Grades 2 and up. With Word Lab students have a language arts tutor right at their fingertips. Word Lab provides six skill modes, each with six levels of difficulty (36 games), from antonyms to spelling. Lights and sound effects guide and motivate independent play. Interactive and fun, Word Lab builds the skills Nand confidence Nstudents need for reading and writing competence. Features headphone jack for silent learning (EI-3915 headphones sold separately). Requires four AA batteries (not included) or AC Adaptor (EI-8702, sold separately).

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Through real-life examples and time-tested advice, this guide provides parents and coaches insights into how to deal with the challenges and pitfalls that arise as children progress in sports. From handling the inevitable tears and frustrations and honing the appropriate message for varying age ranges and skill levels to recognizing the real performance enhancers and how to keep burnout at bay, this handbook emphasizes integrity, hard work, and practice as well as the importance of teamwork, sportsmanship, and leadership in players. Advice on using humor to relieve stress, overcoming adversity, and how to handle troublesome coaches is also included.

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Basics Of Parenting

            Today, the one and the only question that is in the minds of everybody is “where are the youth of this generation going?” as the lifestyle and values of the youth is bothering the society to say the least. Though the  problems created by the youth and the problems faced by them are innumerable, it is not the state of affairs of the youth alone that is causing anxiety. The baby on its way into this world, new born babies and the children in different stages of growth  also face and cause problems. While trying to find the root cause of the problem it is the parents who are blamed for it, most of the time.   Though they are not the sole cause, they have a major role to play.   Their success in parenting depends on the kind of parents they are, their environment, the support from the family, the possibility of getting trained for parent hood, the level of education, the nature of the child concerned etc.,. The problems, mostly psychological, would vanish with proper  parenting.  In the early days, people mostly lived in joint families.  The experience and advice the young parents received from the elders, parents, aunts, grand parents, uncles, guided them in the process of parenting.  The children also had many people to support them, to allow them to vent their feelings and  to learn the probable ways of findings solutions to their problems.

True Story

            While talking to a group of adolescent girls shocking messages came to light.   Many of the adolescent girls were having illicit relationship with auto drivers with whom they were coming to school.   Deeper analysis brought out the fact that these girls were longing for love from their parents.    When an iota of love or something akin to it is shown by the auto driver, they easily fall a prey to the former’s devious designs; of course they suffer later when they find it difficult to extricate themselves from the driver’s clutches.    Only the parents can help these children.    One of the great, noble traits of parenthood is love  and that alone can cure many ills faced by the children and youth. It can help the girls to retrieve themselves1.

            In yet another instance, a 5 years old orphan boy in a care centre for the AIDS infected persons   stunned the onlookers by saying that if his father had had proper parenting, he would not have gone astray and ended with AIDS, infecting his mother too2. Even this small lad knows the importance of parenthood.   Everyone knows about parenting and follow the kind of parenting demonstrated by their parents or that which they have learnt through courses or training or advice given by psychologists or gurus.

Styles of Parenting:

            Just as there are different types of human beings, there are different types of styles of parents.    The parents’ style influences the level and kind of development of the child.    Whatever may be the style of parenting the essentials to be looked into are, “Express your love, make your child feel secure. Build their self-esteem. Stay flexible and recognize the time for change as your child grows. Communicate openly and honestly and be confident  in your own ability”3. When you talk to your child, you should be actually listening not just hearing.

            There are different types of parenting, such as “Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive4”.   Parents who are very clear about their role and give instructions with confidence can be considered as Authoritative.   The Reader’s Digest Great Dictionary of the English language shows that authoritative means commanding and self confident, while authoritarian implies, favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority5.  It is similar to dictatorship.

            Another variety of parenting is known as permissive.  These parents allow their children to follow their own path, mostly non-interfering.   It is similar to saying, “let the sleeping dogs lie” as they are.   These parents do not want to follow any strict rules or take up much responsibility in bringing up their children.   There is another mode of classifying the parents.   According to this classification, there are three types of parents, such as Consultant, Helicopter, Dull Sergeants6.

Three Types of Parents

           

CONSULTANT

 

HELICOPTER

 

DRILL SERGEANT

 

This Love and Logic parent provides guidance and consultant services for children

 

This parent hovers over children and rescues them from the hostile world in which they live.

 

This parent commands and directs the lives of children.

1.

The Love and Logic parent provides messages of personal worth and strength

1.

provides messages of weakness and low personal worth

1.

provides messages of low personal worth and resistance

2.

The Love and Logic parent very seldom mentions responsibilities

2.

makes excuses for the child, but complains about mishandled responsibilities

2.

makes lots of demands and has lots of expectations about responsibility.

