Law 1 - Never Outshine the Master Always make those above you feel comfortably superior.  In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity.  Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.

Law 2 - Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies Be wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy.  They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove.  In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies.  If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.

Law 3 - Conceal your Intentions Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions.  If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense.  Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.

Law 4 - Always Say Less than Necessary When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control.  Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike.  Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less.  The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.

Law 5 - So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life Reputation is the cornerstone of power.  Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once you slip, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides.  Make your reputation unassailable.  Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen.  Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations.  Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.

Law 6 - Court Attention at all Cost Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing.  Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion.  Stand out.  Be conspicuous, at all cost.  Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious, than the bland and timid masses.

Law 7 - Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause.  Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed.  In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered.  Never do yourself what others can do for you.

Law 8 - Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control.  It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process.  Lure him with fabulous gains – then attack.  You hold the cards.

Law 9 - Win through your Actions, Never through Argument Any momentary triumph you think gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory:  The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion.  It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word.  Demonstrate, do not explicate.

Law 10 - Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky You can die from someone else’s misery – emotional states are as infectious as disease.  You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster.  The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you.  Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.

Law 11 - Learn to Keep People Dependent on You To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted.  The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have.  Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear.  Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.

Law 12 - Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones.  Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people.  Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will.  A timely gift – a Trojan horse – will serve the same purpose.

Law 13 - When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest, Never to their Mercy or Gratitude If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds.  He will find a way to ignore you.  Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion.  He will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself.

Law 14 - Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy Knowing about your rival is critical.  Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead.  Better still: Play the spy yourself.  In polite social encounters, learn to probe.  Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions.  There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.

Law 15 - Crush your Enemy Totally All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely.  (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.)  If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out.  More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation:  The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge.  Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.

Law 16 - Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor Too much circulation makes the price go down:  The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear.  If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired.  You must learn when to leave.  Create value through scarcity.

Law 17 - Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people’s actions.  Your predictability gives them a sense of control.  Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable.  Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves.  Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.

Law 18 - Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere – everyone has to protect themselves.  A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from – it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target.  Better to circulate among people find allies, mingle.  You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd.

Law 19 - Know Who You’re Dealing with – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way.  Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge.  They are wolves in lambs’ clothing.  Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then – never offend or deceive the wrong person.

Law 20 - Do Not Commit to Anyone It is the fool who always rushes to take sides.  Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself.  By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you.

Law 21 - Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark No one likes feeling stupider than the next persons.  The trick, is to make your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you are.  Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.

Law 22 - Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake; choose surrender instead.  Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane.  Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you – surrender first.  By turning the other check you infuriate and unsettle him.  Make surrender a tool of power.

Law 23 - Concentrate Your Forces Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point.  You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another – intensity defeats extensity every time.  When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.

Law 24 - Play the Perfect Courtier The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity.  He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the mot oblique and graceful manner.  Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.

Law 25 - Re-Create Yourself Do not accept the roles that society foists on you.  Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience.  Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define if for you.  Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions – your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.

Law 26 - Keep Your Hands Clean You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds.  Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat’s-paws to disguise your involvement.

Law 27 - Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something.  Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow.  Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking.  Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf.  In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.

Law 28 - Enter Action with Boldness If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it.  Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution.  Timidity is dangerous:  Better to enter with boldness.  Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity.  Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.

Law 29 - Plan All the Way to the End The ending is everything.  Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others.  By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop.  Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.

Law 30 - Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease.  All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed.  When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more.  Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work – it only raises questions.  Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.

Law 31 - Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice:  Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets.  Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose.  Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose.  Put them on the horns of a dilemma:  They are gored wherever they turn.

Law 32 - Play to People’s Fantasies The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant.  Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes for disenchantment.  Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert:  Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses.

Law 33 - Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall.  That weakness is usual y an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure.  Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.

Law 34 - Be Royal in your Own Fashion:  Act like a King to be treated like one The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated; In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you.  For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others.  By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.

Law 35 - Master the Art of Timing Never seem to be in a hurry – hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time.  Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually.  Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power.  Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.

Law 36 - Disdain Things you cannot have:  Ignoring them is the best Revenge By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility.  The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it.  It is sometimes best to leave things alone.  If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it.  The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem. 

Law 37 - Create Compelling Spectacles Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power – everyone responds to them.  Stage spectacles for those around you, then full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence.  Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.

Law 38 - Think as you like but Behave like others If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and that you look down upon them.  They will find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior.  It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.

