Middle East case studies: Elixir Technology

1.  Ã‚  Entering the Middle East market through Malaysia is the best alternative at this time. Malaysia has a market not dissimilar with that of the Middle East. Entering Middle East via this option gives the Company an opportunity to partner with a company which has insights on working in a Muslim country. This way, Elixir is not starting with zero knowledge since this entry strategy is a duplication of what it did in Japan. 2.  Ã‚  Elixir develops and sells computer software which includes the stand-alone and the server-side versions of the Elixir Report. These two versions provide business an enterprise-class reporting solution. ER â€Å"was designed for high-performance operation, capable of handling large report generation† (O’Neil, 2004, p. 4). As such, Elixir Report is â€Å"able to accommodate multiple input data source types and provide reports in multiple output formats† (O’Neil, 2004, p. 4). Aside from these benefits, ER can support multilingual reporting and platform independence, and can support mobile devices. The core competencies of Elixir for its ER are: Speed in adopting changes in the environment and technologies into ER’s programs and applications. As a matter of Elixir claims that flexibility is built in into the Company’s spirit   (O’Neil, 2004, p. 8). Network with technology vendors. This relationship enables Elixir to rapidly fit its ER into a client’s information system which was sourced from a particular vendor or several vendors. Capacity and capability to localize the Elixir Report into specific customer requirements. This capacity and capability is a result of the unique design of ER which enables Elixir for â€Å"easy modification for accommodating local cultural needs† (O’Neil, 2004, p. 8). 3.  As the Company recognized the positive relationship between its understanding of it’s customers’ technology vendors and the efficiency of the sales process, Elixir made developing partnerships with other technology vendors the basis of its â€Å"marketing, sales and distribution strategy† ((O’Neil, 2004, p. 6). Another component of its marketing strategy is stressing that other technology companies translate their products instead of localizing them as what Elixir does (O’Neil, 2004, p. 8). Also, the Company provided for a free trial of the software which can be downloaded from the Company’s Web site (O’Neil, 2004, p. 9). By scaling the software into different versions and selling licensing agreements, Elixir is able to sell ER at a price 50 percent lower than its competitors. This scalability, however, is not a liability in terms of software performance. 4.  Ã‚  Elixir, as to its plan and strategy to expand outside Singapore, has been averagely successful. For example, in its entry into Japan, the Company’s initial marketing strategy – advertising in international magazines – generated low response from Japanese customers. However, this was remedied with the Company’s partnership with GrapeCity which enabled Elixir to bridge cultural gap and language barriers. This same strategy can be used in entering the Middle east market. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yes, based on the facts presented, it is financially beneficial for Lau Shih Hor to take Elixir into the Middle East. I suggest that Lau pursues a distribution partnership with a Malaysian-based company. This company has a better understanding of the Middle East market than Lau which will allow the Company to better localize ER which is one of the product’s competitive advantages. References O’Neil, E. (2004). Elixir Technology – Entry into the Middle East. Ivey Management Services, pp. 1-24.

Swot Analysis of Starbucks

Management 303 SWOT Analysis of Starbucks Corporation Section I – Organizational History / Mission Statement In 1971, Starbuck’s opened its first location in the touristy Pikes Place Market in Seattle. The Starbucks name is derived from the coffee-loving first mate in the novel, Moby Dick. The logo, a two-tailed mermaid encircled by the stores name, continues with the theme and background of the name. From the beginning, Starbucks prides themselves on not only providing their customers with high-quality whole bean coffees, but also with providing them with an inviting atmosphere. The mission statement, â€Å"to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time†, is seen today in the more than 15,000 locations in more than 150 countries. Section II – Strengths and Weaknesses In my opinion, the top two strengths of Starbucks is their strong brand image associated with their high-quality coffee and their committed and strong workforce. Their top two weaknesses in my opinion are their high premium prices and lack of internal focus. Strength 1 – Strong Brand Image According to G Serrano, â€Å"The strongest attribute that consumers associate with the Starbucks brand is its being known for specialty/gourmet coffee. Starbucks is a widely-recognized brand. Its top-of-mind recall is high. It is both a household name and a buzzword. † By becoming a household name people go to Starbucks to get the â€Å"Starbucks Experience†. This means that Starbucks has made their stores so inviting that people actually get up early in the morning, grab the paper or a good book and drive down to the local Starbucks and basically just chill out. They provide an optional light snack, a good cup of coffee, free Wi-Fi and the comfort of your own home. Being highly recognized for all of the above qualities has contributed in the growth and expansion of their many locations throughout the US and abroad. This is a huge strength in that that being on top of the market share pretty much ensures that no matter what they will continue to stay on top because of their branding and their popularity. Strength 2 – Committed and Strong Workforce Not only does the coffee drive customers to Starbucks, but the dedicated employees who care about their jobs and their customers do as well. Starbucks thinks so highly of their employees, they call them â€Å"partners†. The partners are the ones who create the atmosphere that makes the customers feel the way they do about Starbucks. As Hammers stated in her â€Å"Workforce Management† piece, â€Å"The company’s rich benefit blend keeps turnover low and employee satisfaction high. And that's why it's the Optimas Award winner for Quality of Life. As business owners and managers, our job is to make sure that our employees or partners, for that matter, are happy and well-trained. When this happens, as it has with Starbucks, it outwardly shows to the clientele and it makes them want to come back time and time again. Weakness 1 – High Premium Prices Starbucks is a premium brand that commands premium prices. As competitive pressures increase, the company could b e undercut by lower price rivals such as McDonalds or Duncan Donuts. Recession or downturn in the economy, like we are facing now, affects consumer spending. If Starbucks continues to increase prices over the next few years in the face of increasing coffee prices, there could be a downside to their forecast. In this highly competitive market and with less disposable income to spend, consumers turn to lower priced venues and competitors. † Starbucks should look into some sort of cost saving efforts when it comes to the coffee beans that they buy. I know they are known for their premium brands, but with prices on the steady increase something Weakness 2 – Lack of Internal Focus Starbucks has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade or so. They seem to be consumed with growing their market share by increasing the amount of locations they have within the states as well as abroad. Serrano states just this point in saying â€Å"The growth strategy was not really the failing point. In fact, this augured well for the company’s bottom line. What the company’s executives failed to see was the fact that if it wanted to saturate the market, its product and service offerings were not really meeting the characteristics of the market. That is why the market perceived Starbucks as merely concerned with growth in the number of stores and profits. The wide potential market base did not see Starbucks as concerned with their needs. † Starbucks goes through a lot of effort to get the opinions of their partners and their clients. They even have a board of people who read the queries on a monthly basis to see where improvements can be made. Since they are putting in all the effort, they need to follow through and start listening to the very people that give them their profits. Expanding will do no good if you don’t have any customers. The more they neglect what their partners and customers are saying, the more they are going to lose touch. Section III – Opportunities and Strengths In my opinion, the two biggest opportunities for Starbucks are increasing their CRM and database marketing and expanding into new product lines. Strength 1 – Increasing CRM and Database Marketing One of the greatest opportunities for Starbucks is to increase their CRM and Database Marketing. At the moment Starbucks just asks you what you want, you pay for it, they make your drink and you are on your way. In order to better serve their clients and give back to them, they could come up with some type of rewards program. Many large retailers and food chains have already begun these programs. This would help them stay in touch with their clients by sending them emails of upcoming events, new drinks and new offers. They could also attach a rewards program for the customers who have a daily addiction to their drinks. This basically becomes a win-win situation for not only Starbucks but for their customers as well. Strength 2 – Expanding Product Lines and Services We all know that Starbucks has the best selection of coffees around. Unfortunately, that is all they do. I think one of the greatest opportunities for them would be for them to expand their food line to go along with their drinks. Seeing that they are open all day long and into the night, they could benefit greatly by developing a larger lunch line. They currently have small salads and finger sandwiches at some of their locations. By increasing their menu they could also increase their profits. This would help give them a competitive advantage of other cafes along the same lines as them.

DVM LT Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DVM LT Assignment - Essay Example The consumption of a high portion of employees’ time reduces their productivity. Workers also tend to forget their duties when they concentrate on the initiatives. This then leads to inefficiency in the department. The Toyota Productions System, on the other hand, is an automotive company that uses lean management style. Lean management is a style that deals with the elimination of non-value adding activities in an organization (Chiarini, 2013). This style, for example, gets rid of workers who do not add value to the vehicles that the company manufactures, and it also eliminates unnecessary equipment. This ensures that all the factors of production that are in Toyota Production System add value to customers. This reduces the cost or performing business and it increases efficiency in the organization (Chiarini, 2013). As a result of this, Toyota Production System produces affordable automotives that are of a higher quality compared to its competitors in the industry. Therefore, the lean management that is used by the company is more beneficial than the human relations management that the Department of Motor Vehicles

Lean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lean - Essay Example The lean system puts together equipments, labor, and material that are the fundamentals of production, in a perfect manner to minimize cost and maximize profit. Labor requirement is reduced as utilization of human resource both skilled and unskilled is maximized. The model allows productivity as machines are utilized to the maximum while the less productive one are disposed. This reduces delivery and production time as well as increasing the quality of the services and goods produced. It also provides an opportunity for continuous improvement as the equipment wear out and become less productive, and is replaced with efficient ones putting into consideration the technological advancement. Return on assets is increases significantly with lean manufacturing systems. Lean production involves a traffic flow of materials and labor that is smooth thus allowing insertion of conveyors, buffer stock, and balance automation. The flexibility of the model ensures the business keep pace with the market and accommodates changes in customer preference. Review of the system helps to do a competitive analysis and examination of technologies. The importance of lean manufacturing is very crucial in business strategies to increase productivity, increase efficiency, maximizing profit and increasing capital

Personality & Perceptions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Personality & Perceptions - Assignment Example I think that there approach to the consumer is effective because of the extra services they offer. It is among the oldest companies, established in USA and situated worldwide. Proctor and Gamble offers packaged products to consumers, such as Pampers, Crest, and Tide that are exceptionally popular (Gilbertson & Lehman & Passalacqua, 2008). The company offers a service encounter to prospective procurers through the internet to publicize their products and widen their marketability. The company also guarantees that her workers are well edified, and have the indispensable skills that are required to serve the customers well. I think that their approach to the consumer is effective, since they consider the welfare of the customer. It is a company situated in America dealing with electronic devices such as computer hardware. The goods it offers to consumer include PCs, TV, and radio systems. The other services they offer to consumers are the hardware warranty support, and customer care services. Dell offers a service encounter to a consumer through engaging with consumers even after the warranty period is over, and offering financial assistance. It has established devoted customer communication ability; hence, they can know their views. I think that their approach to the consumer is effectual owing to their personal approach to the

Germany Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Germany - Essay Example The listener does not understand the gravity of situation when listening to a speech full of words like â€Å"please† and â€Å"may†. On the other hand, German expression also has its cons. It is quite likely to offend the listener, though I like their expression because it is straightforward and truthful. I like the sense of responsibility Germans display in their work. Whatever task they undertake, they try their level best to accomplish it within the deadline. Also, Germans try to do the work rightly and do it with utmost sincerity, so that the final product comes out nice, though Americans are also no less sincere with their work. However, Americans are not as respectful towards the deadlines of work as Germans are. Germans respect their elders. It is part of their culture. Elders are given due respect and reverence and they are taken care of. Although most Americans do this as well, yet Germans are generally more prudent than Americans in this respect. Works cited: â€Å"Truth and Duty.† Culture Smart! Germany. pp. 41-42.