3.

The Love and Logic parent demonstrates how to take care of self and be responsible

3.

“takes on” the responsibility of the child

3.

tells the child how he /she should handle responsibility

4.

The Love and Logic parent shares personal feelings about own performance and responsibilities

4.

protects the child from any possible negative feelings

4.

tells the child how he / she should feel

5.

The Love and Logic parent provides and helps child explore alternatives and then allows child to make his / her own decision

5.

makes decisions for the child

5.

provides absolutes : “This is the decision you should make”.

6.

The Love and Logic parent provides “time frames” in which child may complete responsibilities

6.

provides no structure, but complaints, “After all I’ve done for you…”

6.

demands that jobs or responsibilities be done now

7.

The Love and Logic parent models doing a good job, finishing, cleaning up, feeling good about it.

7.

whines and uses guilt : “When are you ever going to learn.   I always have to clean up after you.”

7.

issues orders and threats: “You get that room cleaned up or else…”

8.

The Love and Logic parent often asks self, “Who owns the problem?” helps the child explore solutions to his / her problem

8.

whines and complains about having an irresponsible child who causes “me” much work and responsibility

8.

takes over ownership of the problem using threats and orders to solve the problem

9.

The Love and Logic parent uses lots of actions, but very few words

9.

uses lots of words and actions that rescue or indicate that the child is not capable or responsible

9.

uses lots of harsh words, very few actions

10.

The Love and Logic parent allows child to experience life’s natural consequences and allows them to serve as the teacher

10.

protects child from natural consequences, uses guilt as the teacher

10.

uses punishment; pain and humiliation can serve as the teacher.

Source: http://www.loveandlogic.com/pdfs/threetypes.pdf

One way to identify the kind of parents is by analyzing the kind of gifts they give to their children in order to make them do any specific activity.  Some parents have a survival mentality; they give their child “whatever” just to make them do the job. Some parents operate with a default mentality.    They give their child what is popular without considering whether it will be the most helpful. In actual practice the parent should be operating deliberately and purposefully, giving the child what is useful after carefully thinking through.    They are usually known as “intentional parents” 7.   Depending on what kind or type of parents they are, the goals, and gifts also change.    In the case of permissive parents, the guiding motive will be, “If I can just make it through the child – rearing years, I can get my life back”.   Their goal will be “jilting the kids out of the house”.  They follow the easiest method of doing whatever is easy to do.  Hence, they use bribes, threats and use TV as a baby sitter8.

            On the other hand, those “who want to give the child what will be best and most helpful for him”, will have the goal of preparing the child for life as a productive adult. They would spend quality time with the child, imparting ethical values to the child.  The gifts given by such parents would be, “religious books, enjoyable pastimes, academics, home skills and chances for socialization” 9.

            If a child is to be successful in life, the appropriate parental care is necessary.    But, of course, there are children who grow up into successful adults, in spite of defective parenting.   But such cases are very rare.   The society at present is facing problems of parenting especially in the case of single parent, divorced parents, simple and extended families. Most of the children brought up by single parent and unmarried mothers, find it difficult to cope with the pressures in the family and society.

Parenting Skills:

            With, hectic work schedule of the parents, the heavy load of learning coupled with  many distractions and the problems faced by the society, the children are looking for the support of their parents for a secure life.    It is ordinarily observed that parenting without proper foundation has always and indefinitely led to confusions in  child development.    What is essential is

Ø  Developing and clarifying clear communicative expectations.

Ø  Staying calm in the midst of turmoil

Ø  Encouraging positive consequences and consistency.

Ø  Being the role model to your child.

Ø  Effective praising.10

           

To be a successful parent discipline is necessary.  At the same time, there should be consistency in whatever the parents are saying and doing, parents should have a preplanned, pre-developed strategy to teach proper behaviour to the child. That is, both the parents,or the single parent should make their expectations clear to the child. , Both of them can sail smoothly while bringing up their child.    They should be very specific and firm in teaching their children. Moreover, the parents must take into consideration the child’s age, ability, developmental status and the resources that are available for the family.11   Once the expectations are clearly stated, it is necessary that both the parents should communicate it to the child, without contradictions.    In addition to these, there should be frequent family ‘get togethers’.  Instead of punishing the child for not abiding by the expectations, it will be better to have discussions to clear the child’s doubts and parents being role models.

            Ray Burke states that “Children can be sarcastic, defiant, rebellious and possibly violent, parents have to prepare themselves for times like these and learn to keep cool” 12.   Yet another way to increase or encourage desirable behavior is to use positive consequences.    What the parents should remember is to use the positive consequences that would work with the child.   While developing a child’s behavior the parents should remember “consistency”.    Consistency is the key to being a successful parent.    This gives the message to the child that “your parents are reliable and serious”.

