Human Weakness

Jumat, 30 Desember 2011

Hallmark Moments Of 2011: December Comes Then Disappears- Faster & Faster Every Year

The heading above is part of the song, I Need A Silent Night by Amy Grant. How true.. December comes then disappears- faster & faster every year!

I started writing this blog way back in 2006. Back then, blogging was just writing and publishing. While that hasn’t changed much, there’s a lot more than just writing and publishing now! Social Media, blog marketing, video, SEO etc takes so much of time and really takes time out of what I love doing, writing! Hopefully, one day, I would be in a position to outsource all the things that I don’t want to do and just concentrate on writing. Until then, it’s a difficult juggle.

Blogging wise, this year has been huge for me. While things were fairly silent on this blog I was concentrating more on my niche blogs. It was difficult because I also have my day job. Like many people, I like to escape from my cubical nation and be my own boss thus gradually laying the foundation now in small micro steps!

Every year, I sort of have something similar to the Oscars, for blog posts. Have a look at the past years.

This year, it's not quite as grand as it used to be :-) but nevertheless I hope you enjoy...

Most commented post - Would You Help Others Succeed Without Expectations?
Most linked post - How to Find Good Books to Read
Most visited post - 6 Things You Can Do More Of To Enhance Your Life This Year
My Favorite post - How To Overcome Laziness And Do The Things You Need To Do
The HARSH truth post - The Last Look
‘Such is Life’ post - Just Because You Are Angry, Opinionated, Frustrated or Jealous
Career post - Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
Communication post- Proven Tips To Get People To Reply Your Email!

Thank You

Questions, feedback, post ideas, product inquiries etc I've got many emails this year from various readers. Amongst those were some really heart warming emails. People sharing stories, telling me how certain posts I've written have helped them. Reading those emails makes me realize that the effort that goes into this blog is so... worth it!
Thank you very much.. my dear readers.

Whenever I get inspired and have a few minutes to spare, I will keep blogging here. I hope you are still with me and continue to stay subscribed to Enhance Life RSS through the coming year too.

All the best for the year 2012!

Selasa, 13 Desember 2011

Human Rights Day 2011: Church of Scientology Spearheading Human Rights Education

Human rights are the rights that belong to everyone without exception—topeople of any color, creed, age, ethnicity or gender. But as United NationsSecretary-General Ban Ki-Moon pointed out in his Human Rights Day message thisyear, “…unless we know them, unless we demand they be respected, and unless wedefend our rights — and the right of others — to exercise them, they will beTo make the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsknown to all, the Church of Scientology has undertaken a massive human rightseducation initiative, reaching more than 180 million people in 2011 with theinformation on human rights in 17 languages.

Get More Information On The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at http://www.HumanRights.com and http://www.YouthForHumanRights.org

The United Nations estimates that 2.45 million people are trafficked eachyear, nearly a billion live in hunger, and almost half the world’s populationsubsists on less than $2.50 a day, making it clear any momentum generated thisyear must continue and that education and insistence on human rights has neverbeen more vital.In a global demonstration of support for the Universal Declaration of HumanRights and its 30 rights, Scientology Churches and Missions marked Human Rights
Day with seminars, rallies, concerts, round tables, forums and festivals, andhelped organize more than 80 human rights walks in 26 countries to raiseawareness of the Declaration and the need for its full implementation.In 1969, L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “The United Nations came up with the answer.An absence of human rights stained the hands of governments and threatened theirrules. Very few governments have implemented any part of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights. These governments have not grasped that their verysurvival depends utterly upon adopting such reforms and thus giving theirpeoples a cause, a civilization worth supporting, worth their patriotism.”For more than four decades, the Church has worked to make the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights broadly known. The Declaration appeared in the firstedition of Freedom Magazine, the Church’s human rights journal, in 1968. In1998, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Declaration, the Churchcarried out the first of five annual cross-European marathons, reaching anestimated 33 million with its message in support of human rights.Ten years ago, the Church began publishing materials that present theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights in terms anyone can understand. Thesebooklets, award-winning public service announcements and human rightsdocumentary videos are available free of charge to any individual or group.“There are many examples in history of what individuals can accomplish bydemanding their rights and insisting on the rights of others,” says Rev. RobertAdams, Vice President of the Church of Scientology International. “But aknowledge of these rights comes first. The United Nations adopted the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights in 1948, yet in many ways, despite advances, theviolations of its articles are as abhorrent today as they were six decades ago.We work with many dedicated groups, organizations, agencies and governmentbodies to make human rights a reality. To achieve this goal, education in humanrights must be mandatory, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights must begiven the force of law.”

Since Human Rights Day 2010, through direct action and sponsorship of activities and materials, the Church of Scientology has reached hundreds ofmillions of people with humans rights information, distributing more than 2million publications and providing educational materials to more than 45,000human rights organizations and 4,500 educators and educational institutions.

Links: http://www.HumanRights.com and http://www.YouthForHumanRights.org

The Scientology religion was founded by author and philosopher L. RonHubbard. The first Church of Scientology was formed in the United States in 1954

and has grown to more than 9,000 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups andmillions of members in 165 countries. More information: http://www.Scientology.org

Selasa, 15 November 2011

Proven Tips To Get People To Reply Your Email!

Note: I recently started a new blog and all my spare time has been allocated to writing posts for this new blog. Sorry for the lack of posting here.
If you are looking for some thoughtful, actionable blogging tips with a spoonful of wit check out my other blog, Better Blogging Ways

Anyways, I was inspired to write this post because I overheard a conversation where one person was complaining about not getting replies to his emails. The usual tendency is to think “they are not interested in my email” or “they are ignoring me.”
Often, that’s not necessarily the case. The lack of reply may have nothing to do with you, more so it has to do with them! Yes, it’s not me it’s you! ;-)

Common reasons why people don’t reply email

• Waiting on someone else to get more information and then reply
• Too busy to reply
• Forgetting to reply the mail
• Can’t be bothered to reply
• The mail you sent went to their junk email so didn't get them.
• If there’s more than one person in the email TO line, each person might assume that the other might reply
• Doesn’t know the other person is waiting for a reply

So, it’s important to keep these in mind when writing your email.

Here are some email tips I have used over the last few years to get my emails replied to.

Write a good subject line

Be clear on what the email is about. Depending on the person I am sending the email to, I sometimes add a small tag [need your input] or [Action required] to the subject line. This way even without reading the email message, the person knows that I am waiting for reply.

Write short, scan-able emails!

Imagine if you received hundreds or thousands of emails per day. Everyday…. How would you get over the email overwhelm?
* If possible use one email to convey one message
* Use bullet points, group related details into headings
* Make the email scan-able by highlighting areas that you want the person to read!

Notice what I have done above ;-)

End the email with a question

This way the other person knows that you are waiting for a reply. Here are some examples,
What’s your opinion on this?
Do you think …… ?

If there’s more than one person in the email TO line, add a name of the person you are waiting a reply for.
e.g Mark: Can you confirm this is correct?

Write down a deadline

A deadline creates a sense of urgency, and most people hate to miss deadlines!
e.g I need a reply before … so that I can ….

Remind the person to reply you mail

If all of the above tactics fail to get you a reply, you can politely remind the person to reply to your mail.
Here are a few sentences I use,
* I am waiting for your reply. Please let me know about this when you get a chance.
* I was wondering if you have had a chance to look at the e-mail below yet?
* Quick reminder… I am waiting for your reply

What do you normally say? What’s a good way to remind someone to reply to your email without sounding too annoying?