How do you compete at a Job Faire? The competition can be substantial, but you can help yourself leap out from the herd with advance homework. At AA-Careers, we have a straight-forward six-step process to get ready. Plan to go? Here’s how to prepare:

First, research the companies that are going and pick your objectives. Use the internet to research the organizations that are there before you even decide to go. Go to their internet sites and see if they have their jobs listed. Pick a sound number to target, and get ready to spend an hour or more researching each one. It’s hard to do more than 9 in a day, and four to six is a much more reasonable target. For each company, you want to know: executive names, recent news, and key product lines. Try to see if you know anyone at the target companies. You will end up with with a page or two of research for each company/job.

Second, if there are job postings on the web, read them to see what the hiring department is looking for. Create a mapping of your achievements and skills to the requirements of the job. Make the terminology match. If the hiring organization calls customers "clients", your resume should do the same thing. The accomplishments should be written in the style of the hiring company.

Third, create a ‘thumbnail sales pitch’ for each potential company/position combination. Write down a sixty second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud showing why you are a key prospect for that position. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet people at the job kiosk.

Fourth, modify your resume for each job type. The objective on your resume should exactly match the position you’re want. The executive summary should be a written form of your “mini sales pitch” for the job. Then choose the achievements and skills that most clearly match the job description. Especially at a Job Fair, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be simple to see that you’re a match based on your resume.

Fifth, practice your ‘mini-sales-pitch’. Collect your research and the resume for each spot – bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a understandably tagged folder. Keep them in a lightweight briefcase or folio.

Finally, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress well and be well groomed. Avoid strong cologne or perfume…use any cologne or fragrance meagerly, if at all.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!

Your ability to focus your attention in this way means that you’ll be better equipped to enhance the quality of your life, work, and relationships. Since the quality of your attention is so fundamental to the quality of your life, you could say that your ability or inability to focus your mind provides a fairly accurate measure of how in control or out of control you are of your life.

When you think about an optimal mind state or about optimal states of performance, keep in mind that these are not totally foreign to you. If you think about your past, I’m sure you’ll remember some times, and even special moments, that stand out and sparkle in your memory.

Pause for a moment, and reflect back on the near or distant past, scanning through your mind, and find a time or times when you knew what it really felt like to be “in focus.”

Can you remember the times in your life when you felt most fully alive and in the flow? The times when your attention was completely captured by the intensity of the moment and that nothing else dared to intrude? Can you remember the times when you just relaxed into the flow, and felt yourself carried and supported, moving effortlessly and easily through some activity? Or a time when everything just clicked into place, effortlessly, and you didn’t have to try to get things to work, they just happened? Can you remember what it felt like to be alive at those magic moments in your life?

Special moments are often described as times in your life when you are most in the flow, or in the zone, or at the peak of your performance. It is a deep flowing and an effortless sense of concentration. You have a vivid sense of clarity of your goals and a sense of being on purpose and aligned with what has real value. You even experience a loss of the sense of time, and a lack of self-consciousness. You have a deep sense of connectedness or belonging.

These special moments are the ones we all live for, they are the moments that shine like beacons in our lives. They remind us of what we’re really looking for, and what we’re really capable of doing and being. So then, what are the strategies for having more of these moments of being present, open, connected, and in the flow of life in such a wonderful way?

The key to having an optimal mind state is being able to have dynamic or fluid concentration. Learning to focus your mind with dynamic concentration will equip you with a wealth of powerful skills and strategies to carry the power of the optimal mind state into every activity of your life.

Learning to live and work in the flow of an optimal mind state means learning how to put your mind to work for you. To accomplish this, you must understand the nature of your mind, and learn how to use and direct the energy and power of your mind more effectively. Though you rely on many wonderful tools and technologies to live your life, ultimately, your mind is your most important and primary tool. With your mind, you envision and design all other tools and direct the way they’re used.

The first thing you must learn is how to focus your attention. One of the most effective methods for developing your concentration is with deep breathing. When you inhale, focus your attention within yourself, and as you exhale, imagine that you can direct the focused power of your attention in whatever direction you choose. Breathing in and focusing. Breathing in and directing the focused beam of your awareness wherever you choose. Just remember, you’re focusing, and directing, focusing, and radiating.