Slavery and the American Revolution Research Paper

Slavery and the American Revolution - Research Paper Example There were however major regional variations in the numbers of slaves held in the United States. In the northern states, the slave population was very low at only 2 percent but the further south you got the larger the slave population got such that around the Chesapeake Bay it was about 40 percent slave. Further south, in South Carolina, slaves were so many that they outnumbered the white population by two to one. Slaves were an invaluable form of labor on the rice, tobacco and cotton farms especially as they were hardy and survived the vagaries of malaria and other diseases. Slaves thus formed the major labor resource for the southern farmers (Smitha, 2002). Especially in the south, there was a lot of integration of the populations of the white farmer families. There were large numbers of intermarriages between the white slave owners and their African slaves, as well as a lot of fathering of inter-racial children by the white slave masters. This lead to a large population of mixed r ace Americans that were usually considered part of the slave class. By the time of the American Revolution, the slave population had therefore grown to such a number that they were a real and present factor in the American Revolution war (Smitha, 2002). ... All in all over 100,000 African Americans escaped, died or were killed while serving the various armies that fought in the revolution war (PBS, n.d.). During the war the African American slaves fought on both sides of the divide, albeit for different motivations, reasons and reward. The Southern states Patriots, who were always worried about the numbers of the slaves and African Americans, were initially more reluctant to allow the slaves to be armed and fight alongside their forces, reckoning that they would rather face the colonialists than run the risk of a revolt by their slaves if they were armed and put into active military combat. General Washington at first forbade the recruitment of the black slaves into the Patriot army, worried by the impact that would have on their attitudes, the moral of his other fighting men and their ability to fight and be part of the military outfit. However, as the war wore on and they Patriots found that they needed more and more manpower, they re luctantly startedrecruiting the slaves and other blacks who had been freedinto their fold, though none ever rose up any ranks in the military hierarchy. Thus the Patriots had within their ranks a small minority of slaves in their ranks but it was never more than 5 per cent or so (National Park Service, 2008). The colonialists and Loyalists were more pragmatic in their approach to the use of slaves as part of their combat troops in the war. They saw the opportunity to deplete the Patriot military ranks by actively recruiting the slaves from their Patriot owners. The effect and impact of this was twofold – it swelled the ranks of the Loyalist troops while at the same time reducing the manual labor available for the southern Patriot farmers. The British governor of Virginia,

Investigation of Process Parameter Optimization of High Speed CNC Research Paper

Investigation of Process Parameter Optimization of High Speed CNC Milling for Composite Materials using Combined Genetic Algorit - Research Paper Example Machinability in terms of quality and productivity is of great concern in a competitive market. CNC milling performance is evaluated in terms of surface roughness, material removal rate, taper and facing. CNC machining is done initially in a number of passes an final end milling is done in a single pass. The most common machining parameters are cutting speed, feed, depth of cut. To have a balance between productivity and quality, the machining parameters need to be optimised. High speed CNC milling process needs to balance between productivity and quality of the end product. While quality is measured in terms of surface finish, the productivity is measured in terms of material removal rate. Good machinable materials acquire a smooth finish as they can be easily cut with less power. They also cause minimum damage to the tool. If the material has improved material properties then it’s machinablity becomes difficult. Hence improving machinability without sacrificing performance is a challenge. Predicting the optimal parameters for CNC milling is difficult as the milling process depends on several factors. The important factors relative to the material include the thermal conductivity, toughness, chemical properties and the microstructure of the material. The other important factors are the geometry of the cutting tool and the parameters of CNC milling process. Objectives : The aim of this research work is to †¢Find the important factors that characterise the best performance of the high speed CNC milling process. †¢Using combined Genetic Algorithm and Artificial neutral networks techniques to optimise these high speed CNC milling parameters by identifying the correlation between the factors like feed, depth of cutting and cutting speed. Based on the correlation of these parameters, the optimal set is to be determined for perfect output parameters like surface roughness and material removal rate. (4) High speed CNC Milling : CNC milling is the most fundamental operation in industrial machining. According to Mike S. Lou et al (1999 ) â€Å"The quality of the surface plays a very important role in the performance of milling as a good-quality milled surface significantly improves fatigue strength, corrosion resistance, or creep life. Surface roughness also affects several functional attributes of parts, such as contact causing surface friction, wearing, light reflection, heat transmission, ability of distributing and holding a lubricant, coating, or resisting fatigue†. Speed of the milling depends on the tool size used. If the tool size is smaller, then to avoid breakage of the tool the spindle speed required will be more. For milling with using micro tools the speed range of the spindles may be up to 60,000 rpm ( Datron white paper, 2005). Thus high speed milling involves higher RPM rates with more feed rates and small step overs. The advantage of this high speed is that there is less heating of the parts because of less time for the heat to feedback. The generated heat is 40% due to the friction and 20% due to deformation. For better quality in machining, the low milling force and cooler tools can be used so that the vibration is less. A white paper of DATRON (2005) states that â€Å"The high spindle speed reduces the chip load to less than 0.005†. Such a low chip load significantly reduces the forces between the tool and the material. High-speed/low-force machining yields less heat, reduces tool deflection, and allows machining of thinner walled work pieces. This all results in cooler machining, superior surface and edge quality, better accuracy and, as a