            The most important aspect of successful parents is that the parents should be role model for their child 13. The parent should be a positive role model for their child to follow.    As Ray Burke say, “Praise is powerful…. Praise is nourishment.   It helps in the emotional development.  It helps in building up self-esteem, belief of personal satisfaction, feeling of security.”14    The praise should be communicated to the child either verbally or through action.

Parenting Skills :

Ø  Discipline

Ø  Education

Ø  Finance

With the social changes,  the extended family that existed earlier, which played the vital role of a model, a shock absorber, a vent for relieving one’s feelings has become a thing of the past.   Hence, the parents of the modern era have to learn creative ways of bringing up their children.   It is found that the most important but controversial parenting skills is DISCIPLINE.   Whether the method is, redirection, time-outs, loss of privileges, grounding, extra chores, or sparking, the parents should embrace their role to train their children to become moral and respectable adults15. The second skill to be acquired by the parents is regarding education.  The parents should also be educating their children in moral values.   The child’s education should take into consideration certain important facts16:

v  Family’s financial status.

v  Quality of local public and private schools.

v  Level of parental education.

v  Personalities of parents and children.

v  Home schooling support and resources.

v  The involvement of the parents in the child’s education.

Besides education, one of the important parenting skills is the effective way of dealing with financial issues.    The demand for expenditure for rearing the child, medical, hygienic needs etc. are soaring high today.     Hence, a successful parent should know what is essential and what is not before deciding upon the expenditure of the limited resources.

Conclusion

            There is no doubt that children bring us much joy and much responsibility.   Most of the stress and worry of bringing them up can be reduced or removed with proper, careful planning.    The parents should plan when to have a child.   The working mother, if she is to stay at home, once the child is born, should plan earlier to save as much as possible and cut down the family expenditure.   Both the parents have to plan to set aside enough time to be with the child, not only when it is a baby, but till the child becomes an adult.

             The parents, need not be only the problematic, should avail of training in parenting skill as much as possible. First of all, both parents should have a congenial and frank communication between them.   Only then, once the child comes into the family, they will be able to communicate with the child easily.   Further the “ego”, the concept of “I” should be relegated to the background.    It is possible that the child becomes sick at times mildly, at times seriously.    Both the parents should take responsibility of looking after the child, not blaming each other as the cause of sickness.    The child rearing, though filled with difficulties, hurdles and events that test one’s tolerance, is undoubtedly a pleasure.  It is a joy.   A successful parent should know how to smile.    That will reduce the stress and pain of the child.    As it grows into adolescent stage, the skills of the parents should be developed further.    They should know more about the physique, the psychology and mental development of the child.

            It should be remembered that the requisites of  an effective parent are dedication, attention, love and constant denial of easily administering swift punishment. Though parenting is time consuming, the fruits are very attractive.    The future generation and its success depends on the effective, successful and cheerful parents of today to a great extent.

END NOTES

1.       Author’s personal experience

2.       Ibid.

3.       http://www.raisingkids.co.uk 10.14.2008

1. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/614981/authoritative_authoritarian_and_permissive.html
2. The Great Dictionary of English Language (Readers Digest Association Limited, London, 2003) p.56, 57
3. Three Types of Parents: Love and Logic institute – www.loveandlogic.com 1981.
4. http://intentionalparents.com/types-of-parents/ p.1
5. Ibid. p.2.
6. Ibid.p.2
7. http://allp

   Shyamala Karunakarapandian
   http://www.articlesbase.com/publishing-articles/basics-of-parenting-745594.html

“A woman never quite feels desired and appreciated enough. She wants attention, but a man is often distracted and unresponsive. The Rake is a great female fantasy figure; when he desires a woman, brief though that moment may be, he will go to the ends of the earth for her. He may be disloyal, dishonest, and amoral, but that only adds to his appeal. Unlike the normal, cautious male, the Rake is delightfully unrestrained, a slave to his love of women. There is the added lure of his reputation: so many women have succumbed to him, there has to be a reason. Words are a woman’s weakness, and the Rake is a master of seductive language. Stir a woman’s repressed longings by adapting the Rakes mix of danger and pleasure.” The Art of Seduction By Robert Greene

The effect that striking physical beauty has on men is replicated on women by ‘intense desire’. A woman loves attention (of which compliments are a subset). In fact, she can’t get enough attention. She always wants more. So if a man gives her his complete attention, with strong desire in his eyes, she will be attracted to him; almost always. She may repress that desire, or the man may say something that turns her off, but the attraction will exist.