Law 39 - Stir up Waters to Catch Fish Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive.  You must always stay calm and objective.  But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage.  Put your enemies off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings.

Law 40 - Despise the Free Lunch What is offered for free is dangerous – it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation.  What has worth is worth paying for.  By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit.  It is also often wise to pay the full price – there is no cutting corners with excellence.  Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.

Law 41 - Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after.  If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them.  Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making:  Establish your own name and identity by changing course.  Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.

Law 42 - Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual – the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoned of goodwill.  If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence.  Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them – they are irredeemable.  Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them.  Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.

Law 43 - Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you.  You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction.  A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn.  And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses.  Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear.  Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.

Law 44 - Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy.  The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact.  By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson.  Few can resist the power of Mirror Effect.

Law 45 - Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit.  Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt.  If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things.  If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past.

Law 46 - Never appear too Perfect Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses.  Envy creates silent enemies.  It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable.  Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.

Law 47 - Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril.  In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat.  Do not allow success to go to your head.  There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning.  Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.

Law 48 - Assume Formlessness By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack.  Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move.  Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed.  The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order.  Everything changes.

A very interesting book was out this summer, encouraging people to feel, visualize, and get to their dreams. If you feel bad, you will attract nothing but the bad .. and the opposite is true; according to Rhonda Byrne, author of ‘The Secret’.

Get your copy and let us know what you think ..

Here are a few good quotaions from the book until then:

1. Create your day in advance by thinking the way you want it to go, and you will create your life intentionally. 2. Make it a daily habit to determine every event in yout life in advance through your thoughts. 3. You have the power to change anything because you are the one who chooses your thoughts and you are the one who feels your feelings. 4. Your thoughts become things. 5. If you see it in your mind, you’re going to hold it in your hand.

On a good day, working from home is a dream: no commuting, no expensive lunches, no petty office politics and you can put in a day’s work in a couple of hours.

On a bad day, you just feel like giving up. It can sometimes take an eternity to get into the right frame of mind, let alone deal with the more pressing tasks of feeds, washing, nappies and spending time with your baby.

Previously, I had been perfectly happy to work industriously on my own for hours, but working alone with this little being who couldn’t talk back to me actually felt quite isolating. I sought out other mothers for company and support, but with them came lots of excuses for doing less work. Working from home could be a smoother process if you follow some of these suggestions:

1. Insist on regular, uninterrupted time – if necessary, you can pay someone to look after the kids.

2. Try to use space that you can lock up when you finish for the day. If this isn’t possible, then clear away clutter when you finish and make sure there’s no chance that little hands can invade your disc drive.

3. A spare telephone line means that your toddler will never answer an important business call with an embarrassing greeting like ‘I want a wee’.

4. Get up half an hour earlier and do domestic chores before you start work.

5. Set time aside to file and catch up on paperwork. Without colleagues nagging you it’s easy to let things slide.

6. Cultivate a selfish streak and learn to say no. Just because your house is the one nearest to school, it doesn’t mean that you always have to entertain your children’s friends.

7. Make sure you don’t become isolated. If you work for an organisation, go into the office regularly. Meet colleagues and work associates for lunch or join a networking group.

8. Keep up on a professional level. Invest in courses and subscribe to the publications you may not see now that you’re no longer in the office.

An old expression goes, ‘When a little person sits in a big chair, beware’. It simply means that when insecure individuals are in positions of power, they often become bullies to hide what they don’t know. Don’t let that happen to you.

Keep in mind that your goal as a manager is to find the best person for the job and your company. If you keep those aims in your sights instead of focusing on your own nervousness, you’ll be in a far better position than you think. Remember that you know your stuff. You wouldn’t be a manager if you didn’t.

Do your homework. Know the company’s policies inside out. Write down the concerns you had when you were in the candidate’s shoes and be sure to answer them, possibly addressing the issues before the applicant brings them up. Write down your agenda and stick to it. By anticipating the candidates’ concerns and making them feel welcome, you’ll establish a rapport more easily. Their technical skills will be on their CV and covering letter or application form. What you need to do is get an idea of what kind person they are and how good their interpersonal skills are. Tycoon John D. Rockefeller said, ‘I will spend more on a person with the ability to deal with others than any other skill under the sun.’ Interpersonal skills account for most of a person’s career success. The applicants will demonstrate theirs based on the opportunities you provide.

