Archive for February, 2009

by Eric Y Smith
In football betting, some of the matches with extremely low odds such as 1.15 or below, and it look set and clear that the favourite is going to walk over the opponent. In such odds, it makes you think that the bookies must have it wrong this time ?

Often time, a match may look like a sure win bet, with the giant team facing the weakest team in the league, and you might just so confident to place a $1000 on the single match, and thinking that you would get the money back plus the winning. Although 9 out of 10 time you might win, and that one time you miss, you will lose the entire $1000. Therefore you have to gauge is it really worth the bet on a match like this one. Does you tempted to place your hard earn cash on the bet like that?

Looking at this scenario:
Liverpool are playing at home to the leeds united and are 1.10 to win. If you think that Liverpool is at its top form and would win the match, and place a $1000. If you win, you will win only a miserly $100, however, if you lose, you will loss a hefty $1000. Imagine if the same match are to play 10 time, you have to win the next 10 matches in order to recoup your losses.
Is it really worth while to bet on Liverpool to win at such a low odds of $1.10? You may be lucky to win some cash on a short term, but betting in such low odds of games in a long term, week in and week out, only one unexpected losses will wipe up all your profits. As football betting is so unpredictable, it is highly unadvisable to bet on such low odds in a long run. Bear in mind that if Liverpool to slip up only once, or draw to a late equlaiser, you would lose all you profits plus your capitals.

About Eric Smith : Do you want to discover the secrets to win money with small stakes on winningbetfair? Download this : Effective WinningBetfair Techniques. Eric Smith is a professional player on winningbetfair and he has taught many friends and peers to make money on betting exchange. More cracking information can be found if you go see and Click Here !

Article Source: Are Extremely low odds’ favourite teams a sure win bet on football betting

by bleuze
Many horse bettors and racetrack workers will often assume that a hot tip from someone who works at the track (jockey, trainer, owner, etc) is a good thing. A hot tip from someone in the supposely know can spread like wild fire until it makes its way to the betting windows. These hot tips can come from anyone including trainers, jockeys, exercise riders, owners, grooms, clockers, and hotwalkers. These tips are not usually hot. In fact, more often than not, they can be a disaster. But why?

Mainly because the people who create the hot tips are concerned only with their own horse without consideration for the other horses in race. They may know their horse is feeling good, but they fail to take into account the competition in the race. Many of owners think that because their exercise rider or jockey tells them that their horse worked exceptionally well, that the horse will win. Thus, they tell all their close friends, who in turn tell everyone else, until all the connected money shows up at the windows.

Many of the owners are biased in favor of their own horse to start with, followed by jockeys, trainers, jockey agents and exercise riders. Owners take advice from trainers, who in turn are influenced by jockeys and exercise riders. Owners are also influenced by trainers who are trying some new medication or equipment on a horse, but you are better off looking at the program yourself for equipment changes.

You will occasionally see certain trainers who have operated at a 10 percent win clip for their entire careers. Now all of a sudden, they are winning 30 to 40 percent or higher. If you think these proven losers have all of a sudden become master horsemen and exceptional horse trainers; you are mistaken. These trainers get hot for a few seasons and disappear into oblivion. They are winning because of veterinarians and not because of their horse training! I suggest that you do not consider them a so called hot tip!

Another so called inside tip is when you are told to place a bet on a first time starter who has been working well. Besides the fact that the tipsters have generally not considered the other horses in the race, the trainer usually will not have the horse ready to go the distance in an actual race. Long gone are the days when a trainer would work a horse up to 10 times out of the gate and seven furlongs in company before staring in a six furlong race.

Many trainers nowadays give their horses as few as three gate works before entering them in race, and you will rarely see a workout longer than six furlongs on a first-time starter. It is a money thing!

Many horse bettors like to watch for the big money bets that occasionally flow into the mutuel pools just before post time. These types of bets can make a horse a favorite in a short time. Despite the fact that these big late bets are often based on superior insider information and/or information products the general public does not have access too, it has been statistically proven that they predict success at about the same rate as the public. If you have not yet placed a bet, I suggest th you simply skip the race. There are ther races!