A man who will overcome intense obstacles just to be with one woman while other women crave to be with him, is a big turn on to women.

This is the power of the rake. He is smart, funny sarcastic and able to communicate well in fact in his language he can charm a woman with sensual or sexual undertone, without ever being explicit.

Most women notices slight changes in body language and facial expression. So, subtle flattery and sexual suggestion is more appropriate to most women’s sensibilities.

One great rake of history was Duke De Richelieu, who smuggled letters and dug a tunnel to get to a young woman being intentionally protected from him by her uncle. For another woman he crawled across a thin plank to get from his window to hers.

Having obstacles lights a flame of desire to overcome in the heart of a rake. His perseverance to get to the woman to whom he professes his uncontrollable love for is almost irresistible to a woman.

The fact that he could be with any woman and his steadfastly pursuing her, adding excitement to a boring day-to-day life is one of the greatest powers of the rake that makes a woman fall for him.

A woman is often deeply repressed by the social roles she is expected to play. The rake with his sarcasm and amoral attitude allows a woman to experience excitement and to feel a little danger, which is a big relief from her daily life.

Qualities needed to be a successful rake; superb confidence, witty sarcastic sense of humor, artful conversational skills, combined with a complete indifference of other’s expectations of you. In other words, a cocky, devil may care attitude works well with women.

Abbas Abedi
http://www.articlesbase.com/sexuality-articles/embody-the-qualities-of-the-rake-to-attract-women-automatically-137133.html

Your non-verbal communication which is more frequently but narrowly referred to as body language, is a universally overlooked area to improve your confidence in communication and general self-perception. The majority of people aim to build their confidence but rarely consider the power of communicating confidence non-verbally.

If you’d like to improve your confidence around women then you have even more reason to read this article. Women love a confident man and they are extremely adept in picking up non-verbal signals. They will pick-up your non-verbal signals that you wouldn’t even have a clue about.

You need to have high self-awareness in order to be aware of your body language. It’s a matter of knowing what you do in certain situations. When you have poor body language others can see fear in you.

Here are four examples of body language that is counter-productive in developing confidence and how you can solve them to not only communicate more powerfully but to internalize the confidence:

1. Moving eye contact – people with low confidence levels rarely make eye contact and when they do, as soon as the other person returns that eye contact the person looks away. You do not look silly looking the other person in the eyes. In fact, you look weirder and would be annoying the other person more so when you do not make eye contact.

Good eye contact will show the person you are listening and that you are interested in what they have to say. However, you can have too much of a good thing. Excessive eye contact is non-verbal aggression. Dr. Peter Andersen, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Body Language, says you will make the other person feel comfortable with about 60% eye contact.

With practice I found that you will develop an intuition or ‘gut-feeling’ when you make the other person uncomfortable. As an example when you make to much eye contact, they’ll begin to not make eye contact with you or maybe fidget. At the moment, too much eye contact probably isn’t your concern as you’re trying to develop confident body language but you still should be aware of the problems with excessive eye contact.

2. Weak touch – otherwise known as haptics, touch involves bodily contact. What haptics we are interested in to develop confident non-verbal communication is mostly the handshake. You will rarely use any other haptics other then a handshake in a normal social situation. It’s not as if you normally go around patting people on the back or stroking their arm. That’s just strange!

What did you feel when someone shook you’re hand with a soft handshake? I bet you wondered if they cared about you at all or if they lacked confidence to show this concern. This is a ‘girly touch’. A good handshake depends on the receiving person. Most of the time you want a firm handshake but occasionally with say the elderly you don’t want to be crushing their hand! When greeting ladies be aware that they don’t have gigantic and hard hands like many men so just go a little less firm. A firm handshake shows you care and is an initial way of communicating confidence when meeting someone.

3. Stay away – looking at body positions relative to one another now otherwise known as proxemics. What I mean by “relative to one another” is the distance between you and the other person. You are most comfortable with an intimate or well known person being close to you as opposed to someone you just met. However, people with low confidence will have a much wider radius of comfort. A more confident person will not show fear when someone “breaks” their comfortable proxemics. This doesn’t mean they are comfortable with the closeness, it just means they don’t show the uncomfortably. They desire the other person to stay away but they cope with the situation.

An excellent example of this that I can remember is two Australian Politicians on October 8 the eve of the 2004 federal election. John Howard was greeted by opposition leader Mark Latham aggressively. While Mark Latham did pull John Howard towards him when shaking hands (aggressive haptics), Latham made his body position aggressive by being extremely close and towering over the shorter John Howard. Despite this, Mr. Howard non-verbally stood his ground in confidence by continuing the handshake and smiling towards the cameras. I’m sure John Howard would have felt uncomfortable but he still gave out signs of confidence.

