16 Things You Didn't Know About Proton

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1. Proton succeeded extreme heat and cold tests in Oman deserts and the North and South Poles!

2. 'How Do They Do It''? Discovery Channel featured Proton's Tanjung Malim plant in this series, calling it the "most advanced modern car plant"

3. Proton is the only ASEAN car maker to pass Australian ANCAP with full 5-star rating

4. Currently, there are Proton car owners in 25 different countries in the world

5. Egypt has the largest Proton Persona fan club

6. Miss Universe Australia 2013 is the ambassador of Proton

7. In July 2013, Proton clocked the fastest time in history for a “Malaysian Touring Car Class” (MTC) race car, overtaking Mazda, Toyota & Ford with a time of under 2:39 minutes

8. Proton is the only team to win 7 awards championships in a year at the Asia Pacific Rally Championship

Banyaknya benda yang kita tak tahu tentang Proton!

I bet most Malaysians don't know these things about Proton.

9. The Proton Impian is used by the UK police in Humberside, next to the Lexus IS-F cruiser

10. Proton adopts various technologies from LOTUS' vehicle dynamics. All new Proton car models use Lotus engineering and handling

11. Proton is the only Muslim country manufacturer, and the only 'full-fledged' manufacturer in South East Asia that designs, develops and manufactures their own cars

12. Proton car prices around the world are determined by the respective country's vehicle import taxes

13. Proton is the only team to win both first and second place in the Sepang 1000km Endurance Race 2012

14. Proton uses the German technology of “Hot Press Forming” which enhances structure integrity to the strength of its car by 3 times

15. Proton's Turbo engine of 205 NM torque can accelerate from 0-100kmh in less than 10 seconds. Nice!

16. Proton and Honda are in collaboration to share technology enhancement, new product line-up, platform and facilities.

source: 8share

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How to lower your sodium intake

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Although sodium is something your body needs to function properly, most people eat too much of it. The recommended total daily intake of sodium is no more than 2,400 milligrams of sodium. This is just a little more than a teaspoon of salt. Standard American diet of processed foods contain more sodium than this, and many Americans are feeling the effects. Excessive sodium can contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease, so it is wise to try to reduce your sodium intake. If you work in effectively reducing sodium intake, here are some tips to help.

Firstly, processed foods eliminate as much as possible of their diet. From stale hamburger for spaghetti sauce, canned vegetables, processed foods contain salt. As a matter of fact, most of the processed food without salt not sure. This is because food manufacturers use salt instead of spices and other flavorings to mask the taste of processing. Cook the same food from scratch would significantly reduce their sodium content. Cook the vegetables, make your own spaghetti sauce, or cook your own dish is not only less expensive is tastier and better for your heart than processed foods.

As you start to cook more meals from scratch you, get to know your way around your spice cabinet. Most people use only a small handful of spices. Use more herbs and spices to add flavor and cooking will reduce the amount of salt that food you need to feel good. If you are just starting to use the spices you may feel more comfortable with the spice mixture. There are several on the market that does not contain salt. While this is more expensive than using their own spices, can be an effective and easy way to enhance the flavor of your food without adding salt.

Although it may seem counter intuitive  flavoring your food while cooking, will reduce the amount of salt you need when you come to the table food. A pinch of salt in a dish during cooking eliminates the need for potentially more salting and salting food before eating. If you use good spices and seasoning your food while cooking, you may be able to eliminate the need for a salt shaker on the table at all.

One of the most important sources of sodium in the diet of many canned broths are used to make soups and many other dishes tastes. While this can be quick and easy soups that are low in flavor and high in sodium. Instead, try making chicken stock homemade and freeze in small portions for use in the kitchen. Chicken stock homemade is a great way to use things that would otherwise go to waste and create products that are healthy and taste better than you can buy at the store. the trend news

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Money market funds

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Money market funds are great investments for people who want to put some cash away without taking a great risk. While you can’t expect to get a ridiculously large return on your investment, you can expect to have a stable return on your efforts. There are some things to consider before infesting in money market funds.

Of course, you want to have a clear definition of what money market funds are. Who wants to invest in something that they really don’t understand. It is very important to get some background information about this kind of investment before making any decisions or opening an account of your own.

Money market funds are similar to mutual funds but without the risk. The lack of risk is often reflected in a lack of surprise as far as your return is concerned. While the stock market can be a virtual rollercoaster for some, money market funds are safer. There is, however, no absolute guarantee on your return.

It is very important that you make a clear distinction between money market funds and a money market account. The latter is simply a savings account established in a bank. Basically, the bank account is a special kind of savings plan that offers a higher percentage than your average package.