On a practical level, remember that we judge others more on how they look than anything else and others judge us in the same way. Make sure your grooming is impeccable: squeaky-clean hair, hands, nails, ears, and teeth. Your shoes and clothes must be in good condition. Even if your company encourages casual clothing all the time, remember that managers are supposed to be leaders, so dress smartly to look authoritative. Go out to wherever the candidate is waiting and greet him or her. Smile, make eye contact and shake hands. Extend your hand first and shake firmly - a weak handshake commands no respect. Thank the person for taking the time to apply for the job. This will reduce tension and make your job easier. Tell the applicants where to sit and ask to take their coats for them. Ask questions and really listen to the answers. Most people ask a question and plan what to say next while it’s being answered. Not a good move for anyone. Don’t be afraid of pauses and take time to phrase your questions well.

When the interview is over, stand, shake hands again and thank the applicant again. See them to the door. Then go to a private corner, pat yourself on the back for a job well done, and breathe deeply.

In today’s career focused life; almost everyone complains from not having time to work out and remain ‘fit’. Here’s more insight on what we could do.

With these fitness shortcuts, you can exercise less and benefit more. The idea of working out less and getting more out of it has undeniable appeal. After all, who wouldn’t want to spend less time sweating and straining and more time …well, doing more of whatever it is you like to do?

The good news, experts say, is that not only is this possible, but one key to faster fitness is turning the things you like to do into fitness activities. Walking the dog, playing catch with the kids, or working in your garden can help you reach your fitness goals. “The goal here is to disguise your exercise,” says Barry A. Franklin, PhD, national spokesman for the American Heart Association’s Choose to Move program. “We have, as a nation, overemphasized the value of structured exercise and underemphasized the value of lifestyle physical activity as a way to get more fitness into our lives.”

Several studies have shown that becoming more active in our daily lives can provide the same benefits — including improvements in risk factors for heart disease — as a structured exercise program, says Franklin, director of cardiac rehabilitation and exercise laboratories at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.

“You can actually get as much benefit from daily activity as you can by going to a gym — and maybe more,” says Franklin. Not only that, says physical trainer Dino Novak, ACES, ACSM, but the more you move in your daily life, the more benefits you’ll reap from every workout. “If you are sedentary all week long, when you do hit the gym you’ve got a lot more ground to cover before you see real progress,” says Novak, a master trainer and older adult exercise specialist at the Cooper Institute in Dallas. In addition, Novak tells WebMD, an active daily life offers fitness advantages you won’t find in a gym, no matter how many hours you spend there. “The whole gym environment, especially if it’s machine-based, focuses on very fixed, linear-path movements, but the body doesn’t really work that way in real life,” says Novak. For example, he says, if you’re walking into the house carrying your dry cleaning, drop your keys, and bend over and turn to pick them up — all that fixed training you’ve done in the gym is not going to help much. “It could even be setting you up for injury if you have muscle imbalances,” says Novak. By putting more activity into your daily life, he says, you’ll not only increase your fitness level, but be able to perform routine tasks with more ease — and, possibly, less risk of injury.

Double Up Your Workout Another way to sneak more fitness into a busy day is to vary the activities you do during your formal workouts. Too often, experts say, we get stuck in the rut of doing the same exercise over and over — be it running on a treadmill, doing circuit training or riding a bike. Yet mastering a single workout isn’t necessarily the way to increase fitness. In fact, it might even set you back. “When the body is doing a set rhythm, it expends less energy than when it’s forced into multiple movements,” says Novak. The more efficient the body gets at an activity, the more energy it conserves — and the less you get out of your exercise time. To increase the burn without adding more time on the workout clock, Novak says, vary your activities, and make each movement as complex and as varied as possible. “For example, instead of just going for a run, do sprints — and then stop, start, turn, twist,” Novak says. “Add motion and movement into your activity and you’ll literally keep your body expending the maximum energy.” Another technique, he says, is to vary your workout equipment. For example, during one gym session you might spend 10 minutes on an elliptical trainer, 10 minutes running on the treadmill, 10 minutes jumping rope, and 10 minutes doing strength training. This means your body works harder, and you’ll get more out of your exercise session.

For fitness expert John Ellis Spencer, really focusing on your workout is another way to increase the benefits without working out longer. So skip the reading material on the exercise bike, and don’t get wrapped up in a TV show while you’re on the treadmill. “Most people think they are working out far more intensely than they really are, and reading a magazine or book while walking on a treadmill or riding a bike encourages a more leisurely pace, so you don’t get the maximum benefit from what you are doing,” says Ellis, president of the National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association, in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. By paying more attention to your activity — concentrating on posture, and technique, even speed — you can dramatically increase the benefits.