Once you have developed your deep breathing, then you need to develop the flexibility of your concentration. The best way to do this is by focusing on your hands. Just zoom in and focus on them, notice their position, and feel all the sensations or vibrations in your hands. Then, intentionally shift your attention and focus on some other interesting object in your visual field. Just let go of focusing on your hands, and focus completely on this visual object. And then, shift your attention back to your hands. Keep shifting your attention back and forth and just listen to the flow of sounds around you as you do this. Then shift your attention to observing the flow of thoughts and images in your mind. Don’t try to elaborate, just watch the flow for a moment. Finally, shift your attention to the top of your head, and then to your hands, to the taste in your mouth, and back again to your hands.

Practicing these simple exercises on a daily basis will help you to develop a greater flexibility of your attention. You will be to take greater control of where and how you direct your attention. And this will allow you to concentrate in an infinite variety of complex ways and to also perform an infinite array of complex activities. Your flexibility of attention offers you freedom by giving you the power to control the movements of your mind. The greater your mental flexibility is, the greater your power and creativity will be to move your mind through an infinite array of possible moves and functions.

The flexibility of your concentration is directly related to the versatility and adaptability of your nervous system. The more rigid and inflexible your mind is, the more rigid and limited your brain function will be. As you develop greater flexibility of your mind and body, you’ll find that your brain is able to handle more and more complex situations, and you’ll be able to deal with greater challenges without feeling nearly as much stress. When you become a master of concentration you’re really building a mind that is “fit for action.”

The quality of your life is directly related to your ability to shift between different ways of thinking, viewing, and working with the creative challenges that life brings you. The flexibility of your attention will allow you to shift your focus from one person to another, or from thinking about one project to thinking about another. As your resilience and versatility of concentration grows, you’ll be able to shift mental gears more easily, and move fluidly, from one way of looking or thinking about a situation, to another point of view. For example, you can focus your attention toward someone in a critical manner or in an appreciative way, and you can shift back and forth between multiple styles of thinking about the same situation.

In this complex and fast changing world of today, you’re constantly challenged to pay attention to a barrage of continually changing circumstances. Your success in life will depend largely on your ability to interact with all the situations that your are faced with in a creative manner.

Regardless of all the outrageous claims of some of the new, flashy mind technology that’s appeared on the market, real and lasting mental development, like muscular development, can be achieved only through practice. You simply can’t passively take a pill or plug into a machine that’s going to strengthen your mental muscles and build your powers of concentration for you.

However, you’ll find that training the mind is in many ways easier than physical training, since you don’t need to wait for a special time or place. You don’t need to rely on expensive equipment or exotic paraphernalia. You already have everything that you need to improve the quality of your concentration. Just strengthen your personal commitment to continuously learn to improve the quality of your life, and you’ll be on your way to a life of happiness, success, and prosperity.

Copyright© 2005 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. A former ad agency executive and marketing consultant, Joe’s work in personal development focuses on helping his clients identify hidden marketable assets that create windfall opportunities and profits, as well as sound personal happiness and peace.

Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com

Read more articles and newsletters at: http://www.jlmandassociates.com

Self-growth, self-improvement, self-esteem, and motivation articles, books, videos, coaches, ebooks (including mine) inundate the Internet. They offer advice on how to live better than you are living now.

Good advice, but oh, so contemporary.

Sometimes it’s more interesting to read philosophy.

One time a Korean medical doctor hired me to write an article explaining acupuncture for American magazine readers. He fed me the information but it took me three weeks to figure out how to start the article. Finally I realized I had to go all the way back to Plato and Confucius. Through them I could demonstrate how Western and Eastern philosophical contemplations led to two completely different branches of medicine.

So, let’s consider the elements of the good life according to Aristotle. I bet you can relate-even if you don’t know who he is.

1. The Contemplative Life. You know Plato’s old line, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” If you have read this far you carry his contemplative streak. You ask the big questions. You ask why. Good on ya, as they say down under.

2. The Active Life. A given. We can’t think if we don’t move and put some oxygen in our brains. Besides, life is meant to be lived.

3. The Fatalistic Life. We tend to think of fatalists as pessimists who assume they have no free will, no control over their lives. Everything is written in the stars–or someplace. But Aristotle has a different take. To him, a fatalist is resigned to the facts of life. He accepts the fact has he no control over the weather, his president, or his hard drive. This acceptance makes for a good life.

When the fatalist loses his job, his car, his key to the club, he doesn’t mourn. He says, “I gave it back.” He recognizes the transitory nature of everything. Some of us have to get really old to get to that point. I met a woman at a writers’ conference who had just moved out of a fourteen room mansion into a two bedroom condo. “I gave it all back,” she said.

It is a good life when we accept what is inevitable. You know your car is going to die someday, among other beloved flora and fauna.

4. The Hedonistic Life. Delicious sounding, isn’t it? Slightly naughty. You thought a hedonist was an irresponsible, party-till-I-die kind of person, I bet. Not according to Aristotle.

