently wrote the story of the howling dog at The Personal Excellence Blog. The story refers to this dog, who keeps howling because it’s sitting on a nail. However, he refuses to get up from the nail. Why? Because it’s not painful enough. You procrastinate on taking action because the situation is not painful enough for you yet. However, the times when it does become painful enough are often the times when it’s too late to do anything. Either you start taking action, or you forever lay in peace. Your call, I’ll leave it to you.
You underestimate your goal. Achieving a goal is about getting from point A to B. From point A, you create an action plan that gets you to point B. Sounds foolproof, except the action plan isn’t 100% valid. That’s because you’re setting the plan from point A. You haven’t even been to point B, so how do you even know if it’ll get you to B? At most it’ll be help to bring you closer to point B, but it’s not going to be 100% accurate. Almost all the time, people fail because they underestimate what it takes to achieve their goals. What should you do then? Over-commit your resources and review your progress constantly. . Adjust your plan of action and adapt accordingly.
You spend more time defending your problems than taking action. You complain how you are not getting XYZ results. When people try to give you suggestions, you spend more time justifying why their suggestions will not work and defending your lack of results than brainstorm with them on how to get out of your rut. Spend less time talking about your problems and use that time to think about solutions. Then act on them. You’ll get a lot more results this way, and you’ll be happier
You’re too enclosed in your own world. You don’t venture out beyond your normal routine. You do the same things, talk to the same old friends, act the same way, circle around the same issues. It’s no wonder you stagnate. Open yourself up – take active steps to grow. Get to know more people – people who are driven, positive and focused. Get new, refreshing perspectives. Read new books. Add new blogs to your subscription. Ask for feedback on how you can improve.
You’re not working smart. You do the same thing over and over, even when you don’t get results. You apply brute strength to your goals, without strategizing how you can apply this strength more effectively. If you are not getting what you want, it’s a signal it’s time to change what you have been doing. See how you can do this in a different, smarter, more effective way.Look at people who have achieved the same results before, and learn from them
Avoidance (Fear). You avoid taking action because some of the things you have to do intimidate you. You rather delay the process as much as possible. Unfortunately, results are not going to come automatically from delaying. Results come to people who pay their dues, not people who avoid the work. The fear isn’t going to go away by waiting it out. Face the fear and do it anyway.
You’re easily distracted. You get distracted by things thrown in your way. Your attention gets diverted from your goals. Your ability to stay focused is instrumental to achieving your results. Be clear of what you want and stick to it. Don’t let anything (or anyone) distract you. These are the obstacles the universe sends your way to see how serious you are about getting what you want.
You over-complicate situations. Common among the neurotic perfectionists. If you are a neurotic perfectionist, you blow the situation out of proportion and create this mental image that’s so complicated that it’s no wonder you don’t get anything done. Things are usually simpler than you think – be conscious when you are adding unnecessarily complications for yourself.
You give up too easily. You give up before you even get anywhere. If you read “The Dip”, you’ll know all big goals comes with a dipping point – a chasm where it seems nothing you do is giving you results. It’s normal. This is the point that differentiates those who deserve the goal and those who are just taking a casual stab at it. I’ve a client who has a penchant for giving up in his goals early on. He realized soon that there’s no “easy” way out, and all goals have their own set of obstacles to be overcome. Persevere, press on, and it’s a matter of time before you reap the fruits of your labor.
You lose sight of your goals. You settle for less, forgetting the goals you once set. That’s bad because then you are just stifling yourself and making do with what you have – and this isn’t who you are meant to be. You have to first reconnect with your inner desires. If you cannot fail at all, what would you want to do? What are your biggest hopes and dreams for your future? What is the future you want to create for yourself? Reignite your vision and don’t ever lose sight of it. It’s your fuel to your success.
You’re too stuck in your ways. You insist on doing things a certain way. You don’t open yourself up to new ideas. Guess what? You’ll remain stuck in your situation, too. Open yourself to new methods. Experiment. You can only improve if you are willing to try new things.