It was said Latham attempted to get revenge for Howard squeezing his wife’s hand too hard at a press function which I found to be funny! If only they were both able to read this!

4. Carry yourself – the last non-verbal communication technique I feel is valuable in developing confidence is kinesics. It involves body movement. Possibly the most important kinesics in confidence is posture. A slouched posture not only screams an unconfident person, but it has a physical and psychological effect on the person with the poor posture. The physical effect of slouching your shoulders forward is it causes your chest to compress inwards. Your chest compressing simulates expelling air causing you to breathe shallowly. This means if you have poor posture you will have poor breathing.

The psychological effect of poor posture is poorer confidence. Using arguably the world’s best golfer Tiger Woods as an example, he’s taught to maintain good posture as he approaches each shot. By having good posture he is able to breathe correctly and physically get his body into the right state of confidence. From this his mind is able to focus on the shot ahead.

I know once golfer’s lose this state of confidence through poor posture, the affects are surprisingly strong. The golfer’s chest begins to tighten and everything heightens. They then lose their state of control, calmness, and confidence causing poor performance.

The same relates to everyday life. To practice a confident posture, roll your shoulders forward, upwards, and then back down to almost complete a circle. Watch your shoulders as you rotate them and if they are behind to what they were prior to doing the activity and you are comfortable, you’ve done the activity correctly.

Having learnt about these areas of non-verbal communication, all that’s left to do is practice your new skills. Do not make the mistake of no action. Your self development will not progress forward until you move forward. Go out and practice your confident non-verbal communication skills.

Joshua Uebergang
http://www.articlesbase.com/dating-articles/confident-nonverbal-communication-79304.html

If you can play blackjack successfully, you have the skills to play in a higher stakes game where the rewards can be millions of dollars!

If you play blackjack successfully you have EXACT skills required for this game and you will then play with a much greater edge on your side.

Blair Hull was a good blackjack player and well known for making big profits.

He changed “games” and started to win huge profits.

He used his skills to turn $25,000 into $500,000 in just 3 years!

He then started with $1 million in his own financial company in 1985, and by 1991 had $90 million!

So what was he Playing?

He traded financial markets using his skills. He had no experience when he started but learned quickly and never looked back.

If you’ve never considered financial trading then consider the following:

Everything about trading financial markets can be learned.

Many of the world’s best traders came to financial trading after playing blackjack and poker successfully as they transferred the skills they already had and simply piled up bigger profits.

When you play blackjack you use a system and then place bigger bets when the odds are on your side and it’s the same in financial trading and bet properly.

In gambling, most players don’t win because they don’t have a system that can do this and they trade by “shooting from the hip” rather than using an odds based system.

And it’s the same in trading.

Traders just like gamblers are ruled by fear and greed and this causes their downfall.

Trading can be learned by anyone

In 1984, Richard Dennis conducted to convince his partner traders where not born they were made.

The experiment taught 14 people from diverse backgrounds a trading system and it took just 2 weeks.

They were then told to apply the system and made huge gains straight off the bat, with many going on to become trading legends.

Why are blackjack playing skills useful?

If you play blackjack you have a non-emotional disciplined approach and that’s exactly what you need in trading.

To win you play the odds with no emotion and have the discipline to follow a system.

The key difference is:

The rewards are much higher.

Take a look at the checklist below:

• Play with discipline

• Use money management

• Play with confidence

• Don’t get emotional

• A focus on the odds above all else

* You are playing to win above all else

If you agree with the above statements and recognize their significance then you can become a financial trader and play for higher stakes in one of the most exciting and lucrative “games” around.

Think about it.

Shouldn’t you be playing for higher stakes with the skills you have.

Remember:

Everything about trading can be learned, other blackjack players have made millions, so why not take a closer look at this idea for yourself and see how much you could make!

Sacha Tarkovsky
http://www.articlesbase.com/online-gambling-articles/play-blackjack-why-bother-when-you-can-make-millions-in-a-different-game-91889.html

Every basketball team’s goal is to improve their skills or their game and play well. It is important that the team has confidence before they set foot on the floor or court. But how can the team acheive confidence? The answer is preparation. Through preparation, the team gains confidence. The team can prepare through practice. Practicing skills and team plays can make the team confident to face any situation that they should encounter in an actual game.