So, the money market accounts are not considered traditional savings accounts and they are not exactly like taking great risks on the stock market, either. I guess you can equate the money market funds to playing a game of poker knowing that you will leave with at least a few extra dollars.

There are some clear-cut reasons that money market funds are so valuable to many of us. First of all, they are ideal for those of us who like stability and safety. These investments are pretty stable and many offer a fixed return on your money. This stability is one of the most appealing aspects of these kinds of accounts, especially for anyone that is really relying on his savings. 

Second, you don’t need to be rich to start up one of these accounts. You can start money market funds with a relatively small initial investment. This was the most appealing aspect for me when I started my account. I was waiting tables and I had a pretty modest income. The money market funds provided a way for me to start saving well without going broke in the process. 

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Grow your money

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Assuming you have a good spending and saving habits, which will now have a fairly large sum of money that is useful to do what you please. So what will you do with all that money? Happens all luxury items you have your eye on for over a year? Going on vacation? Or do the smart thing and save?

It's important have a goal to start a savings program because the goal of encouraging saving - not like a carrot dangling in front of the donkey, even if you are far from being an ass if it's smart to be the motivation to save.

So if you do not have goals, think. You do not have to limit yourself to a single goal - to have some goals if they help you save more, provided they are realistic and worthwhile.

In the meantime, while you keep your anger toward the goal or goals, where you keep your savings? Kept in the drawer? That's not a smart thing to do, because it's not such a terrible thing called inflation, which is figuratively interrupt pending idle savings. They see the money just lying there in the drawer and bang! what puts money in the jaw!

Inflation and purchasing power

What is inflation? No, not insects or animals. It is abstract. Inflation is the economic term for the rising prices, or the cost of living. Inflation is when the price of things you buy on the rise. Let me give you an example. Say your family to take grandma to dinner at his favorite restaurant Nyonya. This is the first visit to Kuala Lumpur Your grandmother or city for that matter - who lives in a small town and never venture outside their garden gate.

Of course, you have to ask your favorite dessert - ice kacang! There is no denying that a lot of rainbow colors crushed ice with syrup and milk, sitting on a variety of beans, corn, beet jelly, longan and what-again, and topped with ice cream. When his father to pay RM4.50 fish out his nut ice - care of Grandma! He could leave his chair in shock! Why? Because when he was a child, peanut ice only costs 10 cents. DIME! Now it's your turn to fall off the chair!

That's what we mean by inflation. Price increases. Sixty years ago, the ice grains costs 10 cents. Today at a restaurant costs RM4.50 and RM1.50 own posts. The price has shot skyward. Put another way, inflation has reduced the purchasing power of money over time. 10 cents grandmother can not buy a plate of beans ice today, maybe just a little crushed ice. 10 cent has lost a lot of buying power, buying less than they did 60 years ago. In fact, the price of peanut ice hawker days will not last forever RM1.50. It will go up and you do not have to wait until a grandmother / grandfather to see this. When you are a father / mother, want to bet bean ice probably cost about RM2 in the stalls.

That's inflation for you. And the bad news is that inflation is not only attacking the food. Is rampant, sink the nails in all things and services that are part of life - clothing, furniture, bicycles, home, movie tickets, taxi rides and other park. That's why it is called the cost of living.

So what does this mean for your savings? Only if you just hide their savings - let's assume that you have saved RM100 - in drawers, you just stay RM100 RM100 to want to use it. Meanwhile, inflation nibbling RM100 value so that when you actually use later, RM100 you wont be able to buy everything when you start to save. This is because - depending on how long you keep your money - the price will increase at the same time. Of course, if you immediately use their savings, inflation probably will not have the opportunity to work again. But of course, we're talking about a savings program here, and that means a long enough period of time for your savings to grow - and inflation occurs,

So what should you do? To fight inflation, should make their savings grow in value faster than the rate of inflation. (We are sure you have more) If you just let your savings RM100 remain the same, you know that over time the purchasing power of RM100 not RM100 but less - because the price will increase. However, if you can grow RM100 savings, for example, RM150, so that in the future you can not just buy the same things that the RM100 can at the beginning of your savings, you can buy more things.

The investment is the way forward

To grow your money, you will not leave your cash in the drawer or property under the mattress or in any other place that is just put on and forget about it until you want to use. To grow your money, you should do the smart thing the second - the first smart move is to save - you should invest.