Work More, Rest Less While you may have set aside 60 or even 90 minutes for your weekly workout, experts say it’s doubtful you’re actually getting that amount of activity. And the more social and crowded your gym is, the more you are likely to get distracted into conversations that take up valuable workout time. The key, experts say, is to talk less and move more - and to decrease your rest periods between exercises. “If you don’t give your body a chance to recover between exercises, it must get in better condition in order to repair itself for the next bout of activity — so you’re automatically getting more out of each workout,” says Spencer. By decreasing rest periods, you can also do more work in the same amount of time, he says, and that means better (and faster) results. Even in a 30-minute workout, Novak says, reducing rest periods will also increase your challenge level - which, in turn, will increase your body’s ability to recover. So you end up in better shape without increasing your workout time. “The idea is not to increase intensity, but to challenge your body by forcing it to recover more quickly,” says Novak. Franklin agrees: “A body at rest tends to remain at rest; a body in motion tends to remain in motion. So the more you move in any given time period, the easier it becomes to keep moving.”

Workouts That Work Harder According to the American Heart Association Choose to Move program, certain activities definitely yield more results than others. The general rule of thumb: The more vigorous the activity, the less time you need to do it to get optimum results. And the more leisurely your activity, the longer your exercise session should be. According to Choose To Move, spending 15 minutes climbing stairs, jumping rope, or sprinting a mile will give you results equal to that of playing volleyball or touch football for 45 minutes, walking 1 3/4 mile in 35 minutes, or dancing fast for 30 minutes. And you’ll get the same result from bicycling 4 miles in 15 minutes as from mowing the lawn for 45 minutes. You don’t even have to do the short bouts of exercise all at one time, Franklin says. “You don’t have to put the dollar bill in the piggy bank all at one time — you can put in four quarters, and get the same benefit — and exercise is the same way,” he says. In fact, Franklin tells WebMD, there is some evidence that several shorter bouts of exercise may be better for reducing body weight and fat than one long workout. When it comes to working out in the gym, Spencer says you’ll get the biggest result from your efforts if you trade in treadmill walking for cycling or spinning. “If you walk on the treadmill for the same amount of time you cycle, you may build cardiac endurance, but you’re not building muscles the way you are when you’re spinning,” he says. And, he says, any exercise that conditions the heart while building muscle causes your body to work harder — even when it’s at rest.

Ladies, this is an article that can possibly help us all with our period ‘drama’ ! Enjoy !

Knowing PMS is coming doesn’t make it any easier to handle. But simple changes to your diet can ease the pain.

Every month it’s the same story: one miserable week of stomach cramps, backache, bad moods and bloating. Sound familiar? That’s because every month, eight out of ten women experience at least some of these symptoms when they get their period.

PMS, or Premenstrual Syndrome, describes a range of physical and mental problems that affect women before and during their menstrual cycle. The list above is only the start: some women also suffer from water retention, mood swings, cravings, irritability, depression, anxiety, acne, constipation, diarrhoea and tender breasts.

No one really knows why we suffer from PMS and there’s no proven way to cure it, but a number of tried-and-tested methods do seem to help. Millions of women, for example, have found they can manage their PMS better by adapting their diet. It’s believed this is helpful because food affects levels of oestrogen – the hormone linked with menstruation. Exercise will also help alleviate painful cramps and boost your mood because it gets endorphins whizzing round your body and these make you feel happier. Here are some things to focus on in your diet:

•Carbohydrates Have you ever noticed how you crave certain foods in the run up to and during your period? Chances are, you’ll crave carbs like bread, pasta, potatoes or sweets. Extensive tests have shown that carbohydrates help reduce many PMS symptoms, especially mood swings. Doctors believe that carbs help PMS because they raise blood sugar levels. This is beneficial because when blood sugar levels drop, the body releases adrenalin, which stops the efficiency of progesterone – the hormones that help relieve symptoms of PMS. By eating carbs every three hours throughout the day some women are able to control some of the unpleasant effects of PMS.

