The Toll Men

The other day I was driving and I noticed that someone had candy striped a stop sign in reflective tape; boy did it stand out. In fact, I know why someone did that, as it was not a place you might expect a stop sign and probably a death had occurred there or some serious accidents. I was not from the area and I had to get on the brakes a little to make the stop due to the way the road was designed. Why do I bring this up? Well, simple; what if we did this on all stop sign poles? Your headlights would hit them and reflect back. You would notice them sooner and there would less chance of people running the stop signs either on purpose or out of lack of attentiveness.

The cost to do this is very low and the chance to save lives and injury is very good? Did you know that 40,000 Americans die each year in automobile deaths, did you know that most of these deaths occur at intersections?

What if we tried this as a test in a couple of states and then in a year let’s take a look at how many lives are saved. This could be big. If we could cut the auto deaths by 5-10% from something so simple, what an incredible gift it would be. That would be 2000 to 4000 more Americans still alive and think of all the accidents and injuries it could prevent. Let’s look for simple ideas to prevent auto deaths. Think of some other ideas, lets get the word out.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle

January is typically the time of year when we pledge ourselves to all kinds of New Year’s resolutions designed to make our lives better. There are common themes to these resolutions like losing weight, quitting smoking, or getting healthy. During the first few weeks, efforts to change are usually very strong. Gradually the motivation slows down and eventually wanes away to a distant memory in the backs of our minds. Instead of participating in this frustrating cycle, make the commitment to become the best person that you can be all year round - a commitment to excellence.

The difference of committing to excellence is that you are changing more than just the surface; there is a shift in how you approach everything that you do. Excellence can be defined in many different ways for many different people. It depends on what your priorities are and what you value in your life. Maybe it’s the relationships you have, or the work that you do, or the people that you help. Whatever it is, dedicate yourself to being the best that you can be regardless of other people’s standards. Remember also, that this is a change you will make from this point forward. Excellence is not defined by a single act, but by consistent behavior.

There are many ways that you can approach this commitment, but I would recommend formalizing the process. Writing your ideas down on paper can help you to sort out your thoughts and make it more concrete. Some simple steps might include:

1) List all the things that you value, and that give your life importance

2) Prioritize the items on the list

3) On a scale from 1 - 10 (1 = I am not doing my best and 10 = I am doing the best that I can) rank how you think you are doing in each area

4) Take an honest look at your list, and make a commitment to dedicate your energies to making improvements where needed

Committing to excellence will also change the language that you use. Instead of thinking to yourself “I will survive” or “I can make it through”, say instead, “I’m going to get the most out of this” or “I’ll do the very best that I can”. Focusing on what you are doing when you are doing it will ignite your spirit and fire your energy. Surround yourself with people who inspire you, and share your inspiration with others. Aspire to reach beyond. Live excellence.

Dr. Tanja Haley is a psychologist in private practice in Calgary, Alberta. She specializes in working with couples, and with adults dealing with stress, depression, and trauma issues. Along with a full-time private practice, Tanja also teaches for the Campus Alberta program in counselling and is an Oral Examiner for the College of Alberta Psychologists. You can contact Tanja at dr.tanja@shaw.ca, or visit her website: http://www.drtanja.com

Better health, better sleep, and less pain, and (in a nutshell) feeling great overall doesn’t just put a smile on your face, but it can even prolong your life. So if the reasonable prices on the market for whirlpool tubs or jetted tubs still seem too highconsider it a health investment. Having something like a jetted whirlpool tub in your home is definitely worth the cost. And if you browse around a bit, you will find that there are great prices on some of the most high quality jetted bathtubs available. And that the technology used by whirlpool tubs, which help support your overall health is being constantly developed and improved upon.

The very best time to purchase a jetted whirlpool tub, or even an outdoor whirlpool or corner whirlpool tub is now. There are all kinds of whirlpool tubs designed especially for your home. Whirlpool spas are offered in all different shapes and sizes by manufacturers all over the world, designed to fit your personal style, increase your personal comfort, and ensure you will receive the benefits that whirlpools have to offer in regard to your specific health concerns.

Everyone could use the relaxation that a whirlpool can provide, but especially if you have certain health needs, particularly those which can be helped significantly by using a jetted or whirlpool tub as treatmentthis type of healing method is one of your best choices. A jacuzzi tub or jacuzzi whirlpool tub can even be an alternative to pain or sleep or stress medication.