If you haven’t noticed, these 11 reasons are self-created problems – you can easily dismiss them just as you have created them. The more accurate title for this post should be “11 Reasons Why You Aren’t Successful – Yet“. Your goals are in your hands – you can achieve them as long as you strive for them. Address the 11 things blocking you from your success, and it’s a matter of time before you achieve results you seek.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Saturday, December 21, 2013
How to Stop the Negative Spin of Thoughts, Emotions and Actions
People have a distorted view of the world when they are in a negative state of mind. It becomes a cycle where negative thoughts reinforce negative emotions, which in turn produces negative actions.If the cycle is not broken, and left to run uninterrupted, it inevitably has a detrimental physical and mental effect on the person experiencing the spin. In addition, if these cycles spin often enough, they can lead to clinical depression and anxiety.
The key to avoiding this negative distortion and stopping the mental spin is to understand what initiates the cycle. Once mindful of the triggers, people can train themselves to avoid it, or stop it before it does any harm.
Triggers
Thoughts, actions, feelings and sometimes even physical reactions can be triggers. On its own, a single trigger has little impact on your view of the world or emotional state. You can easily dismiss a feeling of frustration after dropping a dish on the floor, because there are no further triggers to escalate a cycle, it is an isolated incident.
However, if someone says, “I cannot believe you broke my dish!” then frustration can turn into anger and the cycle begins.
Visualize a negative thought as a flame. A flame burning in an empty concrete parking lot cannot do much damage. These fires are left to burn out on its own or easily extinguished.
Put that flame in a closed room filled with combustible material and you have a potential disaster on your hands.
Unless quickly extinguished, the fire will use every piece of flammable material in that room to burn hotter, longer and faster. Left uninterrupted, that single flame will become an inextinguishable inferno that will burn until it has nothing left to fuel its flames.
People experience a similar situation when they are a host for so much negativity. By the time, it finally runs its course, all the anger, frustration, and blame has destroyed a person from mental, physical and spiritual exhaustion.
Example of a negative emotional cycle
A person is driving towards a business meeting when they take a wrong turn, which causes them to be 20 minutes late for a meeting.
This minor event has happened to everyone. Yet, in this case, the person experiences a wave of nausea and stomach tightening from stress.
The physical reaction triggers a negative thought. “I’m always late; I screw up like this all the time, and I’m going to lose my job.”
Without taking a moment to decide if these thoughts are rational, the cycle gains speed and initiates negative actions. Believing that the people in front of him are stopping him from making up lost time, our person begins a tirade of profanities and rude hand gestures at innocent motorists.
This entire scenario can be resolved with a simple and rational thought like,“Well I am usually early for these events, and everyone makes mistakes. I’m sure my associates will understand.”
Recognizing the triggers
In order to avoid a negative spin you need to recognize the triggers that set off the cycle and the environments that make you more susceptible to these triggers.
As well, being in a positive state of mind or in a secure and nurturing environment allows for a measure of protection from a negative cycle.
Also, add another layer of defence by being mindful of your work environment, the type of career you choose and the interactions you have with people.
Weakening Triggers
Create an inventory of positive truths about yourself and your life. It takes a little bit of effort to remember the positive aspects of your life, but it is well worth the work.
Disarming triggers requires that you counter any negative thought with a relevant and equally powerful positive truth.
For example, if you think “Everyone hates me, I’m unlovable”, you can counteract this thought by thinking, “My wife and children love me and they are always happy to see me when I come home.” Extinguish the negative thought as quickly as it arises.
Be truthful and celebrate the good in your life. Take five minutes every night to write down all your successes, positive qualities and the things that make you happy. This creates a natural defence against negativity.
Disrupting the cycle by disrupting the pattern
There are going to be times when you are unable to recognize a trigger because you are in a weak mental state.
For example, you go to sleep in a positive state of mind and then unexpectedly wake up angry and grumpy. In these scenarios, breaking a negative cycle with positive thoughts is hard if not impossible to do.
In cases like this, starve yourself of any additional negative energy that might strengthen your state of mind. This requires you to break any established patterns.