Hedonism implies desire. Desire implies want–unsatisfied want. That’s no fun. According to Aristotle, a true hedonist trods a narrow path between the pain of unsatisfied pleasure and pleasure. He’s not going to pine over the Queen of Sheba when he can have the Queen of Next Door. He leads a peaceful life, getting his pleasure in protected context.

5. The heroic and saintly life. If you find joy in helping others you know you are no better than the sloths you grew up with. You know what sustains you and it is beautiful and you don’t deserve the accolades people throw at you. It’s your good life. You don’t expect anyone else to get the same pleasure out of it that you do.

Sister Theresa never thought of herself as a saint. She just thought she was living a good life. The firefighters in every city do not think of themselves as heroes. When one dies trying to save a life, he probably thinks, “Damn, I goofed,” not “They’ll bury me a hero.”

What we choose to do in life is programmed early. Our judgments of ourselves and others are hardwired, too. Personally, I measure my own self-growth by the wonderful decrease in my daily judgments of others..

I think Aristotle would say, if he knew the lingo, think about your life, live your life, expect bad weather and enjoy it, give up what you hang on to, seek pleasure safely, not excessively, and do what you do for its own sake, not for some ridiculous pat on the back.

Then again, I may be right.

I will now drink a toast to your good life with a safe amount of Hedonistic Port.

A rising number of us are facing up to these problems. It does not matter if it is a phobic disorder of huge crowds or a sleep disorder, researchers keep making progress with new solutions. Getting quite a bit of their attention is panic attacks and natural depression. When I think about depression, I think of someone who has recently suffered the loss of a loved one or a person who is afflicted in such a way that keeps them from living a regular life. Well this is usually a misconception. Numerous individuals are distressed by the burden of anxiety and natural depression for other reasons. We usually do not know the reasons. Sometimes it could be as simple as the food we eat. Oddly, contentment with life is elusive to most people.

Teenagers, as linked with this issue, are of a great concern. Anxiety and natural depression seems to be striking them more than anyone these days. Acknowledged, being a teen is hard in some areas, and unbelievably simple in others. Through many teens eyes, it appears all negative. We all were teens at least once. We certainly know much of what they are going through. Nevertheless, I can never recall being depressed. Who knows what has happened in the last ten years. Depression should not be a childhood experience. In point of fact, panic attacks and depressive disorder should be much less prevalent than it is altogether.

“Mum. What’s death meditation?” she shouted from her bedroom.

“Where did you hear that love?” Anita called back from her study.

“I heard two men talking about it on TV”. “The red headed man said a man called Steve Jobs said every morning he looks in the mirror and asks himself,

“If today were the last day of my life would I want to do what I am about to do today? And whenever the answer has been No for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something”

“Oh!” said a relieved Anita as she saved the presentation she was working on and headed off towards Nicole’s bedroom. “It’s a way of looking at your life and only doing what’s important. People think that if they know when they are going to die then they would do different things”.

“Well. If I’m going to die tonight I don’t want to think all I did was go to school today. I want to spend my time playing with my toys” replied a sharp Nicole.

“Ah. That’s not quite what it means. It doesn’t mean you stop doing things you don’t like doing. It means you must look at the reasons you do things as well as the activities themselves”.

“Look, I know you don’t like school very much and if you listen to what the red headed man said, you shouldn’t go. But another way of understanding what the red headed man is saying is to look underneath the words. He is also saying what do you feel? Are you doing things that you wish you weren’t every day. Things that you know deep down you shouldn’t be doing. Are you learning new things that will be of benefit to you and the world? Or are you just doing the same things everyday out of habit.”

“Oh I get it. If I go to Miss Smiths English class and look out of the window and just say what I know she wants me to say just to keep her happy then I might as well not be there”.

“Yes. In other words a robot, like your toy, could be programmed to do that”.

“If that’s what you do. Then the red headed man is saying you need to change your attitude otherwise what’s the point of being alive”.

“So if I don’t want to do what I do in Miss Smith’s class. I can change the way I behave and ask Miss Smith questions when I don’t understand”.

“Exactly”.

“It’s like when you play with your toys. I call you and call you for lunch but you don’t hear me. You’re in a world of your own. You’re totally involved in the game you are playing. That is what the man means”.

“But mum. He said. Death meditation. What’s that?”

“Ah that’s doing what Mr. Jobs does, saying to yourself every morning before you go to school. If I was to die tonight would I be happy with what I am about to do? What would be the best thing to do with the time I have left?”