NonProfit Management Case Study Essay Example for Free

NonProfit Management Case Study Essay Introduction The civil society has taken a very active role in the quest for democracy that continues to spread across the continents till it reached the Middle East region only recently. This is clear given the successive revolts that have taken place in many of the Arab countries calling for real democracy. Therefore, especially in Egypt, efforts should be directed toward defending civil society organizations and activists who are being threatened by the coercive authoritarian government actions over the past decades (Naidoo, 2007). The civil society as identified by Khallaf (2010) comprises â€Å"non-governmental organizations (NGOs hereafter), community groups, professional associations, trade unions, media organizations, research institutes/ think tanks, and advocacy and human rights civil society organizations† (p. 2). However, the current paper aims at focusing mainly on the role of NGOs in strengthening democracy. This is due to the major role NGOs play in several areas in order to enhance democracy. Among these are their role in: (1) allowing a wider range of interest groups to have a ‘voice’, pluralizing institutions to act in a ‘watchdog’ role vis-a-vis the state, networking and creating alliances of civic actors to place pressure on the state, (2) working with grassroots organizations comprised of poor and marginalized groups, and (3) exerting some pressures on the state by pressing for change and developing alternative policies (Mercer, 2002). Previous Studies of civil society in Egypt, over the past twenty years, have been both superficial and confined to only limited areas, namely (issue based publications, academic publications, training materials/ manuals, directories, conference publications, empirical comparative studies, civil society organizations’ (CSOs) publications, donor guide books and publications, CSOs coalitions occasional papers, evaluation studies, and web based sources) (Khallaf, 2010). (Figure: 1). Figure : The diversity of civil society research in Egypt Therefore, more detailed studies should be directed toward deeply investigating the civil society organizations operating in Egypt. Khallaf (2010) has mentioned that more research has been directed recently to track the actual magnitude of civil society through donor efforts in Egypt. However, the literature has pointed to serious gaps in the study of NGOs in Egypt. These include; First: Updated statistical information on number of NGOs. Second: The systematic evaluation of NGOs activities. Third: periodic assessments such as the CIVICUS or Civil Society Index and the Philanthropy study. Forth: studying participatory governance and the involvement of civil society in decision making processes. Fifth: changing Laws and regulations governing NGOs in Egypt. Sixth: An impact assessment of all new NGOs working in charity or development. Seventh: an assessment of aid effectiveness to Egypt (Khallaf, 2010). Finally: a detailed diagnosis of the NGOs operating in Egypt is needed. This should focus on both internal and external analyses of the selected NGOs and provide policy recommendations for possible improvements in the sector. The current paper attempts to draw light on how the civil society operates in Egypt. A well recognized Egyptian NGO was selected in this ethnographic research. It is called the Future Protectors Association for Care and Development or â€Å"Homat Al-Mostakbal†. The reason behind selecting it is the higher credibility and the good reputation it is enjoying. This is quite well perceived by the researcher based on her personal experience with this association. The current research can add valuable insights both theoretically and practically. Theoretically, it attempts to cover few of the gaps mentioned about the civil society research in developing countries and Egypt in particular. Practically, proposed recommendations can serve as strategic agendas for improving the performance of the selected NGO in particular and the entire NGO sector in general. The current paper is organized as follows; the first section will provide detailed information about association’s background. This will be followed by the analysis section which would sum up the major facts collected about the association. The analysis is based on qualitative in-depth interviewing1 conducted with five key persons in the association including its founder. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are presented, to guide future research directions, at the conclusion part here later. Background Future protectors association for care and development (homat al mostakbal) is one of the well known non-governmental organizations in Egypt. It is located at 425 Avenue Road, Roushdy, Alexandria, Egypt. It is a group of young people who work in the field of developmental work and volunteerism in for a better future and a true renaissance to Egypt. It serves in the great Cairo area and some other governorates including; Alexandria, Dakahleya, Gharbeya, Menoufeya, and others. It was originally founded on the 2nd of Novermber, 2004 by Eng. El-Dreiny and his daughter engineer Marwa El-Dreiny. It was mainly founded seeking community development. The vision of the association is to be one of the largest civil society organizations working in the field and leading the areas of development, community care, and voluntary work in Egypt and the Arab world by year 2020. The mission of the association is the development and care of the community through several dimensions including; raising the general level of education and the development of production philosophy, increasing awareness of drug taking problems, providing health awareness, raising the cultural level of young people, and providing a variety of social services. These are to be achieved while taking into account the mastery of work and commitment to the principles of ethics and team work cooperation. The primary objectives to fulfill the pre-mentioned vision and mission include the following; Providing guidance and better utilizing the power of potential volunteers in various activities of the association and developing their skills while strengthening their moral values. Increasing the awareness of community members about the dangers of drugs and training of cadres for different age groups. In addition to providing technical support to partners and trainers in the field of awareness against the dangers of addiction and drug. Training community members by spreading the production thinking and helping youth and poor families in establishing small craft projects to supply industries with high quality products at competitive prices. Providing social services (in kind physical technical) and the work projects for poor families, orphans, deaf and dumb cases. Developing different segments of the society, especially children and young people both culturally and scientifically. This would entitle them to acquire new skills, open their horizons to different lives, and raise the level of education among the educated classes with aim of bringing progress and prosperity to the society in large. The major values of the association comprise the following; Intentions precede action Our basic principles are our main priority. Understanding the priorities and giving a high commitment to them. Mastering our work. Best employing our resources. Our clients are our core interest. Team work spirit. Commitment to a safe environment. The association is registered under the old NGO law. This entitles the association to be under the scrutiny and supervision of the Directorate of Social Affairs. Here is the copy of the registration certificate. Figure : Formal Registration Certificate The association tries as much to manage its institutional memory. This can be manifested in the form of reports including information about what happened in the past. Other reports are prepared for each activity and collected annually to be archived and documented for each committee. Also, there are few attempts to record religious seminars and cultural meetings either video or audio. Sometimes the association registers the campaigns to serve the new members by providing them with information about the work flavor. These tentative mechanisms are aimed at saving association heritage of knowledge and transfer it to the future generations who would complete the mission. The organization chart of the association was revised recently. There are intentions to modify it also however some limitations hinder this at the current period. The chart is decomposed into the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Executive Director, the Chairmen of the various Committees the Vice Chairmen of the various Committees -who are appointed by the administration according to experience and seniority- the executive management including Secretary, the financial management. There were areas for development and the last updated organization chart was reproduced recently in 2011. The association was built on the basis of predominantly volunteerism however; there are 17 formal employees who are getting paid monthly. There are mainly three managers; executive, financial, and legal affairs. Staff members do not perform overlapping roles, instead there is a clearly specified job description for each single role. This would allow the upper management to apply a strict accountability procedures based on assigned responsibilities. The association is able to deal smoothly with the threat of losing any/all staff member(s). Sometimes, the operations of a highly specialized department, which loses a key staff member, can be postponed until the appointment of a new person. However, in the key roles like secretarial work, work cannot be stopped and duties can be referred to any interested volunteer. The collectivity and shared team working spirit that characterize the association enable it to face sudden problems of this sort. The association is having a board of directors. It is composed of 9 members, 1/3 of them are dropped during each nomination period. The nomination is made for 6 upcoming years. It is preferred to nominate persons with strong public relations to offer some facilities and those who have the expertise and strong knowledge about association’s policies. The association is membership based. There are different types of members including volunteers, affiliated, and working member. The membership status is documented only for continuing members who are then entitled to receive a formal membership card. Members pay a symbolic annual fee of about 20 pounds which represents one of the financial resources received by the association. The following chart represents the progress that has occurred in association’s membership from 2004 to 2008. In 2010, the number of volunteers has reached 4000. Figure : The number of volunteers The following chart represents the geographic allocation of volunteers across the different governorates. Figure : The geographic allocation of volunteers The social and economic background of the members is diverse. Majority of members are classified to be from the middle to upper middle social class. They are almost well educated having a clear intent toward the importance of charity and development societal roles in their country. They have strong religious understandings which enable them to volunteer their efforts for the sake of making others happy while earning credits (thawab) and pleasing the only god (ALLAH). The association has completed a huge number of successful projects2 and some of which are seasonal. The seasonal projects include distributing El Kheir bags and Ramadan lamps. It is planning to undertake some continuous projects not to be owned by the association but by encouraging the youth to execute them and the association can be a partner by 10%. Attached here below in the appendices is a list of the projects and activities the association is involved in. The primary beneficiaries of the association are; Volunteers, university students, school children, widowed women, poor families, knowledge seekers, patients, orphans, and the elderly at large. The association is not specifying a certain population to focus on serving. Activities are therefore not based on the coverage of a particular area, but they are tailored to achieve certain goals across the various geographic segments. 3 The association has unique policy for recruiting both members and staff. For the former, recruitment is based on the real intention to perform volunteer work. For the latter, recruitment is based on the exact mission to be completed within the functional department the potential candidate will join. The association views the current recruitment policy to be an effective one. Therefore, there are no plans to change its policy during the current period. The ratio of association’s founders to its members is roughly estimated to be 10%. Taking into considerations that the number of registered volunteers is roughly 4000, only 100-200 of them are active ones. The association depends on a self financing scheme. Majority of funds come from membership fees, donations (in cash or in kind), and revenues from profit-based committees. There is one company which operates in the field of quality and 75% of its income is transferred to the association. There are some funding projects such as the share the good, CSR, and Ijada company. Only 10% of the directed donations are taken to cover a proportion of administrative expenses but the money of Zakat is kept untouched. The association collects money from Egyptians. The money comes in forms of Zakat, sadakat, and in cash or in kind donations. It utilizes no foreign funding alternatives except for the single initiative with the United Nations. This partnership agreement was made under pressures from Dubai police and entitled the association to receive a fund of $ 10. 000 in order to execute some projects. The association has neither an initial endowment nor an emergency fund. It depended mainly on donations during the initial construction phase. There is a bank account for the association where the money collected from the various sources is being deposited to or withdrew from when necessary. The association does not always profit from most of its projects because they have low profit margins. Some seasonal projects might generate profit like the partnership with Toshiba Company to distribute Ramadan lamps. Donations are considered as part of the revenues. The association uses money coming from donations, sadakat, and the yield of some revenue-based activities. The general overhead costs of the association are estimated roughly to be from 30-40% of the budget. The ways to manage costs to the least possible level include, inducing members to rationalize consumption rates, closely monitoring monthly expenses, rationalizing staff recruitment process, and covering the costs of high telephone bills, hospitality and administrative outlays through collecting in kind donations. The association does not recognize any kind of support offered by the Egyptian government. The old government has provided only some facilities to make agreements with some concerned authorities such as ministries. This was mostly perceived prior to the revolution. However, the picture of the new potential government is still vague and there is no assurance that the new government would adopt a pro-civil society philosophy or not. There are tentative expectations about possible cooperation from the ministry of environment in the future. Analysis Based on the results of the in-depth personal interviews conducted with key persons in the association two types of analysis were made. The following section starts by presenting the first type of analysis which is the SWOT. This will be followed by the PEST analysis. 1. SWOT analysis The association enjoys a number of strength points. These strengths include, but not limited to, the following; a. Strong team spirit is a huge asset, good and efficient management system, good public relations, raising the skills of volunteers through gained experience, and very good reputation perceived by partners and the community at large. b. The presence of strong networks both locally and internationally. Locally with government institutions such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, the Adult Education in Alexandria, the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Environment (protocol of cooperation),partnership training with the engineering industries sector TV ITVs affiliated to the Ministry of Industry, Alexandria Biblotecha library (Department of Public Relations and Information), Morkoseya Church, the Food Bank, and the Egyptian (permanent agreement). Internationally, networks with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Organized Crime in the United Nations, the Dubai Police (working as technical/training consultants to raise awareness of the damages of drug addiction. c. Good coordination with other local and international organizations. Examples include organizing joint training programs with renaissance makers club in Kuwait, the Ministry of Awqaf in Kuwait, the American University of Kuwait, Gulf University, CID in Kuwait and the Ministry of Defense, Union of Arab Doctors (donations to Libya), the office of Dr. Muhammad Salim Al-Awa, Toshiba Arab company and Ocean Express Company and Isam Abu-setta for heavy transport, New Horizons and Xeon, Arab Academy for Science and Technology, University of Pharos, Alexandria University, Cairo University, Helwan University, Ain Shams University, Menoufiya University, Western University , Mansoura University, Assuit University. Alshanek ya Balady Association, Alexandria west investors association, and set your goal association, the future hands Hospital. In addition to cultural partnership cooperation with the Egyptian-Turkish Friendship Association. d. The presence of a strong infrastructure in the main headquarters in Alexandria. It is located in a prestigious location, well furnished, and highly accessible. However it is not a private property and thus imposes the burden of paying high monthly rent. This location is equipped by personal computers, laptops, wireless network, and they have electronic marketing forces empowered by strong specialists in the field. e. The presence of an independent financial management and independent social affairs and legal affairs units whose staff are paid. The recycling project, the specialized teams used in field case studies, the illiteracy teachers, and volunteers. f. The lack of specific religious or political directions and the presence of strong relationships with respectable figures in Alexandria. The inclusion of small associations in the many events organized by the association. Dependence on respectable personalities in providing certain services. g. Partnering with the association provides the partner several privileges and huge returns. A list of those privileges and returns to partners and individuals can be found later in the appendices. The obvious weakness points observed in this association include the following; a. Funding problems (almost self-financing by 99% from members) and the presence of many projects in second row but (senior management has recently begun to train the middle class members to complete these projects and continue the transfer of expertise to their followers). b. There are no integration links between the projects. c. Some personal conflict problems might arise sporadically among members. d. Administrative problems, and lack of strictness and formalization procedures due to a conflict between the role of leader and manager, but they overcome this problem by appointing an executive director. e. Inadequate promotion for the association in the media compared to other competitors. The reasons are mainly to reduce expenses and due to the imposed security restrictions. f. The absence of headquarters in some governorates like Dakahleya and Gharbeya which constitutes a big problem because the teams there are highly specialized and they need the proper setting to grow on it. g. The lack of specialization between the work forces in undertaking the projects. h. Some communication problems were present however, the Human Resources Director has solved them. i. Lack of volunteers and problems with their continuity/tenure. In some cases the volunteer has a desire to see the immediate result of his voluntary work which makes them less patient to continue. Most of the projects carried out by the association have longer term impacts and feasibility. j. Shortage in financial resources and operational tools. The major opportunities, brought from the external environment, facing the association for the time being include the following; a. Activating some agreements with the Union of Arab doctors, the Ministry of Environment, various associations, political awareness teams, in addition to different charitable and awareness-raising teams seeking support from the association in terms of logistics and training. b. A strong deactivated relationship with Al-Jazeera training center which is currently under study. c. The existence of many public figures, associations, and young modest advocates who have neither political nor religious direction. The association can take advantage of their cooperation efforts. d. A number of donors from America, Canada and Morocco who have appeared after the revolution as service volunteers like doctors. e. Localities and the Council of the People elections. This can be achieved by nominating independent members. Any successful nominated member can offer some facilities and services to the association. Also, this will give the chance for the association to be presented as one of the active civil society organizations participating in crafting the new constitution. f. Offering many partnerships to join the association with large well known institutions such as New Horizons, the Arab Academy for Science and Technology, and other new companies through exhibitions. Their offered contributions come mainly in the form of donations. g. The existence of promising facilities to complete some strategic projects through governmental entities. h. Reducing some of the strict scrutiny procedures imposed previously by the old government and the security apparatus. i. The expansion and proliferation in the environment of charity work, the launch of various public events and the intense presence of the civil society activities. j. The potential for participation with other unknown may be small, associations to perform some other projects outside the scope of work of the association. This represents the potential for diversification and expansion of work coverage. k. People’s Openness and their new reconciliation with the community with the desire to join the civil society institutions to provide charity services. l. The presence of various finance institutions through which the association can expand its operations scale after getting approvals from concerned authorities. m. The neutrality of the association both politically and religiously is a major strength. It is manifested in attracting bodies of various ideologies either as beneficiaries or participants. These include for example, Morosely Church or El-Azhar in my life project. The major threats or challenges, brought from the external environment, facing the association include the following; a. The societal openness can produce many competitors; some of them are supported by huge funding schemes and are biased toward the fulfillment of certain political religious agendas. b. Security threats to volunteers and the possibility of exposure to risk in places where they provide services. The possibility of being abused by law breakers due to the lack of security in the Egyptian streets mainly after the recent events. c. Exploiting association’s activities for the beneficial interests of others. This is totally rejected. This might impose the threat of diluting the association’s public image. Examples include candidates’ coverage for elections or political support using association’s name and good reputation. d. The presence of some competitors with high media coverage, such as resala. e. The culture of voluntary work is still somehow tentative. The lack of awareness of others about the culture of volunteerism and societal responsibility. f. The necessity to invest in volunteers to improve their skills and derive maximum value out of their participation. g. The unstable economic situation of the Egyptian State. h. The role of the Ministry of Social Solidarity has been hindering the progress of the work of the civil society for long years ago. i. The emergence of the Muslim brotherhood and the ancestors (salaf) as major competitors. j. Lack of human rights and political awareness and the prevailing unjustified freedom leading to chaotic results. k. The culture of the conspiracy against Egypt and the presence of some many unnatural Egyptian T. V talk show moderators. l. The owners of certain rented headquarters are drug dealers. This represents a major threat calling for immediate actions in moving those headquarters. 2. The PEST analysis a. Political Factors The political environment in which the association operates appears to be unstable. This status has recently turned to be much intense following the revolution due to the emergence of new political groupings. There are some promising expectations that the new democratically elected government will set new policies that are pro the civil society. The new policies are expected to contain modified laws that regulate taxation and provide more support and facilities to NGOs’ operations. The old government economic policies seemed to be incredibly inefficient resulting into a deteriorated national economic performance. This government had also no hand on regulating the marketing ethics of operating NGOs. Its major concern was on prohibiting religiously oriented activities and banning NGOs participation in the political life. b. Economic Factors The slowdown in Egyptian national economy has impacted the role of the association. This was reflected into low interest rates on savings and high interest charges on borrowings. The inflation rate continued to grow reducing the purchasing value of the Egyptian pound. The long-term prospects for the economy Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and other economic indicators will depend on the policies and procedures adopted by the new elected government. c. Socio-cultural Factors The dominant religion in Egypt is Islam. The association is not discriminating against either religion or gender. The partnership with morkoseya church is an evidence to support this claim. The role of women continues to grow largely and rapidly in the Egyptian society. They are becoming well educated, highly paid, and having a self commitment toward volunteer work. The majority of people the association is targeting its services are illiterate. The general population lacks a solid awareness regarding green environmental issues. This is a very important role of the association in advocating for a green environment and promoting green activities. These include reducing consumption and disposal rates, saving energy, recycling disposed items†¦etc. d. Technological Factors Technological innovations make life easier for all. The association utilizes as many of the technological facilities like wireless connections, fax, and international calls to carry out daily activities. The emphasis should be directed toward strengthening association’s technological infrastructure to be able to do business through online communication channels. There are strong promises regarding what the future can bring to the civil society in general and to the association in particular. This is manifested in several key points. First: the majority of people are becoming motivated to volunteer work. Second: the increased public awareness of the importance of civic and collective actions in contrast to confining the role of the individual to achieve purely personal goals. Third: the strong promises and positive perception maintained by the majority of the poor toward the role of the civil society due to government failure to satisfy their needs. Forth: the diversity in working areas removes many of the restrictions imposed on the civilian work. Fifth: the potential for cooperation from the new elected democratic government. Sixth: the potential for receiving huge inflows of international donors’ funds. Finally, the presence of many initiatives aimed at community and society renaissance that could be built upon. Conclusion and Recommendations Based on the previous systematic analyses, the following conclusions are reached. The selected association is one of an above medium size. It has several branches covering a range of governorates in Egypt. In addition to that it has multiple international partnership agreements abroad with some countries like Kuwait and Dubai. It is innovative due to the creativity exercised by its members in proposing and launching new project initiatives given the limited financial and physical resources available to them. The diversity of its projects adds to its effectiveness by solving problems in multiple critical areas. Administratively, the association can be run more efficiently than its current status. The overhead costs can be controlled so that not to exceed 10% of the annual budget. This can be achieved through cutting back on hospitality, renting, and utilities expenses or finding a sponsor company to offer them for free. The remainder of the budget should be entirely devoted to implementing key projects and programs. Once those two objectives are met – keeping O. H costs to the minimum and maximizing the pool of resources available to projects – the association can enhance its reliability and credibility as perceived by the various stakeholder groups. It has to overcome one of its critical weaknesses which is the deficient public media coverage. Adopting innovative promotional campaigns, through media, flyers, and positive word of mouth, can bring in extra revenues, many volunteers individuals or corporations, government support, and a favorable public image. It has to integrate advanced sophisticated techniques to save institutional memory for the next generations. Applying digital archiving, video and audio recordings of important projects, seminars, and events, keeping records of association’s best practices are all effective methods to save memory beside the conventional paper-based archiving mechanism. Web presence is very critical to the association. It is not well developed because the current website is down and the main gate to potential members is through the social media like the face book. Thus, developing a full featured website can provide good communication channels for the association both locally and internationally. The association has to allow potential members to register online. The composition of the board of directors needs some adjustments. A combination of co-founders, highly prestigious figures, wealthy capitalists, experienced technocrats – given the fact that they are all politically and religiously unbiased will allow the association to leverage each party’s privileges respectively. The reason is that co-founders are well informed about the association, its mission, vision, goals and have an intuitive inner commitment to achieve them. The highly prestigious, well known, famous, and rich members – who represent the status symbol can bring in extra money through their special donations and strong contacts with bureaucrats. The wealthy capitalists can have a win-win situation. On the one hand, they can enjoy public credibility and commitment toward social responsibility and on the other hand they will cash in the association to derive this legitimacy. Experienced technocrats can propose better structural reforms, manage operational complexities, and implement strategies to improve performance by capitalizing on strengths and overcoming weaknesses. The association is membership-based and it serves multiple interests. It channels members’ annual fees to implement projects serving members of the poor communities. It also develops the skills and competencies of its members in return for their volunteer time, money, and efforts. The non-profit nature of the association should not hinder its attempts to implement profit-based projects. These projects are important to cover the high overhead cost, keep an emergency fund â€Å" to hedge against bad economic conditions,† invest surplus in revenue earning initiatives, finance new developmental projects, and finally keep work flow smoothly while enjoying the tax exemption privilege. Providing full fledged free support should be only restricted to severe cases. These include very poor, eldery, disable, and young sick children in highly marginalized areas. Otherwise, providing services should have something in return. For example, providing microfinance for poor families can be balanced against donating a certain percentage of periodical revenues to fund other projects. One more thing that should be emphasized specially after the revolution of January 25th is augmenting international funding options. The association has to devise an effective strategy to share a large portion of international donor money coming into Egypt to support democracy. Only with a clear schedule of valuable projects, the association can guarantee international donors’ support without facing the threat of policy conditionality i. e. , imposing a certain development agenda on fund recipient as a condition to be granted the money. This can secure association’s activities financially, allow it to cover O. H costs, implement expansion plans, and better serve society’s compelling needs. General recommendations to improve the civil society in Egypt; 1. The presence of a regulatory environment for transparency rather than for control. 2. Ensuring enough flexibility in law application and enforcement i. e. , the law versus the implementation issue. 3. Promoting an openness commitment to partnership between government and public institutions and the civil society. 4. Supporting a bottom-up approach to development from donors’ side. 5. Supporting the creation of institutions rather than only short or medium term programs to promote for sustainable development. 6. Mobilizing mechanisms to maximize the real value perceived by the beneficiaries from the donors’ dollars. Page (2011) mentioned that only 10 to 30 percent of this actual grant will go to the real beneficiaries. 7. Supporting the youth-led NGOs so that they can actually participate in leading the winds of change toward democracy in Egypt. P. S. for those interested in accessing the association for donations, or more research work, here are association’s contacts. Address