If the usual routine includes having a coffee and reading a newspaper, then you have to catch your mind off guard and go straight to the shower.
The bathroom is a place of solitude and allows you to avoid any irritating interactions. Moreover, the shower gives you a moment to pause and reflect on your mood.
Avoid any negative local, world or economic news that might further irritate your mood.
The earlier you get out of the house the better. Allow yourself ample time to treat yourself to a coffee, breakfast and a leisurely drive to work.
Conclusion
A negative state of mind not caused by a single emotion; it is the build-up of triggers that distort reality. Create an honest outlook of your life, by being mindful of your environment, and rejoice in all that is positive in your life.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
12 POWERFUL POINTS
This isn’t some self-help rubbish list that’s meant to inspire. This is a down and dirty, harsh and truthful list.
1. Learn the Basics
Yes this is a simple one but it has to be said. A man has the pleasure of talking to scores of new traders on a daily basis. If there is one thing I have learned it’s that most newbies forego the basic training and jump straight into the warzone. This is of course a fatal error, on their part, so if you’re a newbie LEARN THE DAMN BASICS!
2. You Won’t Get Rich Quick, Experience Makes You Rich
If you’re here to get rich quick you’re just a clueless tourist. Don’t be naive. Trading is all about experience. As is the case with any career, the longer you do it the more efficient you become. The journey to becoming a trader is a long one so be prepared to stick it out for 1-3 years before you’re consistently profitable. Always remember, Forex/any trading is a career not a get rich quick scheme.
3. Experts Are a Joke
Listening to expert opinions is great right? Of course it is!
The problem with financial markets is that every newbie who’s had a good week thinks they are an expert. The other, more pathetic, type of expert is the 30-60 year old guy/girl, in a suit, who claims to be a professional trader yet begs you to buy their book. These people are usually failed traders who make money teaching other traders how to fail. Self-proclaimed experts tend to:
- Regurgitate generic old information that just doesn’t work.
- Say they’re rich full time traders yet try to sell you books.
- Make outrageous claims like they turned $1k into $1mil in a month or some such rubbish.
- Try to prove they are profitable traders by posting pics of photoshopped account statements.
- Cleverly use maths to make themselves appear more successful than 5. they are e.g. double counting wins and single counting losses.
So most ‘trading experts’ are a joke. Take what they say with a pinch of salt.
4. Do Your Own Analysis
Continuing from the last call, blindly following others will make you blind. Your goal should be to become a successful trader, not a pigeon following others around for scraps of information.
As a trader you need to pick a method and learn to analyse the market. Being able to do your own analysis will bring you closer to being a pro trader. Doing your own analysis allows you to:
- Be self reliant.
- Actually learn to trade.
If you choose to blindly follow some self-proclaimed guru all you are is a pigeon. How will you make the money when the guru stops giving CALLS or the CALLS stop working? Will you even understand why they worked in the first place and why they no longer work?
5. The Demo Myth
If I wanted to be a professional boxer then I would go out and buy a boxing game for my PlayStation 3 and start my boxing training. Would that make any sense?? Well it makes just as much sense as trading demos in the hopes of becoming a successful Forex trader.
Demo trading for 3 months does not work for 2 reasons:
Demos give new traders false confidence and cause them to learn bad habits.
Demo account performance is often superior to a brokers live account performance. This includes execution speed, stop hunting, and several other factors.
The best solution is to use a demo to learn the basics and test out, or find, a trading method. When it comes to actually trading you should only trade a live account. These days you can open an account with pocket change ($10) so there are no reasons not to trade live.
Oh and if you cannot afford to lose $10 you should not be trading anyway….
6. Kill Losing Streaks Early
This is by far the most important rule I have ever put to action in my own trading. Had I not stringently stuck to this rule I truly believe I would not be a successful trader today.
If you lose 3 trades in a row STEP AWAY from your charts. Take a few days off trading and come back with a clear head. Losing streaks are very dangerous and falling into one can lead to very big losses.