“Now it may not be playing with your toys. It may be that it would be better if you said sorry to Dominic for stamping on his lunch when he dropped it on the floor. It may be better to do your best at everything you do rather than just turn up. It may be you try harder at the things you find difficult rather than just give in”.

“It may be that you spend time with Jane rather than ignore her because she doesn’t like the toys and pop songs you like”.

“You see some people of the world believe that the way you get out of bed and what you say to yourself first in the morning affects the way the day will be. So, if you get out of bed in a bad mood and say to yourself that school is terrible and English sucks then that is the experience you will get. But if you make an effort to start the day by being happy and seeing the good things then things happen differently”.

“So, Mum, if I think of Mr. Thomas as a nice man who is trying to help me rather than a horrible teacher who just tells me off all the time. It will be better.
“Yes. You will learn more”.

“Mum!”

“If you died right now would you be pleased with what you have done today?”

“No. If I look back on my day there are some things I would like to change.”

“What do you wish you’d done?”

“Most of it’s about my attitude. The way I spoke to people. I wish I hadn’t been so aggressive, so arrogant with people. I wish I had listened more to Josey when she was talking to me”

“That’s enough. It’s time for bed now.”

“Awe Mum!”

“If you were going to die in a few hours would you be doing this?”

“Yes because it’s for your benefit. You can sit and think about what we said before you go to sleep rather than just ask more questions”.

“That’s what death meditation is about. As well as thinking about doing your best in life. Meditation is also about reflecting on what you have done and thinking about the answers people have given you to the questions you asked.”

“It’s called reflecting on life”.

See you in the morning.

Graham and Julie
http://www.desktop-meditation.com

If you want to improve and enhance the quality of your life go to:
http://www.desktop-meditation.com It’s free.

It is important to take a good hard look at the underlying factors surrounding your goal and the goal itself before embarking forward. A majority of people procrastinate because they do not like the task at hand or because they do not have the right goal in the first place. If this is the case then of course you lack motivation. You aren’t inspired and excited, therefore you shift into avoidance mode. Maybe you need to re-examine your goal or reinvent the goal, thus creating momentum in a different direction. If you are frustrated by your lack of motivation or commitment, try taking a closer look at why that is.

ACTION STEPS FOR THE WEEK:

1. Where in your life do you lack motivation?

Are there areas in your life where you continue to lose momentum after a certain amount of time? How long have you had this goal and been unable to follow through? Why do you feel you are unmotivated? Do you need to let go of the goal or reinvent it? Take some time this week to write down your current primary goals. Then write down how excited and inspired you are to move forward. If you lack excitement, maybe it is time to create a new goal and see where that leads you. Contact Leslie if you feel stuck in what direction to go, you will leave the phone conversation with some new perspectives and tips.

2. Start clean slate

Sometimes when you are frustrated with a lack of motivation, you need to take a break and create a clean slate. It is important to distance yourself in order to gain perspective and build fresh momentum. By simply distancing yourself from the task allows you to reframe the goal or let it go all together. Sometimes the goal is the wrong goal in the first place and you will be able to go down a different path with similar end results. This week give yourself permission to throw away certain goals that have caused tremendous stress and frustration.

3. Instill help from friends

Sometimes just having a friend along for the ride makes it much easier to move forward. If you are looking to lose weight or get into shape, ask a friend to meet you at the gym and work out together. You are more likely to get to the gym if you know a friend is waiting for you. If this isn’t possible, hire a trainer. Again, doing something is better than nothing. Just start the motion of moving forward and you will begin the momentum. Being accountable tends to keep people on track. This week contact people that you can team up with.

Good luck and have a great week!

Leslie Gail , Certified Coach and speaker helps clients live a life of no regrets. “Closing the gap between where you are in your life today vs where you want to be in the future”

New Life Focus Coaching for information on personal life coaching via the phone, or information on upcoming seminars and teleclasses. CONTACT LESLIE FOR A FREE COACHING SESSION CONDUCTED OVER THE PHONE 1-866-779-0731

Leslie Gail is a certified Life Coach and owner of New Life Focus Coaching. Leslie conducts seminars, contributes a column to The Rocky Mountain News, and hosts a tv segment. Feel free to contact Leslie for a FREE coaching consult.

For some reason we seem to think that we have to “act our age”. But what does that mean? Where is there a definition of what it means to be a certain age?

The next time you think you’re too old to make a change, think about Colonel Sanders and Wally Amos. Age is truly nothing more than a number.

2. “I need more money.”
You might have dreams of owning your own business. You automatically think about all the money you’ll need to do that. Just the thought of it overwhelms you and stops you in your tracks.