Otherwise, whirlpool bathtubs are just plain luxurious, come home from a hard day of work and relax in your whirlpool tub. Let your troubles bubble away, let your mind swirl to something other than the stress ahead, let your body relax in the warmth and the massage. You don’t need to have a condition, because even if you don’t, your whirlpool or jetted tub can help prevent future health concerns from becoming an issue for you and interrupting your life later on.

A whirlpool spa is a wonderful way to entertain friends and family as well. for example: with a whirlpool spa you can relax with a glass of wine or a nice chilled beer and unwind to start off the weekend, or you soak on a Sunday night to get cozy and rested and prepared for the week to come.

There are all kinds of small get-togethers that may include your whirlpool spa as the main form of entertainment. You will have not only a great way to relax under any circumstances, but also you will have a beautiful addition to your home. There is a unique beauty to whirlpools, jetted tubs, and other kinds of home spas. So you can feel good and your home will look great too with a new addition such as a whirlpool home pool or bathtub.

Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on home decor please visit Whirlpool Bathtub, Home and Bathroom Decor.

Do you love Chinese food? If you do, you are not alone-it is one of the most popular ethnic cuisine choices out there. But, while fortune cookies are delicious and fun, they are not real Chinese food. What is traditional Chinese cuisine? It is as varied as the country is big. Every region has its own specialty dishes that make it unique and different from the others. However, there are some basic “rules” for what makes Chinese food traditional.

Starch is the main dish in a traditional Chinese food meal-unlike in the United States and many other Western countries where meat is the main dish. Although many Chinese in southern China eat rice as part of their daily diet, in the northern parts of the country this is not the case. It is not uncommon for Chinese food to have wheat flour noodles or a steamed bun as the main component of the meal. Side dishes can be meat (beef, pork, or chicken), fish, cooked vegetables or soup. Sometimes soup or rice is reserved to the end of the meal as kind of filler.

When you sit down to a meal of traditional Chinese food, you would be given chopsticks and an individual bowl of noodles or rice. The rest of the food dishes would be placed in the center of the table and shared. You would not serve yourself a portion and put it on your own plate-you just eat right off the plate with your chopsticks. This is one reason that many times, the food is served in small pieces-so it is easy to pick up off of the plate with the chopsticks. Tea is offered with the meal as well-cold drinks are not traditional.

Dessert is usually a very simple affair-it could be plain fresh fruit, or fruit with a sugared glaze. Sometimes they also serve a simple rice pudding-but none of the traditional desserts are rich or extravagant like the ones we find in some other types of cuisine.

Dishes from the Sichuan (Szechwan) region are usually spicy and Mandarin are more common. Take a culinary trip to China.

Sales Cycle Reduction Equals Sales Acceleration. What would it be like if you could reduce the time it takes you to close orders from new customers by 10, 20, or 30%? Think about how a reduction in your sales cycle could lead to rapid improvement of your sales results and your revenue generation. Many companies neglect to take time to analyze their sales cycle and look at ways to reduce it…which can be done by more clearly defining their sales process and looking for areas to eliminate lengthy steps or delays.

Best in class companies are constantly analyzing their sales cycle and their sales process to look for areas of duplication of effort, missing links in the hand off between marketing inside sales and field sales. The development of sales tools to improve their sales process and also looking at improving the qualification so that they are only working on customers who truly have the best opportunity to buy from them. These are just some of the things that great companies are doing to reduce their sales cycle and accelerate their sales.

If your company is suffering from a long sales cycle and it feels like longer than it should be, now is a good time for you to pull your sales team leadership together to meet with a sales pipeline development consultant to analyze your sales process and look at the typical steps in the process and what the delays are associated with each step… particularly as it relates to customer decision making, but also as it relates to internal process steps that you can reduce.

If you pull your team together and brainstorm on each of the different aspects of the sales cycle and how to reduce duplication and reduce delays, you’ll find that you can probably come up with some improvements relatively quickly that could easily improve your ability to close deals faster, focus your resources on more qualified prospects, and win more proposals. Think about sales cycle reduction as one of your strategic initiatives in 2006.

About Cube Management:
Cube Management provides sales acceleration services to emerging growth and mid-market companies in the technology, manufacturing, healthcare and business service sectors. The experts at Cube Management work across the entire spectrum of marketing, sales and business development to provide customized solutions that drive revenue and profit growth. Cube Management combines Strategy, Process & People to produce winning results.