Investment is defined as the use of money (in this case, their savings) to make more money. Adults, people who are smart, they do. They invest to make money with their money, and when it has grown, it becomes to invest large amounts and in the process of investing time and again, your money is doubled, tripled or multiplied many times. This is how people become rich not by winning the lottery (which has one chance in seven million or so), but through savings and investment. You can do the same with a small amount of your savings and watch it grow.

There are many ways to invest your money for profit. The return is the amount of income you earn from your investment. The simplest and most common is to put your savings in a savings account or fixed deposits (and we're sure you all know this). Your savings will grow as the bank pays a sum of money (the return) is called interest, provided that the money is in the bank. So your savings grow to use and when you remove it from your bank account, the amount of money you have now is the original deposit and the interest that has accumulated. It's not just your RM100 but a larger sum.

So the bank account is a type of investment that easy. Others invest in the stock market by buying shares in the company. Many adults do this. People usually invest in stocks, hoping to get a return in two ways. One is the dividend, the financial benefits that companies pay to shareholders only when the company makes. The second is the realization of a profit by selling their shares. Profit is profit in money between what you paid for the shares and what you get when you sell your shares. Simple math to explain profitability. For example, if you have a deposit of RM600 and RM3 to buy 200 shares each, and three months later, to sell their shares to 200 RM4, you will make a profit of RM200.

Here's how:

Cost to buy 200 shares at RM3 per share = 200 x RM3 = RM600.

The amount of money received from the sale of 200 shares into shares RM4 RM4 = 200 x = RM800.

= Profit = Sales less purchases RM800 - RM600 RM200 =.

Gains have been made to swell their savings RM800 to RM600.

There are other ways to invest your money.

You can also buy a house, if you have lots and lots of money (for example, to inherit the wealth of her favorite aunt who had died). If you rent your home, your return will be the amount of rental income received from tenants. The investment of the method you choose will depend on factors such as the amount of storage you have and how much you want to re-do. Investment each has pros and cons.

For example, investing in stocks can get more return on your bank account, but it is more risky. If you put your savings in a bank account, your money is protected. Do not miss it because you can lose your money in stocks if you buy the wrong side. Even if the bank is robbed, or burned or declares bankruptcy, the law states that you will get your money back. Not so with stock investments. However, bank interest income is relatively small.

Investing in real estate as a home can be a great return, but it is a long term investment. It will be years before many home prices rose for you to sell your house and make a profit. (Remember? Sale Profit less equivalent.) Get his return from investing in stocks much, much faster, but as we said before, you should be smart (and lucky) to choose the right to buy or you may lose your money invested.

Even with all types of investments (except maybe for a bank account), there is always the possibility of losing their life savings, some of the returns. If you invest unwisely, may lose both your original deposit amount and not a return to everything.

However, there is no mistake about this: the investment is the way to build your wealth. Just invest wisely!

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The Rich Gets Richer

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We all heard the saying.

"Is it true? Do the rich actually get richer?"

Yes, of course! I'm here to confirm that it's true. What you have long heard and believed is indeed true - the rich gets richer.

And if you don't believe it, I have this to say - some things are true whether you believe it or not!

And deep down inside, a lot of people resent the fact. They resent it because they believed that the rich are hoarding all the wealth. They believed that the rich are taking it all and grabbing everything in sight, leaving peanuts for the rest.

Wrong track! The rich are not hoarding the wealth. Even if they wanted to (which they are certainly not), they could not. This is because new wealth is being created every day. Furthermore, there's plenty for everyone. Money is one commodity that this world will never run short of. So you can take as much as you want because there's plenty left for other people.

As to why the rich gets richer, the answers are obvious. Firstly, they know what to do to become rich. They know what actions to take, what words to say, who to hire, etc., etc. In other words, they have the formula of becoming rich. This helps tremendously. If you know the recipe for anything, then your job immediately become a lot easier!

Next, they spend their time and effort to work the rich formula. They just concentrate on the formula and don't waste time doing other things. This makes sense of course. If you want to become rich, why waste time doing things that does not build wealth or make you rich?

Thirdly, the rich believe in themselves. They know they are good money managers. They have proven themselves worthy to manage money, even lots of money. So they have no problems to take on the challenge of handling even more money. And although they may not have all the answers, they know that they have what it takes to overcome any problems that arise.

Next, they pay people for their time and effort. Whenever they require a service, they hire experts; often time the best in the field. This means that the rich gets quality work, which promotes more money to come in their front door.

Lastly but certainly not least, the rich are paid for the result and not for their time. As time is limited, the rich hates to be paid for their time. So they changed the rule - they get paid for the result that they bring. Because they are good at what they do, they bring great results which translate into lots and lots of money into their bank account!