Using money as a reason not to change is just another excuse. Sure, it does take money to start a business. But who says we have to have all the money at once? Sometimes just the process of planning out our dreams makes what seems impossible, possible.

When you start to visualize your dreams, new opportunities open up for you. You may even find options that don’t require that much money.

3. “I’m afraid to make a change.”
You may have made a career move in the past and things didn’t turn out like you expected. Maybe your boss didn’t treat you well or you weren’t challenged enough. Now you might be afraid to make the same mistake again.

Fear can take over and paralyze us. The funny thing is that most of the things we fear generally do not become a reality. When we come up with reasons why we can’t make a move, we are just avoiding true happiness.

Basing your future on events that happened in the past is a sure way of stopping yourself from growing. It’s best to learn from the past so that you can move forward.

4. “I don’t have time to try to live my dream.”
You may be so focused on your daily duties that you don’t stop to think about your dreams. They might be buried deep within.

Some of us have spent so much time trying to make a living that we really don’t have a life. We haven’t taken the time to learn what we are passionate about.

Listen to those inner voices. Acknowledge the ideas that keep popping into your head. Make note of what you do in your spare time. Ask yourself if you would do these things even if you weren’t getting paid. Or, ask if you would do them as a hobby even if you won the lottery.

5. “I don’t think anyone will approve of my dream.”
You’ve been thinking about making a change in your career. But what will people think of you? Will they believe that you can be successful? Will they be waiting for you to fail?

We often sabotage ourselves by worrying about what other people think of us. A family member, co-worker, or friend passes judgment on our dreams. All of a sudden, that’s enough to stop us from moving forward.

You have the right to do what makes you happy. As long as you are not hurting anyone, including yourself, go for it. You might upset some people in the process. But, ultimately, it is your life.

Leila is co-owner of Data-Scribe(tm) in New Mexico. Their newsletter, the “Micro-Business Gazette” provides tips and resources to empower small businesses. Leila’s unique approach to professional development is captured in her workshop program and forthcoming book called “Driving to Success: Let Your Spirit Take the Wheel” – http://www.datascribe.biz.

A few prefer to buy things custom-made, like motorcycles. Some people buy rare things such as collector items.

In each category, the choice becomes more definite, more particular, and rarer. The rarer they are, the more priceless they become.

As you can see, life offers many choices. This includes the choice on how you want yourself to be. Would you prefer to be anybody or would you rather be somebody? I’m not talking about being just somebody, but a rare somebody.

To accomplish this, your way of thinking matters a lot. Your pockets need not be full of cash, because money is not going to help you to become a rare you. Your fame is not going to be the basis of becoming a rare you either. Only the way you perceive things, and the way you make your mind work, will determine the rare you.

To set your mind according to your design, you have to start by clearing it. Take off all unneeded, unwanted, obstructing materials that tend to feed negative forces on your mind. Fear keeps holding you back, which deprives you of your opportunity to go for your goal. Doubts make you indecisive. Lack of confidence in yourself makes you think you might fail. If you have time to deal with negative thinking, surely you also have time to think positively. Try to take calculated risks. Be firm in your decisions so that you’ll move forward. Believe in yourself because if you don’t, nobody else will.

If you let negative thinking dominate you, you already lose even before you begin to aim for your goal. If you let positive forces dominate you, the wheel of progress shall roll continuously.

Custom-made motorcycles are assembled according to the likes of the owner. You can do the same to your way of thinking. Custom design your way of thinking so that you will become a unique person. People buy or order custom-made motorcycles for the same reason – so that they can own a one of a kind vehicle. Make yourself one of a kind.

Some people aim for excellence; you should be no exception. They aim for excellence because they want to and not because they have special talents. There is no prerequisite to qualify in aiming for excellence. On second thought, there is a prerequisite. You have to have a master’s degree. You have to be the master of your own thought, to think positively and not to be a slave to negative thinking.

Just like a vintage car wherein all the parts must remain original, the way you think should also be directed to the fulfillment of your goal. Positive thoughts are similar to the original parts of a vintage car. Any replacement part that doesn’t conform to its originality ruins the value of the car. Similarly, you’re born with thoughts that lean to the positive. Any kind of negative thinking will ruin your essence. The way you think can make you who you want to be.

Greg is the founder of E-Motivated.com. Head on over to this Goal Setting System Resource Site now, to discover more about some of the truly unusual, and extremely effective methods you can use to get exactly what you want out of life with as little of your valuable time as possible! http://www.e-motivated.com