In making a basketball team play you need a diagram to represent the court or floor, some chips or a marker to place the positions of the players, who are given a specific number or color of chips. This is used to explain the flow of the play so the team players know how to act or where to go during specific team plays. Extensive knowledge of the game itself, tactics and rules is also essential. In order to facilitate the discussion, everyone concerned should bear in mind that the strong side means that it is the side of the court where the basketball is and the weaker side is the one without the basketball.

This is where names such as John Stockton, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash come into play. These are some of the most skilled basketball players in terms of playmaking. While the coach is in charge of teaching how plays should be made,the point guard has the primary task to make sure that these are properly executed during the game.

Offensive Plays are used when the team has the possession of the ball. The focus of this play is to score. Plays of this kind increase the chances of the players, such as the point guard, to make the basket and score. Examples of this play are 1-3-1 offensive plays, 1-4 formation offensive plays, zone formation offensive plays, triangle offense formation and man to man offense.

The offensive team that will do these offensive plays is composed of five players with corresponding titles and numbers: The point guard (1), the shooting guard (2), the forward guard (3), the power guard (4) and the center (5). The point guard directs the offensive play on the court. The shooting guard is the best outside shooter and usually takes the shot that allows the basketball to make the basket, he should know the right timing for scoring. The small forward guard moves quickly and effectively and keeps the ball away from the defensive team. They can also drive to take a shot or do jump shots anywhere. The power forward is the best inside shooter, which shoots well from underneath the basket or on its corners. The center is the tallest member of the team and does the rebounds and plays with his back almost facing the basket all the time.

Defensive plays are used by the team when they prevent the ball from making the basket by guarding the basket themselves and the players as well so that scoring won’t be successful. The focus of this play is to prevent the other team from scoring by trying to steal the ball or disrupting the flow of play of the team that has ball possession.

Plays of this kind puts pressure on the players who have ball possession making them vulnerable. The defending team players use this situation to their advantage and stop the ball from making it to the basket or making it possible to steal the ball from their hands. Examples of this play are the zone defense and the 2-3 zone defense.

Team players should possess characteristics when they are on the defensive play. Quickness is a quality that can be applied to the hands and feet. Swift movements are necessary to help defensive steal the ball from the offensive team. Strong legs can be helpful in doing repetitive quick jumps. Focus on the game is necessary and they should always be aware since they will read and observe the offensive play so they can use it to their advantage.

This will help the defensive team members to react quickly and appropriately. Defensive team members should be flexible and able to do different kinds of defensive plays depending on the situation.

They should be able to apply defensive skills on both weak and strong sides of the court. Understanding of the strategies and concepts of the game helps them make right decisions based on the situation. Good communication is essential for teamwork because if they work together on the floor, the offensive team will have a difficult time scoring.

Practicing the basic basketball skills as well as the offensive and defensive plays helps a team prepare for a game. When you are prepared to face the battle during a basketball game, worries can be set aside and confidence is gained. These are the secrets to playing a good game and playing it right. Winning and being a champion is possible if these things are kept in mind.

Jason Richards
http://www.articlesbase.com/basketball-articles/making-the-right-plays-in-basketball-481133.html

Life coaching arrived in the UK around 10 years ago, having started in the United States some 10 years earlier. The idea of life coaching is to define goals and work out how you can achieve them. Whereas therapy analyses the past, with life coaching the emphasis is on the future and how the client can fulfil their potential.

A life coach will not judge their clients but work with them on issues causing difficulties in their life. They will help the client understand problems, see what may be holding them back, work out solutions, set goals and concentrate on ways to change for the better. Life coaching will usually involve a series of regular sessions over several months and contact with your coach can be by telephone, email or personal visit.

Life coaches will have different styles and use a variety of methods in their work, depending on the needs of their client. Many will use experience gained in disciplines such as sociology, psychology, career or other forms of counselling. However, life coaching is not intended for those with psychological illness.

Individual clients come from all sorts of backgrounds and maybe looking for anything from major life changes to a few small adjustments to put them back on track. Although clients are often individuals, many companies also use life coaches to work with their employees in house. Improving motivation, developing leadership and teambuilding skills, or managing working relationships could be some of the areas covered.

How can life coaching help me?

If you are at a transition point in your personal or professional life then coaching can give you the confidence to set priorities, take decisions and make changes which will ultimately help you achieve a happier life. It is all about taking charge of your life and getting the results you want, rather than drifting and allowing things to happen around you.

In your working life perhaps you would like to improve your career opportunities, achieve more or develop your skills, but you are not sure how. Alternatively perhaps you would like to become self-employed, or simply need a change. A new challenge can give you a sense of purpose but you may lack the confidence to proceed. Life coaching will help you understand and accept your weaknesses, but also enable you to believe in yourself and make the most of your strengths and abilities.