Poor people on the other hand are missing practically all of the above.

Firstly, they do not have the rich formula. They don't know what to do to build wealth. As a result, they run around in circles trying to discover the formula. While a few eventually discover the formula, most will remain in the rat race for the rest of their lives.

Next, and related to the above, the poor spend too much time and effort on unproductive things. They want to become rich but they are doing things that will not make them rich. For example, watching too much TV has never made anyone rich.

The poor also concentrate on the negatives. Every time there is an opportunity to make money, the poor will first look at the negatives. "Too risky." "I do not have enough capital." "It's too difficult." "It takes too long."

Finally, the poor wants to be paid based on their time and effort. An honest day pay for an honest day work kind-of-thing. The problem with getting paid for your time is that your income will be limited as your time is limited. There is a cap or a ceiling to your income. And that gets in the way of becoming rich.

So yes, the rich gets richer. That much is true. However, the sentence is not complete. The poor can also become rich - if they are willing to do what it takes to become rich. There's plenty for everyone. All they need to do reach out and take their share.

Azizi Ali is Malaysia's premier writer, speaker and coach on money matters. He is a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and holds an MBA from University of Bath, UK.

Log on to http://www.beahappymillionaire.com to find out more about Azizi and how he can help you lead happier prosperous lives.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Azizi_Ali

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Surveys and Paid Opinions Are Convenient Ways to Earn

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With the continuous growth of BPO companies, lots of opportunities are becoming readily available for everyone. And this has encouraged many people to start working from the comforts of their own homes. Depending on the situation and your way of handling it, this could either be beneficial or a problem on your part. For your convenience, listed are some of the recommended practices that you can try when you are still undecided to do paid opinions or surveys.

Do a Feasibility Study or Cost Comparison to Understand Income

List all the needed items before you do paid surveys. Important items would be a desktop computer and a stable internet connection. Try to see how long it will take you to finish a survey and how much would you need in a day to at least gain an income. This means you would do calculations in your expenses such as gasoline (since you stay at home) against electricity and internet expenses. Try to think of worst case scenarios to help you make a more realistic decision.

Consider Benefits You Can Obtain

When you consider answering surveys and paid opinions in exchange of your regular job, it would mean that you are not entitled to benefits that you usually get from a company. Some of them could be healthcare, allowances, bonuses, and other law-specified benefits. If you are ready to lose them because you can see that you can gain more, just go ahead with your plan.

On the other hand, benefits when you stay at home could be immeasurable. Try to think of the stress that your employer is giving you, and how it affects your personal life. This is also a good way to stay close with the family, to be with them in times of need, and to attend to them when the need arises. This is all possible due to the flexibility that online jobs can offer. You can finally take care of your family and be there for them.

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Gather Further Information from Forums and Discussions

To better help you with your decision, go to forums and discussions related to the survey niche. There, you will meet people who are once in your shoes. You will know websites that are good to sign up with and what websites to avoid. You will feel guided when you ask forum members about the things that are bothering you. They are more than happy to help knowing that they used to be like you.

Do This Job for Convenience

Many would claim that they have obtained a huge amount of money in a short span of time simply answering surveys and giving opinions about products and companies. It could be possible, though several websites and providers do not support such claim. This is also a clear signal that the website is a scam, when they promise huge amount of money in such a short span of time.

It is important that you know what to believe and what to ignore when it comes to information you read and see on the web. Be observant and do your own research to verify things.

Whatever your decision is, be sure that you are happy and you don't sacrifice your family.

Visit Surveys And Friends.com to learn how to get paid the most with paid surveys.

for an exclusive guide showing how you can get paid for your opinions and for your friends' opinions. As a registered member you'll be empowered with insider information that isn't shared anywhere else.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sam_Parker

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You Have To Sell

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Buy low and sell high.

It's one of the principles of successful investing. Everyone knows this, so much so that I think there's probably not a soul alive who is not aware of it.

And since everyone knows about it, everyone should be making money from their investments and everyone should be rich and happy! However, we all know that is hardly the case. Instead of making money from their investments, a lot of people lost money. In fact, some people never even made a single cent. In other words, they lose, lose and lose every time they invest their money. This is despite them knowing the buying low and selling high principle.

Although there are many reasons why this happens - a one-sentence answer is not going to explain the whole situation - one of the more likely answer is that although they know about buying low and selling high, they do not actually practice it. In other words, they know but they do not do!

Take for example, property investment. Most of the people who bought properties in past couple of years would have made handsome gains as prices shot up significantly in that time. So they bought at a low price.