A View From A Bridge - analysis of act i scene 5 Essay Example for Free

A View From A Bridge analysis of act i scene 5 Essay I have chosen Nicolas cage because he is strong but not very strong and he has a good American accent. This scene is probably the most important scene of the play as there is so much action and it is the first real time you see any conflict between the characters. The scene starts when the characters have just finished their dinner and they start talking about Italy and what is like there, but it is a short lived conversation as Rodolpho and Eddie soon have a full fledged argument. After the argument Eddie offers Marco and Rodolpho some tickets to watch boxing and then offers to teach Rodolpho how to box but it looks more like Eddie is questioning Rodolpho about his sexuality. Even though Marco was on Eddie s side (You come home early now. ) before the boxing he catches on to Eddies scheme of making Rodolpho look weak and shows his supremacy over Eddie in strength by lifting a chair with one hand when Eddie could not, this is to stop Eddie making Rodolpho look like a fool. The five characters in this scene are: Eddie, Marco, Rodolpho, Beatrice and Catherine. Eddie has the most active part in the scene with fighting arguing and just talking about Italy. He starts off the scene by talking to Marco about Marcos jobs (They pay all right on them boats? ) and other things in Italy such as oranges and lemons (I heard they paint oranges to make them look orange). He then starts arguing with Rodolpho about Catherine and how late she has been staying out recently (she was never out on the street till twelve oclock at night). He then tries to make Rodolpho look bad by teaching him how to box and stunning Rodolpho briefly (he feints with his left and lands with his right. It mildly staggers Rodolpho. ). The scenes end and as Marco lifts the chair Eddie starts to look worried as Marco looks triumphant (Marco is face to face with Eddie, a strained tension gripping his eyes and jaw, his neck stiff, the chair raised like a weapon over Eddies head-and he transforms what might appear like a glare of warning into a smile of triumph, and Eddies grin vanishes as he absorbs the look). Marco seems to be a quiet but strong figure in a household and has quite a lot to do. Marco begins the scene talking about his wife and kids (Beatrice: Your wife is gettin the money alright, Marco? Marco: Oh, yes. She bought medicine for my boy. ), jobs and Italy in general, he is also reading a letter from his wife (He has been reading a letter. ). He then watches as Eddie and Rodolpho argue and box and then stands as Rodolpho staggers (Marco rises. ). Originally Marco tries to calm it down subtly, (No, Beatrice if he does wrong you must tell him. What does he do wrong? ) but by the end of the scene he obviously thinks that he needs to show to Eddie who is boss. Rodolpho begins the scene by trying and failing to enter the conversation about Italy (Once we went to Yugoslavia.), but just ends up aggravating Eddie and getting himself into a large argument with Eddie (Rodolpho: Its more strict in our town. Its not so free. Eddie: It aint so free here either, Rodolpho, like you think. ). He then gets taught to fight by Eddie and gets his own back by dancing with Catherine (Dance Catherine come), while earlier he knew there was tension and did not want to dance incase he would aggravate Eddie (Catherine: you wanna dance, Rodolpho? Rodolpho: No I-Im tired). Beatrice: right from the beginning you can tell that Beatrice is on the side of Catherine and Rodolpho (Go ahead, dance, Rodolpho. ), but she starts off the scene by joining in the conversation about Italy and Marcos life and family. She always seems to be the peacemaker (Thats enough, Eddie; he did pretty good, though. ) although she is on the side of Rodolpho and Catherine ( She watches them dance; Eddie turns his head away. ). She then looks on as Marco lifts the chair when Eddie could not (Beatrice and Eddie watch him. ). Finally Catherine: she is probably the most important character in this scene, not so much for her lines but for the reason that she is the subject that the other characters are arguing about (I have respect for her, Eddie. I do anything wrong? ). At the beginning of the scene she tries to get Rodolpho and Eddie talking (They went to Africa once. On a fishing boat [Eddie glances at her. ] Its true Eddie. ), but it just makes Eddie talk to Marco. She then is called upon to back up Rodolpho by Beatrice but seems to be shy (Beatrice: Well, you said the movie ended late, didnt you? Catherine: Yeah. ). She end s the scene by dancing with Rodolpho (Rodolpho takes her in his arms. They dance.) and then watches the fight for supremacy (Rodolpho and Catherine have stopped dancing as Marco raises the chair over his head. ). Since the beginning of the United States of America, it has been known as a unified country and as a country of with no hereditary class barrier, yet the American world has changed since the 1800s. Until 1880 anyone who had enough money to get there could get into America. Even though the government put restrictions on the amount of immigrants allowed to enter the country, 23. 5 million new immigrants entered America from 1880 -1920, most of these immigrants where Irish, Italian or Jewish from Eastern Europe. In 1920 almost 70% of New York people were immigrants or children of immigrants. This resulted in large ghettos of ethnic communities all over New York. Even though America was meant to be the land where every one had equal rights, many people were racist. The government tried to change their people instead of accepting them: Cultural Assimilation. They were forced to learn English and change from their own ways to the customs of America. In 1950 the Displaced Persons Commission enforced a huge intelligence investigation into immigrants in America. Their purpose was to try and get rid of all illegal immigrants in American society, this leads on to the question that Arthur Miller brings up in the play about loyalty and what it means to be an American and as this play was written in the 1950s this whole story is relevant to what was happening at that time in America. Immigrants were also thought to be members of fascist or communist parties in 1940, by 1950 anti-communism was so intense that members of the government such as senator Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon took advantage of peoples strong feelings and gained power from their exploits. McCarthy had so much power that he was able to accuse anybody and get him or her sent to prison or even executed. This resulted in a witch-hunt, because anyone could be accused on the slightest excuse what so ever. Many famous people where accused of being a communist, even the author of this play, Arthur Miller, was accused but he was one of the lucky ones by getting off scot free (probably because he married Marilyn Monroe). Other famous people included many movie directors and scriptwriters who were some of the early victims, they were given the nickname The Hollywood Ten. All this anti-communism resulted in thousands losing their jobs and losing any chance of getting another one and was one of the great injustices of the twentieth century.