•Vitamin B6 It’s thought that mood swings during PMS are caused by the reduced production of the body’s natural feel-good hormones serotonin and dopamine. Although scientific trials don’t support this theory, it’s widely believed that taking the ‘women’s’ vitamin, B6 – which is involved in the production of serotonin and dopamine – can help kick start the process again. You can get your B6 fix naturally by eating meat, fish, eggs, whole cereals, brussel sprouts, peas and potatoes or in capsule form at your local chemist. Although vitamin B6 deficiency is rare in humans, taking too much of it through high dose supplements can, in rare cases, result in nerve damage. Speak to your doctor before taking Vitamin B6.

•Minerals Minerals such as zinc and magnesium are crucial in the production of serotonin and dopamine, and it is thought that these hormones may also help alleviate PMS-related headaches, backache and tension. Zinc can be found in a variety of foods such as seafood, cereals, whole grains, turkey (dark meat) and most protein-rich foods such as meat and dairy products. Magnesium is found in peanuts, Marmite, sardines and wholemeal bread. You could also take zinc or magnesium in tablet form or get both in a multi-mineral tablet.

•Evening Primrose Oil Again, there isn’t a lot of scientific evidence to back up claims that Evening Primrose Oil helps reduce PMS symptoms. However, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to say it works. The oil, which comes from a small yellow flower, contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid called gamma linoleic acid, which has anti-inflammatory properties. As a result, Evening Primrose Oil eases breast tenderness and also blocks the inflammatory prostaglandins that cause menstrual cramps.

•Vitamin B6 It’s thought that mood swings during PMS are caused by the reduced production of the body’s natural feel-good hormones serotonin and dopamine. Although scientific trials don’t support this theory, it’s widely believed that taking the ‘women’s’ vitamin, B6 – which is involved in the production of serotonin and dopamine- can help kick start the process again. You can get your B6 fix naturally by eating meat, fish, eggs, whole cereals, brussel sprouts, peas and potatoes or in capsule form at your local chemist. Although vitamin B6 deficiency is rare in humans, taking too much of it through high dose supplements can, in rare cases, result in nerve damage. Speak to your doctor before taking Vitamin B6.

•Minerals Minerals such as zinc and magnesium are crucial in the production of serotonin and dopamine, and it is thought that these hormones may also help alleviate PMS-related headaches, backache and tension. Zinc can be found in a variety of foods such as seafood, cereals, whole grains, turkey (dark meat) and most protein-rich foods such as meat and dairy products. Magnesium is found in peanuts, Marmite, sardines and wholemeal bread. You could also take zinc or magnesium in tablet form or get both in a multi-mineral tablet.

•Evening Primrose Oil Again, there isn’t a lot of scientific evidence to back up claims that Evening Primrose Oil helps reduce PMS symptoms. However, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to say it works. The oil, which comes from a small yellow flower, contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid called gamma linoleic acid, which has anti-inflammatory properties. As a result, Evening Primrose Oil eases breast tenderness and also blocks the inflammatory prostaglandins that cause menstrual cramps.

The other day I heard a woman admit publicly on the local morning show that she checked her husband’s email account to know if he cheats on her. Not only that, but she also offered (on air) to help women hack their husbands’ email addresses, should they need to !!

Many women called the show. And the comments were (honestly) hilarious ! Some women asked for the ‘her’ contacts and revealed a ‘need’ to spy on their spouses just to make sure nothing ‘fishy’ is going on. And other women were confident enough to call for trust and transparency between man and his woman.

Do you spy on him ? would you ?

Many times do corporate environments at different work places provide the platform for women to grow, learn, and develop. And at other times, they don’t.

The boss promises the female manager to empower her and allow her the space to develop her skills further. Yet, the promises never end. She never gets there for so many different reasons: it’s not time for the appraisal yet, this year’s budget does not allow, she has to prove herself more, and .. , and .. , and .. ! The next thing you know is .. your colleague Mr X got the raise !

Have you been a victim of such work conditions ? do you feel you can do so much more but are not given the chance for empowerment ?

Share with us how you feel and what you think a working woman should so when going through similar work pressure ..

Another hot topic .. I guess ..

Over the past few recent years, studies reveal a trend where men are more attracted to older women .. tara ! How ? why ? does it result in a lasting relationship ? This is what we want to know from you ..

A lot of women dare not take the risk of Demi Moore when at 41, married the young Kutcher teenager of 25; or is it a risk ? It’s short term desire, it’s doomed to end after the woman grows way older, and it just ain’t right ! - these women say.

While others tend to follow what the heart speaks of: the language of no age, no time - love.

Let us know what you think and why you think so !

500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art Remarkable piece of creativity and artistic portrayal.