In your personal life you may feel you need or want to change your lifestyle. Perhaps you would like to lose weight, improve your health and fitness, manage stress or gain a better work/life balance. While you may well know what you should be doing, actually keeping up lifestyle changes is difficult at times. Coaching can help you identify exactly why you want to change, why earlier attempts may have faltered, and to view the process in a more positive way. Crucially the targets you set will be realistic so that your motivation and the benefits of change can be maintained.

Good relationships with those around you are very important to your sense of well being and satisfaction with life, but relationships can be difficult both at home and at work. However, this can improve with the help of coaching sessions. Talking through the issues will enable you to see how you can change to help resolve problems.

How can I find a life coach?

There is no professional body or any regulation in the Life Coaching industry. In theory anyone can set themselves up as a life coach with no formal training or experience. There are training courses available but no recognised qualifications. Therefore your own research and instinct will be the most important factors when looking for a life coach. The media, particularly the internet, and personal recommendation are likely to be your best sources of information.

Your choice of life coach will partly depend on your purpose. If you are looking for assistance with a particular area of your life, then you will want to research the experience and skill available in that area. For example, some coaches may be more effective working on family issues than changes at work. However, you may feel that personality and how the coach clicks with you are more important than any particular background. The way the coach asks questions, delivers constructive criticism and motivates their client is of course going to be vital to the success of the sessions. Also remember to consider whether you would like the option of face to face contact with your coach.

A good life coach will not ask for a large payment upfront. After the initial introductory conversation you should be allowed time so that you can be reasonably sure you have made the right choice. This works both ways as the coach will also want to be sure you will have a successful working partnership.

Can I become a life coach?

As a life coach you will need excellent communication and listening skills, a positive approach and the ability to encourage and motivate others. You must obviously enjoy working closely with people and also be flexible. More specific skills may be required if you choose to work in a particular area of life coaching.

Although there are currently no qualification requirements, you may well choose to undertake some form of training course before you start to practice life coaching. Training will develop your skills and is likely to give you more confidence and credibility. As there are no academic standards you will have to rely on your own research and evaluation to find an appropriate course. Your choice will depend on previous experience, and personal interest. Remember to ask about the cost of the course, time involved, support available and recommendations from previous students.

Marcus Brooks
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/life-coaching-an-introduction-to-the-revolution-in-personal-improvement-106054.html

Life coaching arrived in the UK around 10 years ago, having started in the United States some 10 years earlier. The idea of life coaching is to define goals and work out how you can achieve them. Whereas therapy analyses the past, with life coaching the emphasis is on the future and how the client can fulfil their potential.

A life coach will not judge their clients but work with them on issues causing difficulties in their life. They will help the client understand problems, see what may be holding them back, work out solutions, set goals and concentrate on ways to change for the better. Life coaching will usually involve a series of regular sessions over several months and contact with your coach can be by telephone, email or personal visit.

Life coaches will have different styles and use a variety of methods in their work, depending on the needs of their client. Many will use experience gained in disciplines such as sociology, psychology, career or other forms of counselling. However, life coaching is not intended for those with psychological illness.

Individual clients come from all sorts of backgrounds and maybe looking for anything from major life changes to a few small adjustments to put them back on track. Although clients are often individuals, many companies also use life coaches to work with their employees in house. Improving motivation, developing leadership and teambuilding skills, or managing working relationships could be some of the areas covered.

How can life coaching help me?

If you are at a transition point in your personal or professional life then coaching can give you the confidence to set priorities, take decisions and make changes which will ultimately help you achieve a happier life. It is all about taking charge of your life and getting the results you want, rather than drifting and allowing things to happen around you.

In your working life perhaps you would like to improve your career opportunities, achieve more or develop your skills, but you are not sure how. Alternatively perhaps you would like to become self-employed, or simply need a change. A new challenge can give you a sense of purpose but you may lack the confidence to proceed. Life coaching will help you understand and accept your weaknesses, but also enable you to believe in yourself and make the most of your strengths and abilities.

In your personal life you may feel you need or want to change your lifestyle. Perhaps you would like to lose weight, improve your health and fitness, manage stress or gain a better work/life balance. While you may well know what you should be doing, actually keeping up lifestyle changes is difficult at times. Coaching can help you identify exactly why you want to change, why earlier attempts may have faltered, and to view the process in a more positive way. Crucially the targets you set will be realistic so that your motivation and the benefits of change can be maintained.

Good relationships with those around you are very important to your sense of well being and satisfaction with life, but relationships can be difficult both at home and at work. However, this can improve with the help of coaching sessions. Talking through the issues will enable you to see how you can change to help resolve problems.