Structural and Optical Properties of Pulsed Laser

Structural and Optical Properties of Pulsed Laser Structural and Optical Properties of Pulsed Laser Deposited ZnO/TiO2 and TiO2/ZnO Thin Films R. K. Jain, Praveen K. Jain Abstract. ZnO/TiO2 and TiO2/ZnO thin films have been deposited on single crystal Si (100) substrate using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique in order to improve structural and optical properties of ZnO and TiO2 thin films. It was observed that the deposition of TiO2 film prior to ZnO, exhibited higher crystallinity along (002) diffraction peak, small compressive strain and stress and thereby rendering better optical properties as compared to ZnO films deposited directly on Si substrates. On the other hand, TiO2 thin film deposited on Si substrate exhibited pure anatase phase while the use of ZnO buffer was found to improve the crystallinity of TiO2 thin film. The photoluminescence spectra showed that TiO2 and ZnO buffer layers enhanced ultraviolet emissions of the ZnO and TiO2 thin films to a larger extent, respectively. Keywords: ZnO, TiO2, Optical properties, Photoluminescence PACS: 78.66.Hf, 78.55.Et, 68.37.Ps Introduction ZnO is suitable for the production of light emitting devices and a promising candidate for the next generation of electronic devicesdue to its wide band gap (3.37 eV) and large exciton binding energy (60 meV)[1]. ZnO thin films play an important role in solid-state display devices, solar cells and exciting acoustic waves at microwave frequencies[2]. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is one of the most important semiconductors with high photocatalytic activity, non-toxicity, stability in aqueous solution, and is relatively inexpensive. The excellent photocatalytic property of TiO2 is due to its wide band gap and long lifetime of photogenerated holes and electrons [3-4]. It has been reported that the deposition of ZnO or TiO2 thin films on Si substrates at elevated temperature leads to increase in oxygen vacancies as the surface Si atoms easily capture oxygen atom from ZnO or TiO2, which deteriorates the quality of the these films [5]. So it is required to improve various properties of ZnO and T iO2 films for their potential applications. In the present study, a systematic investigation has been performed in order to improve the structural and optical properties of these films using buffer layers. ZnO and TiO2 are chosen as a buffer layer material on the basis of following considerations: (a) Both are wide-band-gap materials, (b) both exhibit high chemical and thermal stability, (c) both have high refractive indices, high transmittance in the visible region and intense absorption in the ultraviolet band and (d) both are low cost material. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILs ZnO and TiO2 thin films have been deposited on Si (100) substrate by ablating high purity (99.9%) ZnO and TiO2 ceramic target using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The KrF excimer laser with wavelength of 248 nm was used for deposition. The pulse repetition rate was 10Hz with laser fluence of about 2–3Jcm−2. The target to substrate distance, working O2 pressure and deposition temperature were kept 35mm, 50 mTorr, and 500Â °C respectively. The thickness of the film and buffer layer was measured using cross section FE-SEM and found to be ~200 nm and 50 nm, respectively. The phase and orientation of as-grown thin films were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (Bruker AXS D-8 Advance Diffarctometer) using CuKÃŽ ± (ÃŽ »=1.5407 Ã…) radiation. The surface morphology was examined using atomic force microscope (NTMDT: NTEGRA model). Absorption spectra have been taken using UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer (Varian Cary 5000) and PL study was performed using photolumines cence spectrometer (Perkin Almer LS-55). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION XRD pattern reveled that ZnO thin film grown on Si (100) substrate was preferentially oriented along the c-axis with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and the use of TiO2 buffer layer increases crystallinity along (002) diffraction peak as shown in Figure 1. On the other hand, TiO2 thin film exhibit pure anatase phase and crystallinity was improved along (004) plane by inserting the ZnO buffer layer between substrate and TiO2 thin film. The improved crystallinity of thin film using buffer layer resulted from the mismatch in thermal expansion coefficient between ZnO and TiO2, which is smaller than that of between ZnO and Si or TiO2 and Si. The lattice mismatch between ZnO and Si (1 0 0) are 40%, whereas for their counterparts i.e. between ZnO and anatase-structured TiO2 are 14% [6]. Therefore, the decrease of lattice mismatch is another reason for the improved crystallinity. The crystallite size calculated using Scherer’s formula is shown in Table 1. The strain along the c axis, zz is given by the following equation [7]: (1) where c is the lattice parameter of the strained ZnO films calculated from x-ray diffraction data and c0 is the unstrained lattice parameter of ZnO. The lattice mismatch between film and substrates can result in varying degrees of stress during the growth process of thin films. The results show that the compressive strain is present in all fabricated ZnO and TiO2 films, which is derived from lattice mismatch between substrates and films owing to increase in crystallite size, and the stress is decreased with the buffer layer. Figure 2 shows the AFM image of the deposited thin films. The grain size and average surface roughness increases when buffer layer is used due to enhancement in crystallinity. Figure 3 shows the room temperature PL spectra of ZnO and TiO2 thin films grown on Si substrate with and without buffer layer. The ZnO film deposited on Si (100) substrate exhibits strong ultraviolet emission peak along with weak green–yellow emission band. The ultraviolet emission of ZnO films is generally considered to be resulted from recombination of free exciton, whereas the green emission is mainly resulting from oxygen vacancies [8]. The PL spectra of TiO2 thin film deposited on Si (100) substrate shows a broad emission band from 390 to 450nm and there are two emission peaks superimposed on the broad emission band. The peak before 350nm (~3.5eV) is ascribed to direct electron-hole recombination which should be equal to or slightly bigger than the TiO2band gap. The emission band from 390 to 450nm (corresponding to 3.2–2.75eV) arises from indirect band gap and surface recombination processes. Further observation indicates that there are two small peaks at the wavel ength range from 460 to 500 nm. These PL signals are attributed to excitonic PL, which mainly result from surface oxygen vacancies and defects of the films. It is observed that ZnO thin film deposited on the TiO2 buffer layer shows stronger ultraviolet emission, as compared to ZnO thin film grown without buffer layer, with no visible emission. The absence of visible emission shows the defect free formation of film. Similarly, the use of ZnO buffer layer also removes the oxygen defects emission peak of TiO2 thin film. The enhanced ultraviolet emission from ZnO thin films grown on TiO2 buffer layer is also probably connected with fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between ZnO and TiO2. After the excitation of electron–hole pairs in TiO2 layer, the energy is easily transferred to ZnO films due to resonance effect [9] as a result, the band gap emission of ZnO is enhanced. From optical absorption spectra of ZnO and TiO2 thin films, It is observed that ultraviolet absorption edge of ZnO and TiO2 film with buffer layer has a red-shift, compared with ZnO and TiO2 thin film grown on bare Si (100) substrate. The value of direct band gap was found to be 3.29 and 3.24 eV for ZnO thin films grown on Si substrate without and with TiO2 buffer layer, respectively. On the other hand, the value of indirect band gap was found to be 3.24 and 3.19 eV for TiO2 thin films deposited on Si (100) substrate without and with ZnO buffer layer. The decrease in optical band gap of the films could be related to the enhancement in crystallite (grain) size leading to a smaller number of grain boundaries. On the other hand the compressed lattice will provide a wider band gap because of the increased repulsion between the oxygen 2p and the zinc 4s bands [10]. CONCLUSISON ZnO, TiO2, ZnO/TiO2 and TiO2/ZnO thin films on Si (100) substrate were prepared by pulsed laser deposition technique. XRD and AFM result demonstrate that the crystallinity of ZnO and TiO2 thin films are considerably improved by using TiO2 and ZnO buffer layer, respectively. Compared with PL of ZnO thin film, UV intensity of ZnO grown on TiO2 buffer layer has increased about two fold. Similarly, the ZnO buffer layer improved the UV emission of TiO2 thin film. The band gap of ZnO and TiO2 thin film grown on buffer layer found to decrease due to improved crystallinity. REFERENCES [1] X. Teng, H. Fan, S. Pan, C. Ye, G. Li, Materials Letters 61 (2007) 201–204. [2] G. C. Yi, C. R. Wang, W. I. Park, Semicond. Sci. Technol 20 (2005) S22. [3]X. Zhang, F. Zhang, K. Y. Chan, Material Chemistry Physics 97 (2006) 384. [4]A. B. Bodade, A. M. Bende, G. N. Chaudhari, Vaccum 82 (2008) 588. [5] X. M. Fan, J. S. Lian, Z. X. Guo, H. J. Lu, Appl. Surf. Sci. 239 (2005) 176 [6] L. Xu, L. Shi , X. Li , Applied Surface Science 255 (2008) 3230–3234 [7] H. C. Ong, A. X. E. Zhu, and G. T. Du, Applied Physics Letter 80 (2002) 941. [8] Y. Zhang, B. Lin, Z. Fu, C. Liu, W. Han, Optical Materials 28 (2006) 1192. [9] H.Y. Lin, Y. Y. Chou, C. L. Cheng, Y. F. Chen, Optical Express 15 (2007) 13832. [10] R. Ghosh, D. Basak, S. Fujihara, Journal Applied Physics 96 (2004) 2689.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave Essa

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave was written by Frederick Douglass himself. He was born into slavery in Tuckahoe, Maryland in approximately 1817. He has, "†¦no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it" (47). He became known as an eloquent speaker for the cause of the abolitionists. Having himself been kept as a slave until he escaped from Maryland in 1838, he was able to deliver very impassioned speeches about the role of the slave holders and the slaves. Many Northerners tried to discredit his tales, but no one was ever able to disprove his statements. Frederick Douglass does offer a biased review of slavery, as he was born into it, yet even in his bias he is able to detect and detail the differences in the slave holders cruelty and that to which he was subjected. From being whipped and humiliated daily, "a very severe whipping†¦ for being awkward" (101), to being able to find his own work and save some money, "I was able to command the highest wages given to the most experienced calkers" (134), he is able to give the reader a more true picture of slavery. His poignant speeches raised the ire of many Northerners, yet many still felt the slaves deserved their position in life. Douglass, for his own safety, was urged to travel to England where he stayed and spoke until 1847 when he returned to the U.S. to buy his freedom. At that point, he began to write and distribute an anti-slavery newspaper called "The North Star". Not only did he present news to the slaves, but it was also highly regarded as a good source of information for those opposed to slavery. During the Civil war, Doug... ...thony]" (49). The slave holder was not above satisfying his sexual urges by the usage of black slaves. The book was easily digested and powerful yet Douglass softened the tone by not becoming graphic when he had every right to do so. This was the first publication of the book and it would be interesting to see how much "gentler" he was by the third rewrite. Published by the Anti Slavery Committee, it was definitely biased against the slave holder but Douglass seemed to write fairly of his experiences especially since he was able to relate both good and bad experiences with his slave owners. Douglass’ words sum it up the best, "You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man." (107) Work Cited Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003.

Understanding Schizophrenia Essay -- Essays on Schizophrenia

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "In my senior year of high school, I began to experience personality changes. I did not realize the significance of the changes at the time, and I think others denied them, but looking back I can see that they were the earliest signs of illness. I became increasingly withdrawn and sullen. I felt alienated and lonely and hated everyone. I felt as if there were a huge gap between me and the rest of the world; everybody seemed so distant from me." This excerpt describes part of Esse Leete 20-year battle with schizophrenia. She committed herself to leading the fullest life her disease will allow and to educating others about mental illness. Schizophrenia is a very serious disease, but through defining schizophrenia and getting the patient help and treatment a schizophrenic can lead a full life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schizophrenia is defined as any of a group of psychotic reactions characterized by withdrawal from reality with highly variable affective, behavioral and intellectual disturbances by the American Heritage Dictionary. No definition of schizophrenia can adequately describe all people with this illness. Schizophrenia is an extremely complex mental illness. It is clear that schizophrenia is a disease which makes it difficult for the person with the illness to decide what is real and what is not (Swados 5). It is also clear that this brain disease affects normal, intelligent people in all walks of life. There are six concrete phrases that describe schizophrenia: it is a real disease, has concrete and specific symptoms, is different from other mental illnesses, is the result of flaws brain biochemistry, may be treated by specific antipsychotic drugs, and is almost always treatable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scientist are unsure of the causes of schizophrenia, although research is progressing rapidly. Scientist are almost certain that schizophrenia has more than one cause. One cause could be a chemical imbalance. An imbalance of the brain's chemical system has long been suspected as the main cause of the illness (Youth 2). A second cause could be stress. Most authorities disagree that severe stress can cause the illness. Stress can however, worsen the symptoms when the illness is already present. A third cause could possibly be genetic predisposition. Genetic transmission has yet to be proven even though schizophrenia tends to run is some families(Youth 3). F... ...hould have an interest in the illness, be competent, and has empathy with the patients. If there is any apprehension about the physician/psychiatrist the family has the right to get a second opinion. Assisting the doctor/psychiatrist is the third step of getting treatment. Since patients with the illness may not volunteer much information during the assessment, the family should speak to the doctor or write a letter. In some cases, it may be necessary to send written information. The information that is supplied will greatly assist the physician to make an accurate assessment and outline a suitable course of action.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Presently schizophrenia is not a "curable" disease, but is controllable (Youth 15). The treatment of schizophrenia could possibly be medication. Most patients with schizophrenia must regularly take maintenance medication to keep the illness under control. It is difficult for the doctor/psychiatrist to know which medication will work best for a given individual. Many changes in type of drug and dosage may be required. This period of trial and error can be extremely trying for everyone involved. Some medications have unusual and difficult side effect