With three different and often misinformed groups influencing the odds at various stages of the process leading up to post time, it pays to do your homework and wait for the odds to work in your favor.

The most profitable approach is not only to become a proficient handicapper, but also to become adept at creating your own odds line.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Richard Bleuze provides articles and information on the sport of horse betting. You can find out more on his website,http://www.bettingthehorsesonline.com

Article Source: Become A Proficient Horse Handicapper

by Thomas Turner
Too many people today stretch themselves too thin in an effort to accomplish more, especially in the workplace. Oftentimes, they do this to earn more and provide a better future for their family. Overworking, however, comes with a steep price in terms of health and relationships. To avoid these problems, you can try the simple practice of delegating tasks to other people.

Some individuals may be reluctant to hand over some of their duties, but this is actually a very effective way to accomplish a lot with less stress and tiredness. In fact, a lot of companies are now starting to see the benefits of delegating.

Basics of Outsourcing

There are companies now that outsource many of their jobs to other companies or people. This gives their employees time to accomplish their tasks and not overwhelm them.

While running your own company or household, it can be hard to trust others to do your tasks for you. However, you’ll find that the pros out way the cons, and you’ll be glad you did.

Know The Benefits Of Outsourcing At Work

- Delegating the trivial or repetitive tasks to someone else will enable you to concentrate more on the fundamental parts of the business.

- Procrastinating the tasks you dislike is simply a waste of time. Instead delegate those tasks you don’t enjoy. There will be someone who likes doing that task. Then you get tasks done that you do enjoy.

- After delegating out time consuming tasks, then you have more time for the home life.

- Cut down on expenses. Outsourcing websites have very competent workers who are willing to do various tasks for you at very low prices. Writers from the Philippines or programmers from India can produce high-quality results for unbelievably low fees.

In effect, delegating tasks is like doing twice the work in the same amount of time.

Benefits of Outsourcing at Home

Just because most outsourcing happens at work doesn’t mean you can’t outsource housework.

Members of the family should be helping out with the household chores anyway. So delegate different chores to different family members. This not only get things done, but teaches everyone a little responsibility and reduces the stress you would be under trying to accomplish everything yourself. Plus, here are a few ideas if you still don’t have time to get everything done:

- Yard work. Get a boy in the neighborhood to come and mow the lawn, rake leaves, or pruning the hedges. This is good for you and the boy get paid to do this for you. If you have the means you can even hire a lawn care service.

- Avail of house cleaning services. If all family members are simply too busy with their own activities, hiring a house cleaner is the best thing to keep your home spic and span.

- During tax season, hire an accountant to balance your books and compute your deductions. This will save you a lot of time and headaches.

- Take advantage of the increasingly popular grocery shopping services. Simply make a list of all the things you need at the store and your grocery shopper run to the supermarket and get everything for you.

- Find a young neighbor to clear your driveway of snow during the winter months. The youngster will earn a few bucks, you will avoid breaking your back, and everybody’s happy!

Although outsourcing and delegating tasks do have a lot of benefits, you do have to carefully examine all the options in your particular situation to determine if this is the right path for you. One thing you can be sure of is that by delegating your work, you will be able to feel more relaxed, have a more prosperous business, and eventually have a freer life.

Don’t feel like you have enough time? Need more tips on delegating at home? Go to www.SuperSonicSuccess.com and find out how to delegate around your household to give you more time to have fun!

Article Source: Delegating Tasks Is Easier Than You Think

by Stephane Therrien
Early retirement is not something that crossed my mind when I was at the end of my school years or starting the work force. Why do more and more people want early retirement? I can only tell you my reasons as it has crossed my mind over the past few years.

I was a baker. I spent thirteen years in the retail stores. I went up that ladder like everyone else and after thirteen years, realized doing that until I reach 65 was not a great plan. Then I moved on to the self employed quadrant. I had more control on my life, but less security and still no retirement plan. After ten years as a bread distributor, I realized my kids were growing much faster than I could see them grow. I started thinking of early retirement. It is not so easy with all the bills we create in the rat race.