Many industry observers are saying that there are pockets of bubble in Malaysia today. In short, prices are not only high but nose-bleedingly high in some areas!

Based on the principle of buying low and selling high, a lot of people would be selling or at least trying to sell their properties today. By doing so, they would be capitalizing on the current high price and therefore applying the time-tested principle.

However, the reality is that few are selling.

One cannot help but ask the obvious question: "Why not?"

One reason is because they believe, or rather, hope that prices will climb even higher in the coming days. Yes, they make money if they sell today. But the thought of making even more money tomorrow is too bewitching to ignore. And yes, the thought that they would lose out on the future profits if they sell out now is just too much for some people. So while they know prices are high today but they hold on, hoping that prices will continue to rise and rise and rise. A few do realize that prices do not reach the sky but they too are holding on to their properties still, hoping to sell right at the top, make the maximum profit and therefore looking so smart in the process. Of course, the fact that no one can tell of a market top (before the event) is conveniently disregarded as unimportant!

Yes, prices do get whack out of synch from time to time. It does defy history, common sense, economic sense and even gravity for a short period. However, in the end, it will come down to economic sense. And when it comes to properties, economic sense is what the average Malaysians earn. After all, how can the average Malaysian who earns $5,000 or less in a month afford to buy a double-storey link house in the Klang Valley costing $800,000? Even if he is willing to eat Maggi mee for the next three years, he will still find it hard to afford such properties. This means that in time, prices will have to reflect the wages of the people.

I used to be guilty of this myself before - waiting and waiting and waiting. Exactly what I was waiting for, I cannot say. Perhaps for higher prices, perhaps to maximize my gains, perhaps because I saw everyone else was waiting as well and perhaps because I didn't know any better. Often time, as a result of all this waiting, instead of making money, I actually lost money because prices soon fell instead of going higher. Of course, at that time, like most people who lost money as a result of playing the waiting game, I was kicking myself while saying "I should have sold."

I have since learnt that (a) 'should have' doesn't count, and (b) this strategy of eternal waiting is a losing game. It is no way to make money. So I changed the strategy and actually adopted the buying low and selling high principle. Yes, I bought low like most people. But unlike them, I actually sold when prices were high - or least when I believed that prices were high compared to history, common sense and economic sense. Of course, I did not maximize my profits - that's the price I paid for selling too early - but the main thing is that I made money from my investments. And that cannot be a bad thing! And oh ya, until you actually sell your properties, the profits are just on paper; nice to look at, good for the ego but it can disappear in a flash.

Azizi Ali is Malaysia's premier writer, speaker and coach on money matters. He is a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and holds an MBA from University of Bath, UK.

Log on to http://www.beahappymillionaire.com to find out more about Azizi and how he can help you lead happier prosperous lives.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Azizi_Ali

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Six Myths of Effective Communication

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Communication Process or Effective Communication or Communication Skills are such subjects that has been properly researched and many authors have filled volumes of pages to explain all the nitty-gritty involved in communication and to explain to the world how one can and must communicate with others or group of people. A simple Google search for "Effective Communication" generates 44 million pages. Yet, I believe that the communication process as a whole is governed by certain myths and misnomer. We are preparing this write-up to touch upon some of those myths and provide clarity.

1) Language is critical for effective communication process - In India; we speak more than 18 recognized languages. Have you ever wondered how does a Kashmiri local communicate with his fellow citizen from Southern part of India or our Marathi Maanus (local from Maharastra) communicate with other country men from Eastern India? They don't use common language to communicate with one another or to express their thoughts. Yet, they communicate effectively, if not efficiently. Your ability to read, write and speak any particular language or list of languages comprises only 10% of communication process and the balance of 90% of communication process consists of your body-language, facial expressions, message, context, complexity or simplicity of the message (words, terminologies, and jargons used in the message), listening, perceiving, interpreting and giving feedback. How efficient or inefficient you are during the 90% of the communication processes makes the overall communication process either effective or ineffective.

2) Effective communication means your ability to communicate in English Language - Do you know how does the Premier's of world's top three economies (President of China Hu Jintao; Prime Minister of Japan Yukio Hatoyama and President of USA Barack Obama) communicate with one another on world forum? Mr. Hu Jintao and Mr. Yukio Hatoyama have very limited understanding of English language and Mr. Barack Obama is not known for his proficiency in Chinese or Japanese language. It is an irony for our generation to use "effective communication" and "proficiency in English language" as synonym. You cannot make a defense by saying that the English is a widely used language for communication, because it is not. Chinese is the widely used [add language] for communication purposes, followed by Spanish at number two and English at number three. It is also interesting to note that the number of people that use Chinese for communication outnumbers the total number of people that uses Spanish and English combined. There are many prominent people, head of states, historians, and other celebrities who are very effective and influential in their native language, be it French, Italian, Hindi, Arabic or any other language, but they are not good with English language. Does this mean that they are not effective communicators or they have deficiency in their communication? English is not the only language used for communication but is one among many other languages used for the purpose.