Law of Attraction

Law of Attraction The law of attraction is a powerful tool that you can use to manifest the life of your dreams. However, before you begin to use it, you need to learn how to set clear intentions, use energy to fuel those intentions, release your limiting beliefs and allow your desires to manifest in ways that you cannot yet imagine. The Secret to Making the Law of Attraction Work Intention Set a clear intention, and be specific. If you want to make more money, specify exactly how much more money you want and what time period you will give yourself to make it.If you want a better relationship, write down the qualities you are looking for in your future partner. Keep the details in mind and state your intention using those details. Energy Put as much energy as you can into stating your intention. Use creative visualization to imagine yourself as if you have already obtained your goal. Imagine what you will be wearing, smelling, hearing, tasting and saying when you have achieved your g oal. These visuals will motivate you to take action in the areas of your life that need improvement, and things will begin to fall into place once you begin to take those actions.Release If you have trouble using visualization techniques, you may have some limiting beliefs that are preventing you from letting go. For example, you may feel deep down that you do not deserve to make more money or be in a healthy relationship. These internal blocks will actually repel what you want instead of attract what you want. You can release these beliefs using the very simple but effective methods of EFT, or Emotional Freedom Techniques, or the Sedona Method. Look at the websites Emofree. com, Mygenie. tv, Tapping. com and Sedona. com to learn how to release your limiting beliefs easily and quickly.Allow You may find that the hardest part of using the law of attraction is to stay calm and confident in your belief that you will eventually receive what you have asked for. It is easy to grow impatie nt and wonder when and how your intentions will manifest in your life. However, if you do this, you will open the door for more limiting beliefs to sabotage your progress and you will have to start all over again. You can remain relaxed and focused by allowing yourself to be open to the possibility that your intentions will come to you in ways that you never dreamed possible.You can do this by telling yourself everyday that you can't wait to see how this is all going to come together for you and it eventually will. Facts about â€Å"Laws of Attraction† At its core, the laws of attraction are a restatement of the principle of the power of positive thinking and the belief that like attracts like. Serendipity, coincidence, karma, luck and fate are just a few of the words that describe the laws of attraction, according to author Michael J. Losier. The principle includes several basic beliefs and rituals. Law of Attraction BasicsThe law of attraction is based upon the belief that a person can influence his environment by his thoughts, actions, emotions and beliefs, both conscious and unconscious. This is based upon the assertion that a person's thoughts create energy that is released into the universe. In response to this energy, the universe creates an equal reaction. This principle applies to both positive and negative thoughts and, under the laws of attraction, a person who thinks positive will attract positive whereas a negative-thinking person will attract negative results.Accordingly, the law of attraction instructs practitioners to learn to focus the mind and thoughts in order to bring about the desired outcome. The Steps The law of attraction is based upon three steps. First, you must know what you want and ask the universe to deliver. Second, you must feel and act as if you have already received your desired result. Finally, you must be open to receiving the result you desire. According to proponents, performing each of these steps is necessary in o rder to receive what you desire from the universe and a person who does not see results should evaluate whether they have properly completed each step.Tools of Laws of Attraction Proponents of the laws of attraction encourage practitioners to use several tools in order to encourage positive thinking and desired results. Participants are encouraged to make lists of the goals they wish to accomplish and refer to these lists to focus their thoughts. Participants are also encouraged to write down positive affirmations and repeat these statements to themselves or out loud in order to focus the mind on creating these positive results. Vision boards are another tool used by practitioners of laws of attractions.Creating a vision board consists of gathering visual representations of your goals, such as pictures, words or phrases. These pictures are then placed on a board and displayed in a visible area. The practitioner then refers to the vision board throughout the day in order to visualize her goals and focus her thoughts on achieving those goals. Critics While many support the principles of the law of attraction, there are those who criticize the belief and related teachings. Criticisms of the practice include claims that it is a fad and encourages materialism.Additionally, medical professional suggest the principle leads to a mentality that blames the victim as it encourages the belief that negative conditions are the result of your own thoughts. These professionals claim that this way of thought can prove dangerous to those suffering from mental illness. Other critics claim the laws of attraction do not place enough emphasis on action. It instead encourages followers to simply think about what they want without any discussion of the actual work needed to achieve the results. How to Use the Law of AttractionThe law of attraction states that every positive or negative event that happened with you was attracted by you. Say that special friend loaned you money when yo u didn't have any. You attracted that, even without your awareness of using the law. Say that teacher, classmate, client, or co-worker gave you a hard time during the day. You attracted that, too. Again, we are using the law every second of every day. You've even attracted reading this article! There are really only three basic steps: ask, believe, and receive. However, the point of this article is to break those three steps down into simpler, more concise ones. . Relax your mind. Meditate  for 5 to 10 minutes. Doing this will increase brain power and have your mind at that relaxed state. This step is optional but recommended. 2. Be sure about what you want and when you do decide don't doubt yourself. Remember that you're sending a request to the Universe which is created by thoughts and therefore responds to thoughts. Know exactly what it is that you want. If you're not clear/sure, the Universe will get an unclear frequency and will send you unwanted results. So be sure it is som ething you have strong enthusiasm for. 3. Ask the Universe for it.Make your request. You don't have to actually speak or use words because it doesn't hear words. Send a picture of what you want to the Universe. The Universe will answer. See this thing as already yours. See  How to Visualize. The more detailed your vision, the better. If you're wanting that Nintendo Wii, see yourself sitting down playing a game on it. See yourself feeling the controller, playing your favorite game(s), touching the console. If there's that person you have a crush on, see yourself walking with her/him, touching or caressing the person, or even kissing the person.You get the idea. 4. Write your wish down. Start with â€Å"I am so happy and grateful now that†¦ † and finish the sentence (or paragraph) telling the Universe what it is that you want. Write it in the present tense as if you have it right now. Avoid negation terms (see Warnings for more on this). Every day until your wish comes t rue, close your eyes and imagine your desire as if it's happening right now. 5. Feel it. Feel the way you will now after receiving your wish. You must act, speak, and think as if you are receiving it now.This is actually the most important, powerful step in using the Law of Attraction because this is where it starts working, and sometimes if you do this you don't feel like you need it anymore because you FEEL like you already have it! and then the universe will manifest this thought and feeling and you will receive it. 6. Show gratitude. Write down all the things the Universe has given you. Be thankful for what you already have and be thankful for all the things the Universe has given you. The Universe has done a lot of things for us.Paying the Universe back with some gratitude will motivate the Universe to do even more things and will draw more things into your life. If you were once bullied and that person stopped, that's one thing to be thankful for. If the person you're crushing on likes you back, or doesn't but she/he didn't send their lover out to hurt you, that's another thing to thank the Universe for. You should also thank the Universe for this process too. Showing gratitude will turbo boost the Universe to manifest your request faster. 7. Trust the Universe.Imagine an alternate dimension that is almost exactly like the real world but whatever you truly desire comes true in an instant. See yourself in that dimension, where whatever you ask the Universe for comes to you in an instant. Don't  look for  what you asked for; this is where people tend to mess up. If you have to keep an eye out for an event that manifests your wish, it's only telling the Universe you don't have it and you will attract†¦ not having it. Be patient. Don't get upset if these things don't happen immediately. Don't stress the â€Å"how† of things. Let the Universe do it for you.When you take the Universe's job of worrying about the â€Å"how†, this says you' re lacking faith and that you're telling the Universe what to do when the Universe has far greater knowledge and power than human mankind. Tips * Try this†¦ if you experience an event that makes you so happy and overjoyed that you want to attract more into your life then try and remember your inner emotion you had (your heart beating faster/ stomach jumping) whatever it was try and replicate that by remembering the event and then if your vibrational energy is the same as you felt in that joyous moment then the it will manifest and you will attract it into your life. Have a  vision board  or a picture from a magazine to help you see and feel what you want, look at that picture everyday (better to do this in the morning since this will help you to feel better throughout the day), and focus on emitting happy feelings to the Universe. * Focus as often as you can on what you DO want rather than on what you don't want. For example, if you are angry or upset about a war/conflict t hat has been going on, do your best to be ‘pro-peace' rather than ‘anti-war' – focus on the peace, and the kinds of solutions that you would like to see, instead of whatever it is that you do not like about the situation. Good feelings = good reality. Feel GOOD. Put on your favorite song, paint a picture, have fun with your pet, or think of someone or something that you love, something that makes you happy, and just shut your eyes and dwell on this. These can be called Frequency Shifters, so have a few up your sleeve. Different thoughts work for different situations, so think of a few now you can use later. Warnings * You can't use the Law of Attraction to control people. However, if you have a friend who you haven't seen in a long time and you want her to come to you.Instead of saying â€Å"I want my friend to show up at my door,† just say, â€Å"I want to walk down the street and see her pass by,† or something like that. * Avoid using those negatio n terms. For example, if you want to get out of debt and you say â€Å"I want to get out of debt,† the Universe only see the word ‘debt' and will send more along your way. It pays no attention to negation terms like, ‘no', ‘not', ‘none', ‘out' and so fourth. Instead say â€Å"I am in rich/wealthy/ have lots of money. * â€Å"Be careful what you wish for because you just may get it,† is not a statement to joke around with.This law is so powerful your request could manifest instantly and powerfully without warning. Remember, this Law could be used to create or destroy. * If you are constantly worried about bad things happening, or negative outcomes, then you are using the law of attraction AGAINST yourself. To worry is really to apply most of the above steps, towards a NEGATIVE outcome. You are visualizing the negative outcome and asking the universe for it with pictures of the negative outcome, you are feeling the feelings of the negative outcome †¦ Stop Worrying and follow step seven above. You can't have any resistance in your mind for example  : if you have just tried using the law of attraction and you say â€Å"this stuff isn't working† then the universe will give you more of ‘this isn't working'. The Law of Attraction  simply says that you attract into your life whatever you think about. Your dominant thoughts will find a way to manifest. But  the Law of Attraction gives rise to some tough questions that don’t seem to have good answers. I would say, however, that these problems aren’t caused by the Law of Attraction itself but rather by the Law of Attraction as applied to objective reality.Here are some of those problematic questions (all are generalizations of ones I received via email): * What happens when people put out conflicting intentions, like two people intending to get the same promotion when only one position is available? * Do children, babies, and/or animals pu t out intentions? * If a child is abused, does that mean the child intended it in some way? * If I intend for my relationship to improve, but my spouse doesn’t seem to care, what will happen? These questions seem  to weaken the plausibility of the Law of Attraction. Sometimes people  answer them by going pretty far out.For example, it’s been said by LoAers that a young child experiences abuse because s/he intended it or earned it  during a past life. Well, sure†¦ we can explain just about anything if we bring past lives into the equation, but IMO that’s a cop-out. On the other hand, objective reality without the Law of Attraction  doesn’t provide satisfactory answers  either — supposedly some  kids are just born unlucky. That’s a cop-out too. I’ve never been satisfied by others’ answers to these questions, and they’re pretty important questions if the Law of Attraction is to be believed.Some books hint a t the solution but never really  nail it. That nail, however, can be found in the concept of subjective reality. Subjective reality  is a belief system in which (1)  there is only one consciousness, (2) you are that singular consciousness, and (3) everything and everyone  in your reality is a projection of your thoughts. You may not see it yet, but subjective reality  neatly answers all these tricky Law of Attraction questions. Let me ‘splain†¦. In subjective reality there’s only one consciousness, and it’s yours. Consequently, there’s only one source of intentions in your universe — YOU.While you may observe lots of walking, talking bodies in your reality, they all exist inside your consciousness. You know this is how your dreams work, but you haven’t yet realized your  waking reality  is just another type of dream. It only seems solid because you believe (intend)  it is. Since none of the other characters you encounterà ‚  are conscious in a way that’s separate from you, nobody else can have  intentions. The only intentions are yours. You’re the only thinker in this universe. It’s important to correctly define the  YOU in subjective reality. YOU are not your physical body. This is not the egoic you at all.I’m not suggesting you’re a conscious body walking around in a world full of unconscious automatons. That would be a total misunderstanding of subjective reality. The correct viewpoint is that you’re the single consciousness in which this entire reality  takes place. Imagine you’re having a  dream. In that dream what exactly are YOU? Are YOU the physical dream character you identify with? No, of course not — that’s just your dream avatar. YOU are the dreamer. The entire dream  occurs within your consciousness. All dream characters are projections of your dream  thoughts, including your avatar.In fact, if you learn  lucid dreaming, you can even  switch avatars in your dream by possessing another character. In a lucid dream, you can do anything you believe you can. Physical reality works the same way. This is a denser universe than what you experience in your  sleeping dreams, so changes occur a bit more gradually here. But this reality still  conforms to your thoughts just like a sleeping dream. YOU are the dreamer in which all of this is taking place. The idea that other people have intentions is an illusion because other people are just projections.Of course, if you strongly believe other people have intentions, then that’s the dream you’ll create for yourself. But ultimately it’s still an illusion. Here’s how subjective reality answers these challenging Law of Attraction questions: What happens when people put out conflicting intentions, like two people intending to get the same promotion when only one position is available? Since you’re the only intender, this is entirely an internal conflict — within YOU. You’re holding the thought (the intention) for both people to want the same position. But you’re also thinking (intending) that only one can get it. So you’re intending competition.This whole situation is your creation. You  believe in competition, so that’s what you manifest. Maybe you have some beliefs (thoughts and intentions) about who will get the promotion, in which case your expectations will manifest. But you may have a higher order belief that life is random, unfair, uncertain, etc. , so in that case you may manifest a surprise because that’s what you’re intending. Being the only intender in your reality places a huge  responsibility  on your shoulders. You can give up control of your