Early retirement not so easy? Well that is what I thought until I found where to look for the answers. I met people who showed me the multi-level marketing way (MLM). MLMs were not my thing. They can be great for a lot of people, providing you follow their whole system, are not afraid of being laughed at and you are not shy. You also need time on your side as MLMs take time to develop which I had none after working long hours.

I then discovered alternatives and created our own websites. I am presently no longer working at my job, I still own the route, but with lots of reading and a deferent mindset, I found a way to automated my work until I can make the difference in my income to completely sell it off. There are many ways to leave the work force. Of course not everyone has the pleasure of being able to replace themselves at work and keep some of the revenues that come with it. But with the proper mindset and lots of reading, you will find your way. A book that opens eyes in my opinion is “Rich dad, poor dad” from Robert Kiyosaki.

What is more important for you, time or money? If you have a system taking care of the money part, there’s no need to choose. You can have both. Early retirement brings you freedom of time. The time to do whatever you want, when you want to do it. Early retirement does not mean stay at home on your rocking chair until you die. Early retirement is freedom of time. I will touch more on freedom in later articles.

Stephane Therrien is the owner of http://www.ks-interactive.info and is presently free from is full time job at 38. He plans on using his time to help others looking for the freedom of early retirement.

Article Source: Why early retirement

by Kell1972
Do you find that you have been working hard, only to get through half the tasks on your to-do list for that day? Where has the day gone? Does this sound familiar? If you ask people about the pressures of time, they will likely respond that they are working hard but missing deadlines, or that they just can’t seem to get everything done. If this sounds like you, then keeping a time inventory could be beneficial.

An inventory of your time shows you where you are spending your day and gives you the knowledge to take back control. An time inventory is similar to a household budget. A household budget is used to examine where you are spending money with the aim of keeping track of expenses and trimming and saving where possible.

By keeping track of your expenditure you can estimate current and future expenses and where best to direct your money. Well it is the same with an inventory of how you spend your day. By keeping an activity log for a few days, you track something much more important than money - your time.

An activity log will highlight how you are spending your day and how you could spend it more effectively. An activity log highlights any timewasters that you may have, and also gives you an objective measure of how much time you are spending on your tasks.

For example, a university professor who was having trouble with meeting deadlines, kept an activity log for 5 days. She was shocked at how much time she spent with students on the phone and email with administration-related tasks.

The activity log showed that she spent 10 hours a week on emails and phones in admin-related tasks. This was much greater than the 2.5 hours that she thought she spent.

While keeping students up-to-date with changes was important, it was clear that this task could be delegated to her secretary, which allowed the professor to focus on the teaching and research she was hired to do.

This simple example of what an activity log can do illustrates that an objective measure of how we spend time is a key step in time management.

An activity log will give you an objective and honest measure of how much time you are spending in meetings, on the phone or surfing the web. Like our university professor, you may be shocked at the results that you receive.

An activity log will highlight opportunities for improving your use of time. Does your time usage reflect your priorities? Is your day being spent on the important functions of key tasks of your work? Are you wasting your day on routine or low priority tasks?

Once you have a clear idea of how you spend your day, then it easier to implement delegation, battle procrastination, manage interruptions, or use other time management tools to supercharge your effectiveness.

There are essentially three ways that you can improve your effectiveness. You can spend more time on your high priority tasks, you can delegate your tasks to somebody else or you can become quicker and more efficient at what you do.

An activity will illustrate what options are available for you to improve your time management and increase your personal effectiveness.

Download your free time log.Also, participate in our 7-Part eCourse on Time Management.If you would like more information visit Kell at Stress Management for Performance

Article Source: Become More Effective by Knowing How You Really Spend Your Time

by sketchinghouse
Sometimes netizens - the special citizens of the internet - think a hundred times before logging out of their comfort zone. It’s like they would never even accidentally veer to any other site from their chosen ones. And when it comes to social networking, they get all the more stubborn sticking to the same ones, even if they are bored with the features, tired of the applications and sick of the interface design.