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3) Ability to write and speak proficiently qualifies you as an excellent communicator - If you write well in any language then you can become a writer and if you speak well in any language then you can become a good speaker or orator but that doesn't qualify as an excellent communicator. What will you do with your ability to write flawlessly and speak fluently when whatever you write is a piece of irrelevant nonsense and whatever you speak is senseless rubbish? Communication is not just about speaking and writing. It is about understanding the message, context of the message and time of communication.

4) What you communicate is not as important as how you communicate - There is a difference between being a communicator and being a spokesperson and the key difference is related to the ownership of the message. When you communicate, you know what you are communicating, you take-up the responsibility and you also provide clarification, if required. Subject matter expertise is important. Verifying your facts and figures is important. Taking up the ownership is critical. When you are a spokesperson, you pass-on the message prepared by others and are not in a position to provide any clarification and enhancement.

5) People holding command over two different languages cannot communicate efficiently - Language is one of the modes to communicate and fortunately, it is not the only way. While communicating, your message, body-language, facial expression and confidence level, should sync to make it an effective communication. Recently, I went to a laundry shop to check the cost. I can communicate in three languages but the shop-owner didn't know any of those three. Yet, we communicated, verified our message, gave feedback to one another and gave acknowledgement of acceptance of message. Communication across languages and cultures is possible, provided we minimize our self-constructed hurdles. If I decide to not to understand or accept the message then doesn't matter what language or mode of communication the other person uses, I will never understand. It has a lot to do with the willingness and desire of both the parties involved in communication process.

6) "No communication" is good communication - In our personal life as well as in work-life we ignore or curtail many requests for communication. We assume that it is good to not respond to a particular message. We hold the information which is meant to be passed-on to people up or down the hierarchy. "No response" or "No communication" or "No feedback" is not considered as good communication but this in turn strangles and complicates many workplaces as well as family relations that actually require frequent exchange of messages for its very existence.

Key elements required for effective communication

1) Know what you are communicating - Knowing what you are communicating is very critical. While communicating, one must correlate his or her own thought process with that of the sensibility of an individual or group of people that they are communicating with. Communication is not a onetime process but involves many to and fro motions and rounds of clarifications, and feedback and hence subject matter expertise is crucial. If you fail to provide the required clarification then you may risk losing your credibility as a communicator.

2) Know the size and composition of people that you are communicating with - It is important to know the composition, size of group (One-to-one or One-to-many or Many-to-one) and cultural background of your audience and based on that you may be required to either level-up or level-down your communication style. If you couldn't level-up or level-down your communication style based on the need then either you will be considered as incompetent or an idiot.

3) Credibility, Sincerity and Trustworthiness - Do you walk your talk? Are you a reliable and serious communicator or are you an entertainer or publicity seeker? How honest are you in your communication? Are you a habitual liar? Are you authorized to communicate or are you the right person to communicate on the subject or matter that you are discussing or debating about? What's been your background? All these affect your communication process and your credentials as a communicator.

4) Time of communication - Delay in communication or communicating the wrong message at right time is as good as receiving no communication at all. For example, you could have saved your relation or you could have retained one of your high-performer or you could have brought onboard a very talented candidate but you missed it because you mistimed your communication. There is a right time for every communication to be passed on and for every discussion but unfortunately, the right time is not when you decide it to be right. Just as depicted in one joke between a doctor and a patient.

Doctor: I have good news and a bad news to communicate to you. 

Doctor: Good news is that we have been able to prolong the life of your father by one day and the bad news is that I forgot to communicate this to you yesterday. 

Good communicator knows the right time to communicate.

5) Precise and simple - Complexity and Longevity of Communication Process kills the essence and effectiveness of the message. Message needs to be simple, straight and accurate. At this point, I remember one of my Department Head. When asked to provide highlights or summary of a concept, he sends across a document of 75-100 pages and of which 99% of text and data would be irrelevant.

6) Feedback - Feedback is very important as it ensures that the message has been understood and accepted in the manner it should have been and that there is no conflict of understanding between the sender and the receiver.

Things to avoid

There are few things that one must avoid to ensure effective communication.