reality  by thinking (intending) randomness and uncertainty, but you can never give up responsibility.You’re the sole creator in this universe. If you think about war, poverty, d isease, etc. , that’s exactly what you’ll manifest. If you think about peace, love, and joy, you’ll manifest that too. Your reality is exactly what you think it is. Whenever you think about anything, you summon its manifestation. Do children, babies, and/or animals put out intentions? No. Your own body doesn’t even put out intentions — only your consciousness does. You’re the only one who has intentions, so what takes precedence is what  YOU intend for the children, babies, and animals in your reality.Every thought is an intention, so however you think about the other beings in your reality is what you’ll eventually manifest for them. Keep in mind that beliefs are hierarchical, so if you have a high order belief that reality is random and unpredictable and out of your control, then that intention will trump other intentions of which you’re less certain. It’s your entire collection of thoughts that dictates how your rea lity manifests. If a child is abused, does that mean the child intended it in some way? No. It means YOU intended it. You intend child abuse to manifest simply by thinking about it.The more you think about child abuse (or any other subject), the more you’ll see it expand in your reality. Whatever you think about expands, and not just in the narrow space of your avatar but in all of physical reality. If I intend for my relationship to improve, but my spouse doesn’t seem to care, what will happen? This is another example of intending conflict. You’re projecting  one intention  for your avatar and one for your spouse, so the actual unified intention is that of conflict. Hence the result you experience, subject to the influence of your higher order beliefs, will be to experience conflict with your spouse.If your thoughts are conflicted, your reality is conflicted. This is why assuming responsibility for your thoughts is so important. If you want to see peace in the world, then intend peace for EVERYTHING in your reality. If you want to see abundance in the world, then intend it for EVERYONE. If you want to enjoy loving relationships, then intend loving relationships  for ALL. If you intend these only for your own avatar  but not for others, then you’re intending conflict, division, and separation; consequently, that’s what you’ll experience. If you stop thinking about something entirely, does that mean it disappears?Yes, technically it does. But in practice it’s next to impossible to  uncreate what you’ve already manifested. You’ll continue creating  the same problems  just by noticing them. But when you assume 100% responsibility for everything you’re experiencing in your  reality right now — absolutely everything — then you assume the power to  alter your reality by rechanneling your thoughts. This entire reality is your creation. Feel good about that. Feel grat eful for the richness of your world. And then begin creating the reality you truly want by making decisions and holding intentions.Think about what you desire, and withdraw your thoughts  from what you don’t want. The  most natural, easiest way to  do this is to  pay attention to your emotions. Thinking about your desires feels good, and thinking about what you don’t want makes you feel bad. When you notice yourself feeling bad,  you’ve caught yourself  thinking about  something you don’t want. Turn your  focus back towards what you do want, and your emotional state will improve rapidly. As you do this repeatedly, you’ll begin to see your physical reality shift too, first in subtle ways and then in bigger leaps. I too am just a manifestation of your consciousness.I play the role you expect me to play. If you expect me to be a helpful guide, I will be. If you expect me to be profound and insightful, I will be. If you expect me to be confused or deluded, I will be. But of course there’s no distinct ME that is separate from YOU. I’m just one of your many creations. I am what you intend me to be. But deep down you already knew that, didn’t you? The Fundamentals of the Law of Attraction The  Law of Attraction is the most fundamental of all universal laws. Out-pacing the laws of gravity and velocity, well-beyond the measurements of science, The Law of Attraction is the basis for who YOU are.For those who are new to conscious thinking, this idea that your thoughts create your reality might be as whimsical as a spotted leopard running free through the city streets. As a crazy notion, a â€Å"New Age† scam, even an â€Å"airy-fairy† mind twister, the Law of Attraction is not a new idea. This rather  fundamental concept has been around for ages, often hidden from the masses by those who wish to keep people â€Å"unconscious†. For those who have had some experience with this concept, they might find these words refreshing and fulfilling. This idea is not new to them but is a reminder of what they already know.Astrophysicist  Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson  was asked by a reader of TIME magazine, â€Å"What is  the most astounding fact  you can share with us  about the Universe? † This is his answer: â€Å"When I look up at the night sky, and I know that, yes, we are part of this Universe,  we are in this Universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up — many people feel small, ’cause they’re small and  the Universe is big, but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars. † -Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson Your thoughts do ndeed create your reality. Thoughts are forms of energy that are sent ahead and eventually manifest as physical matter. The thoughts you think determine the outcome of your worldly experiences, from finances to h ealth, relationships to environment. In fact, there is no aspect of your life that is not affected by your thoughts. â€Å"Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions. † -Albert Einstein â€Å"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. † -William James â€Å"Everything is energy and that's all there is to it.Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics. † -Albert Einstein/Bashar  (debatable) Most of us were taught to be sloppy thinkers. We remain frozen in worry or defeated by fear. We believe that we have become victims of our circumstances. As our thoughts remain negative or mostly unconscious, we end up attracting by default. We are stunned when we develop a horrible disease, become involved in a tragic car accident or suffer from financial failure. Without rea lizing it, the thoughts we have been thinking are all responsible for this.The ability to focus a thought becomes the driving force behind The Law of Attraction. Focusing on a single thought purely and clearly for a short duration of time becomes the starting point. Once you become adept at focusing your thoughts it will be easier and more efficient. Words do not matter much but the emotion behind the words does. The Universe works on vibration. Everything is vibration first and matter second. When you feel an affirming emotion when focusing thought you are now creating dynamic change. Pure thought with positive emotion is said to be the equivalent of 2000 action hours.The problem that many people run into is that they â€Å"pretend† to be positive on the outside but are really vibrating negativity on the inside. They might not even be aware of what it is that they are doing. The Law of Attraction is so powerful that it trumps all other laws and forces in the Universe. It nev er takes time off or breaks and it is always working. It supersedes science, viruses, bacteria, pathogens, parasites, natural disasters, bad luck, heredity, genetics, chance, random, poor diet, too much sugar, astrology, numerology, tea leaves and psychology.Under The Law of Attraction, there are no odds and statistics are meaningless. Nothing happens by mistake. The thoughts you think do indeed create your reality. There are two primary forces in the Universe — allowing and resisting. If your manifestation has not yet arrived it is only because you are resisting it. Here is how this works. Imagine driving your car with one foot on the gas pedal and one foot on the brake at the same time. Your car might be moving forward but there will be quite a bit of resistance along the way, not to mention the damage done to the brakes.Most people become frustrated and stop believing in the power of their own thoughts only because they have unconsciously placed great resistance in front o f their dreams. Frustration will pull you even more into the negative thinking mode and create more mistrust in the Law of Attraction. Let's say that you desire to have more money. This is a positive thinking manifestation. You are now in a state of creation and allowing. You then might begin to worry about how complicated it will be to have all of this money. You imagine that you won't know how to manage it.Others will want some of it and you might not know how to say â€Å"No† to them. Now you are in a state of resistance. Your foot is â€Å"sharply pressing down on the brakes† in your â€Å"vibrational† world. This is why your creation has not yet arrived. When you are in a state of judgment you are also in a state of resistance. Imagine wanting an expensive new car but you have judgments about those who are able to afford expensive new cars. You are now in a state of resistance. Imagine that you want an easy life where you did not have to work so hard to get by.You keep yourself in a state of resistance when you judge others who already have an easy life where they do not have to work so hard. You can not belong to a club where you despise the current members. If you want your manifestations to arrive you must already be a vibrational match to them. Festering in a state of judgment is just pushing your desires away. The Four Levels of Consciousness There are four levels of consciousness. Most people never make it out of level one and are condemned to suffer in this self-imposed hell of an inner world. Here are the four levels of consciousness: 1.Unconscious Unconsciousness At this stage you are not even aware that you are unconscious. You attract negative things into your life at a rapid pace, as if you have developed a negative ball of energy rolling down hill. Nothing is ever your fault and you are always looking for someone to blame. 2. Conscious Unconsciousness Here you are aware of your negative thinking and the consequences that it might bring. You might see your negative pattern and have become aware of what it is that you are attracting. You may not like what you are attracting, but you have taken responsibility for it. 3. Conscious ConsciousnessYou deliberately decide to focus pure and positive thought on something and remove all resistance to its arrival. And, sure enough, it arrives. Your creation might be something as simple as visualizing a parking space opening up for you at the mall. You deliberately intended it, allowed it to come to you and acknowledged it when it arrives. 4. Unconscious Consciousness When you get to this point, you do not have to work so hard to create things in your life. You are a believer in how the mind game is played and you spend conscious time each day making your mind important. New creations come to you easily and quickly.You have built a positive ball of energy that continues to roll forward in your favor. People call you the â€Å"lucky one†. The Mind is  NOT   the Brain The scientific and rational community have spent an inordinate amount of time and money studying the brain. The belief among these individuals is that the brain is the ultimate part of who we are. They say that the brain controls everything. The mind, according to these scientific types, is just a function of the brain. This is akin to the belief that the brain secretes hormones through the glandular system, establishes electrical impulses through the electrical system and has many more functions.We are told by our scientists that the brain is the most important organ and the mind is just an activity that the brain performs. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The reality is that scientists and rational-minded individuals have it completely backwards. The mind is much bigger than the brain. The mind does not live in the brain but passes through the brain. The mind can pass into the smallest cell in one's body or can travel into the future or across thousands of mi les of empty space. Have you ever heard of someone who was â€Å"incurably sick† and learns how to focus his mind and heal his body? This happens every day.When you take your thoughts to Aunt Alice, thousands of miles away, and the next thing you know there is a telephone call from her, the brain did not do that. The mind, traveling far outside the body, reached out to make contact. Magic will begin to happen at even a quicker pace when we stop studying the brain (just an organ) and learn how to focus our minds. Scientists and brain researchers are far away from the leading edge of discovery. You can not study the mind with a microscope, X-Ray, MRI or a CAT scan. Using your mind to attract your reality is actually a very simple technique. First, make your thoughts important.Most people randomly shrug off their thoughts as not being important. They often get stuck thinking the same old negative thoughts all day long and can not begin to see the relationship between what they a re thinking and what is happening in their life. Three Ways of Attracting 1. Direct Asking You are angry that you have a beat up old car and every day you proclaim how much you despise this car and wish someone would just come along and crash into it to get rid of it. Lo and behold, you are involved in a traffic accident and your car is destroyed. You act surprised when this event transpires and you move into blame and anger.You believe whole-heartily that it must be the other driver's fault for not paying closer attention. 2. Fear You might have heard stories of how wild animals are attracted to fear so if you are approached by one do not run or act afraid. The Law of Attraction works the very same way. If you are afraid of â€Å"catching† a horrible disease you are still attracting it to you. If you are afraid of financial failure you are still attracting it. Whatever you are afraid of has a good chance of coming closer to you. This occurs because your thoughts are like mag nets, whether those thoughts are positive ones or negative ones. 3.Vibrational Alignment Emotional alignment is important when attracting. Imagine leaving the house feeling like a victim. Why does it surprise you when you spill coffee on yourself? This incidence only matches a vibration that you were already experiencing. Like attracts more of the same. A vibration of negativity will bring more negativity your way whereas a vibrational attitude of positivity will attract positive results. Mental Obesity Imagine what life might be like if you were three-hundred pounds overweight in your body? What would it be like to travel on an airplane, to walk up and down stairs and to try to go to the bathroom?Most people are three-hundred pounds overweight in their minds. Their minds are quite out of shape and their life is filled with struggle and blame. They are in denial that there is a problem (just like many physically obese people) and they do nothing to try to change the situation. If yo u were physically obese you might start slowly to make small changes in your life (dietary adjustments, beginning a walking program etc. ). Mental shaping up is no different. Begin by imagining all the lights turning green when you are driving down the road or the perfect parking space is waiting for you at the grocery store.Small steps add up to big changes. Blame If there were two words that I could eliminate from the English language they would be†victim†Ã‚  and  Ã¢â‚¬Å"survivor. †Ã‚  You hear these powerful words over and over again, through the media, through â€Å"support† groups and from the common person. These two conditions can only exist from someone who is â€Å"unconsciously unconscious. † This is a person who is not aware of the thoughts that he is thinking and the chaos that he is attracting. There are no â€Å"victims† and there are no â€Å"survivors. † There are only â€Å"conscious choosers† or â€Å"unconsci ous choosers. When you become an unconscious chooser you often remain in a state of â€Å"blame. † This situation occurs where you believe that it is always somebody else's fault that your life is going poorly. For instance, many people continue to blame the â€Å"poor economy† for their own lack of financial success. Yet, there are many who are thriving in this â€Å"poor economy. † Most often these â€Å"thrivers† will tell you that they are not interested in listening to the scarcity-minded pundits on television, but choose their own path to prosperity. They are consciously choosing a new way to think and thus have a prosperous lifestyle.They also say that they are not interested in participating in the â€Å"down economy. † Remaining in blame is just another way of saying that you are not willing to be responsible for the thoughts that you are thinking. Sabotage Why would someone deliberately choose to develop a horrible disease or choose to ha ve bad things happen to them? This is often a challenging question for many to understand. The answer is very simple. We all have a part of ourselves that is frozen in sabotage. Not everyone wants to feel well or to be wealthy. Most people have invested a great amount of time and thought into sabotage and this is what shows up.You might have heard the expression that says, â€Å"if you go looking for trouble then trouble is likely to find you. † A parent knows all too well how sabotage works. At one time or another most children will â€Å"develop† a cold or sickness to avoid a situation like going to school or visiting a relative. The child's thoughts are powerful enough to change the physical body so the child can escape a situation that he or she does not know how to handle (i. e. a test, a conflict etc. ). As adults, our