ShowMyPro.com takes seconds to change that mindset. The moment you open the home webpage, you will feel you are in familiar territory. It’s not just about the cool and clutter-free look and design, it’s so easy on the eyes that you would like to stay back and be part of the most happening new community on the web. Yes, you have your space and your face is on the book, but it’s time to show your pro around.

In a digital age, when everything is only about state-of-the-art technology, complex coding and even more complex features, user navigability goes for a complete toss. This is where ShowMyPro’s simplicity takes the cake and the entire confectionary. The big icons on the homepage - the pen, the speaker, the chat bubble, the friend icon - take you back to how it all started - in life and on the web.

It’s super simple to find your way about on ShowMyPro.com. The first thing you need to do is register yourself, of course. While the usual username, email, password and date of birth entries are there, the profile picture is a must. Keep the jpg file handy and upload it on the registration page. And voila! You are done. No verification. No emails to confirm. No referrals to make.

Once registered it’s time for some action. The homepage for a registered user is split into two. On the left panel is the list of forum topics, through which you can quickly jump on to your favourite topics and discuss Shakira’s swiveling hips or the latest horror film in town that got you scared. On the right is a chat window where all the online users can have a freewheeling time exchanging thoughts or just trying to make a new friend.
Below the forum space on the left side, are the special bits on ShowMyPro.com - the featured users, the featured blogs, the featured videos, the featured images. Like any of them? They are just a click away. Don’t miss the news announcement section though, where any new development on the site is put up.

Back to the right panel. Below the chat window are links to the top arcade games and the top players of the community. Then there is a link to the birthdays of your friends so that you don’t forget to wish him or her. And there’s a handy link to the new blogs on ShowMyPro.com which you can real at your convenience.

And why should you only remain a spectator when you can be part of the action. At the right top corner about the chat window, is your work area where you can upload the images you like, the videos you want the world to see and the blogs you want to key in. www.showmypro.com is a world of endless possibilities just made simple for your perusal. And it’s time you logged in.

Join in on the action.http://showmypro.com

Article Source: Netizen Paradise at Showmypro

by Garrett Coan
Most of us know that assertiveness will get you further in life than being passive or aggressive. But few of us were actually taught how to be assertive. Here are some helpful tips.

1. Choose the right time. Imagine you’re dashing down the hall on your way to a meeting. Lisa passes by. You call out, “Can you have the Microsoft project out by Tuesday?” Because you haven’t scheduled a special time to bring up the issue, Lisa has no reason to think your request deserves high priority.

2. Choose the right place. Discuss important issues in a private, neutral location.

3. Be direct. For example, “Lisa, I would like you to work overtime on the Microsoft project.” Whether or not Lisa likes your request, she respects you for your directness.

4. Say “I,” not “we.” Instead of saying, “We need the project by Tuesday,” say, “I would like you to finish the project by Tuesday.”

5. Be specific. Instead of, “Put a rush on the Microsoft project,” say, “I would like the Microsoft project finished and on Joe’s desk by 9:00 Tuesday morning.”

6. Use body language to emphasize your words. “Lisa, I need that report Tuesday morning,” is an assertive statement. But if you mumble this statement while staring at the floor, you undermine your message.

7. Confirm your request. Ask your staff to take notes at meetings. At the end of each meeting, ask your group to repeat back the specifics that were agreed upon. This minimizes miscommunication.

8. Stand up for yourself. Don’t allow others to take advantage of you; insist on being treated fairly. Here are a few examples: “I was here first,” “I’d like more coffee, please,” “Excuse me, but I have another appointment,” “Please turn down the radio,” or “This steak is well done, but I asked for medium rare.”

9. Learn to be friendly with people you would like to know better. Do not avoid people because you don’t know what to say. Smile at people. Convey that you are happy to see them.