7. Following the Pack
Have you heard that 90% of new traders fail? Like most statistics that one is probably bull. However it is fair to say that the majority of newbie’s coming into this market fail.
I believe the secret is to break away from the pack and do your own thing. That doesn’t mean you should segregate yourself from the trading community. It just means you should rely on yourself. Get enough knowledge/experience to be independent and not simply a follower.
Think about this one logically:
1. The vast majority of new traders fail.
2. If I follow the majority I become part of the majority.
3. If I am part of the majority I am likely to fail with them.
Beome independent DO NOT remain a follower.
8. Stick to Your Method
Every trading method has its ups and downs. No trading system, method or style will be 100% profitable, all year round. My method, for example, has on average an 80% success rate. Some periods of the year I will win only 6 in 10 trades (60%). Other periods in the year I win 100% of trades for a month or two.
I know each year, I will have some bad periods in which case I lose more trades than normal. I do not lose faith though. I stick it out and keep on trading. The problem with most newbie’s is they will give up on a method after its first bad week.
9. Keep It Simple
This is an easy one. Keep it simple!
There is no reason to complicate trading. For example, my trading method is extremely simple yet extremely effective. I spend 2-5 hours per week trading and the rest of the week enjoying life.
Your method does not have to be incredibly complex to work. Keeping it simple will allows you to:
1. Work much more efficiently
2. Work less
3. Speed up your learning (KISS)
If you remember nothing else from this article, remember this…..
10. Trade Only One Pair
The key to making that transition from newbie to pro is keeping your trading simple.
One of the easiest ways to keep trading simple is to trade only a single currency pair at a time. This is so damn obvious I am surprised more people do not do it. Trading one pair helps because it allows you to concentrate all your efforts on learning that pair, therefore allowing you to understand how it moves.
If you try and trade 5 pairs at the same time, learning to trade becomes much harder. You will have to learn the unique characteristics of all those different pairs and each pair is unique. Each currency pair:
1. Reacts differently to news.
2. Moves at different rates, some fast some slow.
3. Moves more rapidly at different times of the day.
4. Has to be managed differently when holding an open position.
As a newbie, jumping into the deep end with multiple pairs adds a lot more stress and slows the learning process.
So start off with a single pair. Once you’re profitable you can add as many pairs as you think you can handle.
11. Trade Only One Time frame
As above, picking a single time frame keeps things simple.
Looking at a single time frame has several benefits:
- Allows you to concentrate on learning one time frame, therefore removing a lot of the confusion that comes with learning multiple time frames.
- Gives you less charts to look at and allows you to concentrate more energy on analysing a single chart, therefore improving efficiency and the quality of your analysis.
- Stops you from overanalysing your pair. Looking at too many time frames can give you conflicting signals.
- It just makes your life easier.
Remember it’s all about keeping it simple. If you have a single timeframe and a single pair it means you’re looking at a single chart. As a newbie you do not want to juggle multiple charts. Stick with one chart, until you become consistently profitable.
12. Clean Charts
Most newbies pile as many indicators as possible onto a chart, when they first start trading. Indicators help with your trading (apparently) so the more the better, right? Wrong!
As traders gain more experience they start figuring out that less is more. The more indicators you have on your chart the more confusion you will have. Every extra indicator:
Most newbies pile as many indicators as possible onto a chart, when they first start trading. Indicators help with your trading (apparently) so the more the better, right? Wrong!
As traders gain more experience they start figuring out that less is more. The more indicators you have on your chart the more confusion you will have. Every extra indicator:
- Adds to the clutter making your charts harder to read.
- Gives you more to think about therefore clouding your judgment.
- Increases the possibility of giving you conflicting signals.Looks pretty damn ugly…
- Indicators are not essential. I personally trade with no indicators and have an 80% success rate. I am not saying you need to remove all indicators but limit it to a max of 2 at a time on your chart.
I trade with no indicators, simply a few support and resistance lines and candlestick patterns.
All credits given to Mr. NICK B. who is a master trader with plenty of experience in forex trading.
All credits given to Mr. NICK B. who is a master trader with plenty of experience in forex trading.
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