powerful thoughts continue to sabotage our lives, only the outcome is often quite stronger.From putting on weight to financial hardships, if you a re not thriving then your thoughts are actively involved in sabotaging your greatest successes. You have invested in sabotage as the primary reference point in your life. Somehow you errantly believe that you are benefiting from sabotage just like the sick child feels a benefit by not having to attend school. For instance, many people create illnesses to rest, take a break from life, to be taken care of by others or to avoid an uneasy situation. Instead of learning to find the tools to resolve these conflicts, becoming sick is the easiest way to find relief.One could make the argument that hospitals are filled with people who are choosing illness as a way of getting relief from a mental conflict that they are unable to resolve any other way. Yes, your mind is that powerful and there are no exceptions. Children and Illnesses It might be difficult to understand why a child would choose to get sick and die. What most of us do not realize is that children too are thinking and creating t heir reality. Whether it is in the womb, infancy or adolescence, a child is still focusing thoughts, either positively or negatively, and is still creating his or her reality. Here is an example of how this works.A story appeared in a local newspaper of a fourteen-year old boy who mysteriously and â€Å"accidentally† hung himself while playing on a makeshift backyard rope course that he had built. Most people assumed this to be a horrible accident and a chance of fate. What most people do not realize is the actual story being created by this young boy. Two days before his death the teenager was kicked off the freshman football team at school. He was devastated. He felt his life was over. The expulsion from the team caused him so much despair that he did not believe that he could go on. He felt trapped and helpless and wanted relief from his suffering.His mind created a situation where he would find relief and still save face (his death would look like an accident). Conclusion While this way of perceiving the world might be difficult to digest for many, when you understand our investment in sabotage things become much clearer. We are all looking for relief from conflict. If we do not believe that we can resolve the conflict externally, we frequently create a situation that resolves itself internally. This is often seen in sports. When an athlete is not performing well or has an off the field conflict, he frequently suffers an injury.While the injury might be real (a pulled hamstring or a stiff back), the mind was busily at work creating the situation. Fans would much more likely support a player if he were injured than if he were having marital problems at home. After all, an athlete is expected to leave his personal issues off the field or court. You do not have to believe in the Law of Attraction for it to be working. Just like you do not have to understand or have knowledge of gravity, it is still working. Step off a balcony of a two story building an d whether you believe in gravity or not, you will most likely still come crashing to the ground.Most people create by default, meaning that they are not aware of what their thoughts are and hence take no responsibility when their manifestations arrive—for the better or worse. â€Å"You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else. † -Albert Einstein If you do not learn how to play the game then the game will certainly play you. We are talking about the mind game going on inside of you. When you are an unconscious attractor of your reality you often become a victim and are stuck in blame. This is when the game is playing you.A mind in a state of appreciation is a mind creating positive results. A mind looking for someone or something to blame is a mind creating more sabotage and chaos in one's life. Whether you believe in the Law of Attraction or not, it does not matter. The power of the mind is still at work and the results can still be felt. Don't you think it better off to learn how to focus your thoughts and start to receive all of the dreams that you have been asking for? Law of Attraction Quotes â€Å"What You Set Is, What You Get. † â€Å"If It’s In There, It’s Out There. † â€Å"At The End, Nothing Else Matters. † If you do not attract what you want to be, you will be what you are, FOREVER† â€Å"The Secret Was Never The Secret, But Was Used Secretly, Now It’s Revealed. † â€Å"A Small Shift In Your Perception Will Bring Big Change In You. † â€Å"Our Thoughts Are Boomerang, What Goes Out There, Will Bring More Of It. † â€Å"There Are No Coincidences Or Miracles In Life; Just That You Attracted Them At Some Point Of Time. † â€Å"Life Is A Canvas, Sketch Your Reality On It. † â€Å"Take The First Step In Faith, Rest Will Unfold, As You Go Along. † â€Å"You Are In Present, Is What You Attracted In Past, You Will In Future, What You Attracting Now. â€Å"You Are, Your Attraction. † â€Å"Your Attraction Causes Your Feeling, Feelings In Return Causes You More Of What You Attracted. It’s A Never Ending Process. † â€Å"Law Of Attraction Is A Universal Law; Power Law Of Attraction Is An Approach To Apply It For Instant Manifestation. † â€Å"Every Moment We Are Choosing, Out Of Our Sub Atomic Possibilities, Which Manifests As Real Atomic Experience, When We Attract Them. † Also check these links http://www. powerlawofattraction. com/ http://www. thelawofattraction. co. uk/quotes/ Some Questions and Answers related to law of attraction What Is Law of Attraction?Simply stated, law of Attraction states that â€Å"like attracts like†! Your  thoughts  are like magnet and attract to you whatever you think about, so everything that we experience is brought about as a consequence of our thoughts. The law of Attraction teaches us to increase our, emotio nal, physicals and even financial well-being. It encourages a more positive outlook on life and helps people learn how to deliberately attract their wishes and wants from their thoughts straight into their lives. Is The Law of Attraction  Working In My Life? Yes. Your thoughts and feelings create your reality minute by minute. This never stops.We make conscious choices about how to feel and more of it is attracted into our lives. How are you feeling now? Perhaps you feel like complaining about the harsh weather, rude boss or bad traffic. You’d only be attracting more things to complain about. Instead, have you been thankful today for having a roof over your head, a job and a car? By doing this, you will be aligning yourself up for more wonderful things to be thankful for. Why do Law of Attraction strategies sometimes fail to work? Remember that the Law of Attraction doesn’t fail; it is a universal law just like the  Law of Gravity. It can’t fail!So, it must be we, who are failing the law instead. It may not be working for you because of your inner resistance. It may be conscious or subconscious, but there is a part of you that doesn’t believe that you deserve a particular thing that you desire. How Can I Attract My Ideal Life? Keep your thoughts, ideas and feelings in alignment with your desires; and you will have it. A simple exercise would be to visualize your ideal life, perhaps make a dream board and look at it a few minutes every day. This will remind you of your aspirations and soon the universe will help you achieve your ideal life. What Is Vibration?Vibration is your thoughts in an energy form working to manifest your desires. Light, heat, electricity; everything has invisible vibrations that help it manifest into something very real and tangible. Every person has similar vibrations, which are powerful thought waves. Mastery over these vibrations can also help us conquer the law of attraction. How Can I Attract More Mone y? The first step towards achieving your desires is that you should know what exactly it is that you want. If you want more money, ask yourself how much you want and why. Be it a 25% raise at work or earning a million, before the end of the year. Then take action.Not even the Law of Attraction can make you rich if your only pastime is sitting on a couch. You will have to work towards your goal, once you have decided on it. How Can I Get More Of  What I Want? By asking for it! Once you know what you want, you decide to go after your goals relentlessly. How long does it take before I start attracting what I want? You are always attracting, so The Law of Attraction is always on! But you will start attracting your desires when you believe. Do away with all doubt and self- limiting beliefs and permit your requests to manifest instantly! Does this mean that I can be anything I feel like?Yes and no. The Law of Attraction allows you to reach goals and achieve happiness but it doesnâ€℠¢t mean that you won’t have to work hard for it. It is not some spell that will automatically grant your wishes. Be more grounded and realize that you are the ultimate power here, only you can take the steps and think the thoughts that will make a difference in your life. Question:  It’s hard not to be immobilized when so much change is required, so anything that could give me a daily kick start would be helpful, so when faced with negative thoughts etc, I could cling to the words of the day to keep me focused and strong in my conviction.Answer:  You can start writing out your own thoughts of the day. Every morning take 5 minutes while still in bed and think about your day, visualize what you would want it to be like, what are the main thoughts you would want to hold in your mind, then get up and write it down. Here you have your own thought of the day. I also highly recommend signing up for notes from the Universe at  http://www. tut. com. I love getting their d aily little reminders. Question: Why is it so easy to attract negative problems and so hard even with a good outlook for long periods of time, so hard to attract positive things?Answer: Do you see that this is the belief of yours that you keep reinforcing? You believe that it is hard for you to attract positive things and easy to attract negative ones. The Universe aligns itself according to your belief. You need to change the belief. How? Start by simply repeating to yourself–I attract positive experiences in my life easily and effortlessly. I will go over in more detail how you can get rid of your negative beliefs in my future videos and emails. Question:  Should I be doing it all: affirmations, visualization, vision board? Can I just pick one or two ways to manifest my desires?Answer:  Yes, you can definitely choose just one or two that works for you. No need to do it all and stress about it. Just choose what feels right and do it consistently. I highly recommend visua lization. I am going to cover some advanced visualization techniques in my course too. Question:  Getting in alignment is difficult. Can you give some tips? Answer:  You are in alignment when you feel good. Try this exercise-find something in your environment that you feel grateful for. It might be anything-your computer for example. Think about that object, feel really grateful for having it, feel that high vibration,  Ã‚  then move on to nother object. Think of everything that you are grateful for in your life  Ã‚  throughout the day. Not only material things, but your health, your family, your friends, your experiences, for you yourself. There is so much to be grateful for I bet! The more you feel grateful for all the good things you have already in your life the more you align yourself with all the other good things yet to come. Do it often, it works! I will share many more tips and techniques of getting in alignment later. Question:  It is difficult to keep my vibrati on positive and high, because we are surrounded with negative vibration.Answer: See the previous answer. Also there are lots of other things you can do to keep your vibrations high. Do something that you love and truly enjoy every day. Find something small, that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine like listening to your favorite music for example and do it every day. That should help raise your vibrations. Also try to avoid as much of the negativity as you can. Stop watching the news, violent TV shows, etc. All of that stuff doesn’t serve you in any way but putting your vibrations down. Question:  What does it mean â€Å"ask and forget all about it†?Isn? t it a contradiction? Answer:  No it is not a contradiction. When you ask and then let go, you pretty much show the Universe that you have faith, that you know with 100% certainty that what you want is yours already. You get yourself out of the way. Letting go is very important. I will show you some exact techniques on how to do it in my course. Question: I have a lot of doubts about the Law of Attraction and The 11 Forgotten Laws. I really want to know more about these and why the Law of Attraction doesn? t work without these 11 laws.Answer:  I personally don’t think that you need all of the 11 laws to see changes for the better in your life. Even though I read Bob Proctor’s book  11 Forgotten Laws  and think that it is excellent, I don’t think you truly need all of the 11 laws. I do believe that there are a couple of laws that you need to use in addition to the Law of Attraction. Like the Law of Detachment. Learning to truly let go of your desires is a very important skill. You need to let go and get out of the way for your desires to manifest quickly and easily. (source: http://daringclarity. om/law-of-attraction-questions-and-answers) 12 Ways The ‘Law Of Attraction' Can Improve Your Life Psychologists, New Age thinkers and religious leaders have been talking about the  Law Of Attraction  for years, though it gained popularity again when the book â€Å"The Secret† made waves in 2006. The law is simply this: We attract whatever we think about, good or bad. Oprah is a fan of the law and devoted an  episode of her show  to how it could change lives. Whether or not you believe in the power of the universe, there is  scientific research that proves the effects of positive thinking.You attract good or bad experiences based on your thoughts. â€Å"The one who speaks most about illness has illness. The one who speaks about prosperity has prosperity,† Esther and Jerry Hicks write. â€Å"You attract all of it. † By focusing on something, you make it happen. Thinking about something means you invite it in, even if you don't want it. â€Å"When you think a little thought of something that you want, through the Law of Attraction, that thought grows larger and larger, and more and more powerful,† according to the book. So keep your thoughts positive.The more you focus on something, the more powerful it becomes. This allows you to create your own reality by â€Å"attracting† the experiences you want to have. You probably brought bad things upon yourself by worrying about them, according to the laws described in the book. It's better to trust your emotions than over-think a decision. In other words: Listen to your intuition. Instead of overthinking your choices, let your emotions guide you toward what is right and what is wrong. This will result in a more satisfying life. You can make good things happen more quickly by thinking about them more.. Want† and â€Å"desire† consist of wanting â€Å"to focus attention, or give thought toward a subject, while at the same time experiencing positive emotion. When you give your attention to a subject and you feel only positive emotion about it as you do so, it will come very quickly into your experience,† the Hicks write. To make a change, you've got to see things as you hope them to be, not as they are. This is something that successful people know about. It's also called visualization. Michael Phelps  spoke about  picturing himself winning every night before bed. In order to effect true positive change in your experience, you must disregard how things are — as well as how others are seeing you — and give more of your attention to the way you prefer things to be,† the book says. You can increase your magnetic power by devoting time to â€Å"powerful thinking. † each day. Spend 15 minutes every day thinking hard about your goals, dreams and what you want from life. The Hicks say this increases your chances for success. Success isn't a finite resource; everyone can have it. Others being successful doesn't limit your success.And by attracting abundance to yourself, you are not limiting another, according to the book. Don't allow yourself to wallow in disappo intment. Being disappointed only attracts more stuff to be upset about and is only a sign that you're not getting what you want in life. So think about how to get what you want instead of what you don't have. Avoid TV shows that deal with negative experiences like crime or illness. Letting this stuff in makes you think about it more and increases the odds it could happen to you. â€Å"Your attention to anything is drawing it closer to you,† they say.Know that your relationships with people are bad because you made them that way. Giving your attention to the negative can wreak havoc on personal relationships. This mentality can help free us from bad relationships with relatives or a spouse. â€Å"Nothing can come into your experience without your personal attraction to it,† they say. Don't worry about what you're dreaming; instead use your dreams as a guide. Dreams might provide some insight into the psyche, but you're not in the process of â€Å"creating† while you're asleep, the book says. Also check these links Law Of Attraction Exercises ttp://ezinearticles. com/? 3-Advanced-Law-of-Attraction-Exercises-to-Manifest-Wealth;id=961248 http://www. lawofattraction123. com/law-of-attraction-exercises. html Popular Law Of Attraction Books http://www. goodreads. com/shelf/show/law-of-attraction http://www. ehow. com/how_4906557_use-law-attraction. html Modern Teachers of the Law of Attraction Rhonda Bhyrne ~ ‘The Secret' Wayne Dyer ~ ‘Manifesting your Destiny' Jerry and Esther Hicks (Teachings of Abraham) ~ ‘The Law of Attraction' Louise L. Hay ~ ‘You Can Heal Your Life' Neale Donald Walsch ~ ‘Conversations With God'