10. Express your opinions honestly. When you disagree with someone, do not pretend to agree. When you are asked to do something unreasonable, ask for an explanation.

11. Share your experiences and opinions. When you have done something worthwhile, let others know about it.

12. Learn to accept kind words. When someone compliments you, say, “Thank you.”

13. Maintain eye contact when you are in a conversation.

14. Don’t get personal. When expressing annoyance or criticism, comment on the person’s behavior rather than attacking the person. For example: “Please don’t talk to me that way,” rather than, “What kind of jerk are you?”

15. Use “I” statements when commenting on another’s behavior. For example: “When you cancel social arrangements at the last minute, it’s extremely inconvenient and I feel really annoyed.”

16. State what you want. If appropriate, ask for another behavior. (“I think we’d better sit down and try to figure out how we can make plans together and cut down on this kind of problem.”)

17. Look for good examples. Pay attention to assertive people and model your behavior after theirs.

18. Start slowly. Express your assertiveness in low-anxiety situations at first; don’t leap into a highly emotional situation until you have more confidence. Most people don’t learn new skills overnight.

19. Reward yourself each time you push yourself to formulate an assertive response. Do this regardless of the response from the other person.

20. Don’t put yourself down when you behave passively or aggressively. Instead, identify where you went off course and learn how to improve.

Garrett Coan is Director of the Center for Creative Counseling, a team of expert and licensed therapists and coaches providing phone and internet services. To arrange a no-obligation,contact 1-877-95-UGROW or www.creativecounselors.com

Article Source: Assertive Communication: 20 Tips

by Jan Malloch
Procrastination is an extremely common problem, and every one of us will have experienced it! You know that you have to get something done, but you will do anything to avoid actually having to do it. I’m not one for doing housework, but when I had to study for exams, I was more than happy to clean the oven or defrost the fridge.

Here are 7 tips that I personally use to avoid the pitfalls of procrastination.

1) Early in the day, write down a maximum of 5 things that you absolutely must do today. By writing them down, you will see exactly what you need to do. Having various tasks swirling around in your head won’t help you get anything done!
2) Restrict your list to 5 tasks. Anymore than that and you just won’t know where to start.
3) Look at the list and decide on 3 tasks that you will be able to complete quickly and without too much effort. Normally, you would be advised to do the hardest tasks first. But think about it. If you procrastinate with the hardest tasks, then you won’t complete anything on your list!
4) When you complete a task, take great pleasure in striking it off your list. Take a couple of minutes “out” to congratulate yourself on completing it. Feel really positive about your accomplishment, no matter how small or trivial the task was.
5) For the “harder” tasks on your list, you must look at these in a positive way. If it is something you really don’t like doing, imagine that the task has been completed, and reflect on how great you will feel once it has been done. See yourself striking the task off your list, and congratulating yourself for completing it.
6) Having a sense of accomplishment will make all the difference when tackling your next task. The problem with procrastination is that if you don’t complete anything on your list, then you miss out on this wonderful feeling. Get your first task done and your feelings of accomplishment will snowball as you continue to tackle more items on the list.
7) Sometimes tasks just have to be done, whether you like to do them or not. This is where you really just have to get on and do it. Besides the wonderful feeling of accomplishment (which will be greater the more you hate the task!), you will be rewarded by the benefits that completing that task will bring. Before starting the task, decide on an additional reward that you will give yourself when it is completed.

Procrastination prevents us from achieving the things in life that will help us grow and to reach our full potential. Enjoy the challenge of completing your daily tasks and congratulate yourself on achieving so much that day.

As you continue to achieve more and more, procrastination will soon become a thing of the past!

Jan calls herself a “Positive Thinker & Achiever”. Through her writing, her workshops and speaking engagements, she encourages others to live more positively, with the ultimate goal of achieving “Positive Happiness”.She is currently developing a number of CDs and DVDs to motivate and encourage people to make positive and worthwhile changes in their lives.Visit Jan’s web site at http://www.powerpositivenow.com

Article Source: 7 Quick & Easy Ways to Avoid Procrastination