How can I find a life coach?

There is no professional body or any regulation in the Life Coaching industry. In theory anyone can set themselves up as a life coach with no formal training or experience. There are training courses available but no recognised qualifications. Therefore your own research and instinct will be the most important factors when looking for a life coach. The media, particularly the internet, and personal recommendation are likely to be your best sources of information.

Your choice of life coach will partly depend on your purpose. If you are looking for assistance with a particular area of your life, then you will want to research the experience and skill available in that area. For example, some coaches may be more effective working on family issues than changes at work. However, you may feel that personality and how the coach clicks with you are more important than any particular background. The way the coach asks questions, delivers constructive criticism and motivates their client is of course going to be vital to the success of the sessions. Also remember to consider whether you would like the option of face to face contact with your coach.

A good life coach will not ask for a large payment upfront. After the initial introductory conversation you should be allowed time so that you can be reasonably sure you have made the right choice. This works both ways as the coach will also want to be sure you will have a successful working partnership.

Can I become a life coach?

As a life coach you will need excellent communication and listening skills, a positive approach and the ability to encourage and motivate others. You must obviously enjoy working closely with people and also be flexible. More specific skills may be required if you choose to work in a particular area of life coaching.

Although there are currently no qualification requirements, you may well choose to undertake some form of training course before you start to practice life coaching. Training will develop your skills and is likely to give you more confidence and credibility. As there are no academic standards you will have to rely on your own research and evaluation to find an appropriate course. Your choice will depend on previous experience, and personal interest. Remember to ask about the cost of the course, time involved, support available and recommendations from previous students.

Marcus Brooks
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/life-coaching-an-introduction-to-the-revolution-in-personal-improvement-106054.html

There are certain character traits found in all good leaders and we have listed 8 key ones below.

Some great leaders are born and it is their destiny to lead. On the other hand, there are other great leaders who made the time and effort to become one and you can to.

If you think you’re not quite the finished article as a leader, then this article is for you.

Here the 8 character traits that all great leaders possess.

1. Trust & Respect

If you lead you don’t need to be liked on a personal level (although most good leaders are)

You simply need to have the characteristics that make you trusted and respected in the leadership role that have assumed.

There is a key difference between generating respect and trust and being liked personally.

People don’t have to like you to trust and respect you.

Many people who know nothing about leadership try to hard to be liked on a personal level and this leads to ineffective leadership as their goal of being liked interferes and weakens their role as leader.

2. Communication

Leading on from the above you need to be able to communicate with your team and treat them with respect, encourage and be firm when needed.

A good leader tries to get the best out of their team by being understanding them, inspiring them and rewarding effort. A good leader never rules by fear.

A good leader however needs to firm and stop anyone from upsetting the team reaching its ultimate goal and take swift decisive action when it does.

3. Enthusiastic

Good leaders always have the character trait of enthusiasm about getting the job done.

People will respect a person who shows hard work, passion and dedication.

Leaders are there to motivate and inspire and people will respond to these character traits.

Although the roles of a leader may be different, the leader is the leader of the team and the team will only get behind someone they see as “one of them” and able to muck in with the them.

4. Confidence.

If you are not confident you wont get anywhere as a leader.

Rock solid confidence in your ability is a must to inspire dedication, trust and hard work from your team.

Confidence should not be confused with arrogance.

Arrogance shows a non team player and will cause resentment.

Most great leaders have a combination of confidence and humility.

5. A Cool Head

When things are going wrong you look for a leader to take control of the situation.

They need to show confidence, but do so in a cool, calm collected manner with the aim to putting things right or getting the job done.

No matter what the situation a good leader never loses his cool and this is critical to maintaining team confidence when the chips are down.

6. Focus on Key Elements

A good leader thinks analytically and can view the overall goal or aim, but also break down the sub elements of what needs to be done to reach the goal.

They organize, prioritize and workout the smaller parts into a logical pattern to reach the ultimate goal in the best possible manner.

7. Motivation & Innovation

A good leader is always looking to improve and to innovate to get better results even when things are going well a true leader is looking to take himself and his team to the next level.

8. Improve Their Skills

Leading on from the above, a good leader will know they are not perfect (no one is) and they will be constantly trying to improve their skills and look at their past results no matter how good they were and see how they could have done better.

The above character traits are ones that all great leaders have and you can to if you dedicate yourself to becoming a leader – You never know you may even become a great one.

Sacha Tarkovsky
http://www.articlesbase.com/leadership-articles/8-key-character-traits-that-make-a-great-leader-85413.html