1) Assumptions - There are further two issues that are related to assumptions. 

a) Communication between sender (s) and receiver (s) should not have any space for ambiguity. Message must be clearly stated and understood by both the parties and should not be left anything on fancy assumptions. Any such assumption can be fatal for the execution or follow-up of the message. 

b) In a relationship between boss and subordinates, among team-members, between employer (or representative of employer) and between any two people that share emotional proximity, mis-communication or lack of communication or misrepresentation in communication leads to assumptions, and gives space for gossip and rumors which in turn distorts the relation, trust and reliability.

2) Common Lingo - In group communication, it is critical to communicate in a language that is understood by everybody else in the group to avoid any conflict of interest, to ensure fairness and transparency. Setting-up a common lingo with one or two or a set of people within a group, which in a way eliminate others from the communication process and make them look embarrassing, not only shows you as disgraceful, disrespectful, scandalous, and despicable but also put questions on your credibility, honesty and communication skills. I was staying with one couple and to keep me out of their discussion, they used to communicate, not privately but right in front of me, in a language that they thought I cannot understand or conversant in. Least did they know that not only I could pick-up few words in that language but their tone and body-language was loud and clear enough to pass on the message. In a group situation, such things need to be avoided or else these put us in an awkward and embarrassing situation.

Conclusion

Tell us what you are going to tell us, tell us, and then tell us what you told us; that is the essence of communication process. Good communication requires clarity of thought, precision of language and empathy with your intended audience. People will interpret your message differently based on their level of education, past experience, familiarity with the topic, fluency in your language, etc. A good communicator has his audience's best interests at heart. They concentrate on the message, not themselves.

We do not talk TO people, we talk WITH people.

We welcome your comments and feedback because that's been very crucial for us. Feel free to contact us for any clarification or professional assistance.

Have a great day and take good care of yourself.

Sanjeev Himachali

BLOGS: http://www.sanjeevhimachali.com and http://sanjeevhimachali.blogspot.com/ 

Email: sanjeev.himachali@gmail.com and ss_himachali@yahoo.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sanjeev_Himachali

Opportunities To You

When Should You Borrow Money

Opportunities To You

Quick: what's the easiest thing to do today (financially speaking)?

If you answered 'borrowing money', then go to the front of the class because you are obviously a sharp student and a citizen of the world.

Unlike those days when borrowing money was tough, today, everyone wants to lend you money. Banks, finance companies, credit cards, cooperatives, pawn shops - they all want to lend you money. So they send in pamphlets, flyers, letters, e-mails and even pre-approved loans with attached cheques to you. All you need to do is say 'yes', sign the form and the money will be in your bank account in the blink of an eye.

So much so that I think the only qualification that one needs to borrow money today is to have a heart beat! Even people with bad credit report or are in the 'black-list' can still borrow money. Just log on to the websites of some cooperatives, and you will see that they proudly display that 'people in the blacklist can apply.' In short, if you are alive, then you can borrow!

So again, there are no shortages when it comes to people offering you money.

But should you take up the offer because it's right in front of you? Should you grab it because it is there? After all, it is fast, easy and convenient. And most of all, it is m-o-n-e-y.

Now while there are a lot of fun things you can do with the money, being someone who wants to create a better financial life (why else would you be reading this magazine?), the answer may be no. Firstly, you are not going to borrow the money just so that you can blow it on some gadgets, trinkets or toys. (Those who plan to do so should be reading Stuff magazine instead!)

You are going to borrow only when you can generate more money with it. In other words, you borrow only when the return from the investment you are going to make is higher than the interest charged for the loan. For example, the return is 10 percent and the interest is 6 percent.

Obviously, you would not do so when the situation is the other way around, i.e. when the return from the investment is lower than the interest charged for the loan. If you say that you cannot find an investment that gives a higher return than the interest charged, then the answer is not to borrow! Wait until you can find one that gives a higher return. I can assure you that there are plenty of good investments if you look hard enough.

But of course, life is not that straight-forward. While the math says that you should borrow when the return on investment is 7.5 percent and the interest is 6.25 percent, what is missing from the equation is the risk involved. Now if both the return and interest are fixed, then it is not an issue, go ahead and borrow. However, often times, both are not fixed, which means they can go up or down. And this being life, it is the return that always drops and the interest that always rises!

This is why you should only borrow when the return exceeds the interest by at least 5 percent. For example, if the interest is 6 percent, the return must be 11 percent or higher. This way, you are building in a safety margin to cater the fluctuations of the rates.

You will no doubt realize that it is not so easy for the above situation to happen. It is rare for the return from an investment to exceed the loan interest by 5 percent. In fact, it is rare for most investments to give a consistent double figure return.

This is why you should borrow money only on two occasions; (1) to buy properties, and (2) to expand your business. Of course, provided that you have done your homework and know what you are doing. Buying the first property you see is a sure recipe for disaster.

This brings us to the most important point of them all; when you borrow money, don't forget that you have to pay it back, plus interest! And let me further remind you that the people who lent you money do not have a sense of humour - they always want their money back! And some of them will take some extreme steps to get their money back.

So to summarize, do your homework before borrowing money. If you cannot make more money with the borrowed money (while taking a reasonable risk), then do not borrow. Let the people who did not read this article take all the risks instead!

Azizi Ali is Malaysia's premier writer, speaker and coach on money matters. He is a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and holds an MBA from University of Bath, UK.

Log on to http://www.beahappymillionaire.com to find out more about Azizi and how he can help you lead happier prosperous lives.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Azizi_Ali

Opportunities To You

The Traps Of Gold

Opportunities To You

Gold has certainly resurfaced on the investment radar. After being down in the doldrums for twenty years since the 1980s, prices started climbing in 2001. From a low of $255, it rose by double-digits percentages (actually an astounding 18.8 percent per annum) every year since. It broke the $1,000 mark for the first time in March 2008, slipped below that for a few months, and then resumed its climb. At the point in writing, the price is hovering at the $1,350 mark, just below the all time high of $1,368 reached on October 13, 2010. This made gold one of the best (if not the best) performing investment in the past nine years, beating stocks, real estate, bonds and other commodities.

This being the case, I suppose the question is then: "Should you own gold?" The overwhelming answer is yes. If you already own gold, good; go out there and buy some more! If you have not done so yet, then it is time to start buying some! There - the answer cannot be more straight-forward than that!

At the same time, this is where things get a little bit interesting. Yes, you should own gold and you can make serious money from it. However, the traps in gold are as wide and deep as the mines themselves! If you chose incorrectly, you could actually lose money even when the price of gold is rising. (Anything that provides an opportunity to make lots of money also comes with the opportunity to lose lots of money!)

Next, I can also vouch that you will be getting conflicting advice when it comes to gold. First, there are few gold experts which means that most people know very little about it. Next, some people will tell you to buy gold in x form and avoid the others. It is very likely that these people are selling x. Some others, including financial planners and wealth advisors, will give you a hundred reasons and may even provide facts and figures to prove why you should not buy gold. The reason is simple: if you buy gold, they get nothing! Further, it will mean less money for you to buy whatever they are selling.

Furthermore, unlike days of yesteryear when the choices were limited when it comes to gold, today, there are a multitude of choices. These include collector coins, commemorative coins, ETFs, shares of mining or trading companies, certificates, pools, Gold Savings accounts, futures, options, Structured Notes and even digital gold! It's enough to make your head spin just trying to make sense of the choices.

Add the fact that most people are clueless when it comes to gold, and you can see why investing in gold can be a hazardous thing. While all the products mentioned earlier are gold in some form, they may not behave like the real thing, and therefore may not give the desired return to the investor. In fact, some of them should not even be considered as an investment. Take for example, jewelry. While bangles, rings and pendants are certainly gold, they cannot be considered as an investment in the real sense of the word. And why not? There are a few problems with jewelry when we're evaluating them from an investment perspective. First is the high mark-ups charged by the dealers, which can be 100 percent the price of the gold. Second is the extremely high discount charged by the dealers when you are selling the piece back to them. For example, one local gold dealer will knock off 30 percent (!) from the price when they are buying it back from you and that my friend, is an exceptionally high charge. Third and perhaps the most serious problem: you can only exchange it for another piece of jewelry; you cannot get cash.

And this is just one of the traps! There are plenty more that awaits the unsuspecting and uneducated investor.

So, just about the only way you are going to get an unbiased - and therefore correct - decision on gold is to get yourself educated on it by reading as much as you can - ideally before investing a single cent in it! Otherwise, you could be losing money instead of making it!

Azizi Ali is Malaysia's premier writer, speaker and coach on money matters. He is a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and holds an MBA from University of Bath, UK.

Log on to http://www.beahappymillionaire.com to find out more about Azizi and how he can help you lead happier prosperous lives.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Azizi_Ali

 Opportunities To You

Yuna - Come As You Are (Official Video)

Opportunities To You

Be Part of Yuna's Brand New Music Video. 

Here's HOW! http://bit.ly/ZRHIxT

Opportunities To You