Method #1: Have a Common Mission

Without a common mission, all teams will eventually disintegrate and become entirely ineffective. This mission is defined most clearly by a set of shared values among members of the team-be it contribution, determination, altruism, loyalty, or any other value. When developing a high performance team, make certain that you enlist the services of employees that share a similar value set on some fundamental level. After all, team direction and level of motivation is determined by the amount of shared values within the team.

Some possible shared values for high performing teams include:

A. Value-oriented interactions: high performing teams put a high priority on adding value to every interaction with both customers and other team members. This value can take the form of tangible assets (improved outcomes and measures) or intangibles (increased employee cohesion, improved customer satisfaction).

B. Honesty-high performing teams value honesty, as it provides for clear and workable communication. It also provides a process for readily available constructive feedback.

C. Integrity-enough said!

Method #2: Designate Roles

Everybody has something they excel at. To that end, it is essential that you first understand what your team assets are, particularly with regards to desired work-related outcomes and tasks to be fulfilled. All corporations can benefit from a thorough analysis (usually upon entry into the company, but effective hiring process is another article in and of itself!) whereby employee strengths are readily available for team use.

Once employee strengths are understood, it is important to assign roles and tasks on a deliberate basis. These tasks are derived from desired outcomes, which result from corporate strategic goals. Working backwards from tasks, assign employees to an area of primary strength. Company effectiveness can be improved by a minimum of ten percent (my unscientific estimate) in any statistic or metric by using this simple technique.

Overall, it is important to remember that team members are most valuable where they add the most value, as we discussed earlier.

Method #3: Build Individual and Collective Accountability

Accountability is an oft-discussed but seldom understood concept. In fact, accountability is one area where most teams fall apart, leaving management to wonder why they continue to fail and meet expectations.

Once you have done a thorough job of understanding your employee strengths and delegating according to desired outcomes (which should always be tied to strategic goals) you will need to build in BOTH quantitative and qualitative methods for assigning employee responsibilities. Quantitative methods might include task-specific statistics, whilst qualitative methods might include process reviews, 360 evals, etc. Both are important, as they usually provide convergent information. Utilizing both methods for accountability allows management to pinpoint areas of remediation for specific teams and individual employees.

Of course, it is essential that these methods for building accountability include an agreement and schedule for regular and constructive feedback

Application of the above principles will enable you to build a high-performing team-whereby collective efforts are synergistic and concentration, as opposed to typical efforts (usually by committees, which are usually a waste of resources due to their ineffectiveness) which serve to dilute and misuse the resources available.

Copyright (2005). Leif H. Smith. All rights reserved.

Title and Author: The 4 Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss – Book Review

Synopsis of Content:

The overriding theme of what Ferriss calls T4HWW (The 4 Hour Workweek) is the idea that we have it all wrong in killing ourselves by working 50+ hours a week and only taking two weeks’ vacation a year, if any, and saving all the good times for “retirement” to occur at some uncertain time in old age. Ferriss argues that with some work and lifestyle adjustments it is entirely possible to reduce work hours significantly, take frequent “mini-retirements” of three to six months or more, and enjoy life thoroughly before any thought of old age sets in.

To that end he offers various tips and techniques for working from home, automating your business or your work through over-seas outsourcing and software and stopping the accumulation of a lot of “stuff” and replace that with a lot of really interesting and enriching experiences.

For example rather than work all week to pay for toys like boats and campers and fancy cars you can rent an apartment in Berlin, enjoy their local culture, learn their language and have many European adventures. Or you could rent a place in a South American city and do the same. You could just as easily choose from Asian options. You can move from one to the other. The opportunities are endless and they often cost less than living in the US.

Although this book is primarily aimed at Americans it could apply to people from any nation. The book operates on two levels. On one level it offers a kind of vagabond life with few strings or connections that might appeal to a young single person but may not appeal at all to families with children. On another level he offers many tips, tricks and techniques for reducing your work load and enjoying your own time.

His work reduction ideas can work well for people in information businesses like writers and designers. It may also be adaptable to certain professionals who do not need to see their customers to serve them.

For people who are in brick and mortar retail businesses or are professionals who serve a clientele who expects personal contact most of Ferriss’ ideas just do not work. Most medical providers, government employees and retail workers could not reduce their hours on the job because they are paid in part for the face time they spend “at the job”. You can only do so much with automated systems and from a laptop at a coffee shop.

At best this book will challenge you to think outside the box about your career and how you spend your time. It offers many tips and ideas that many can use to improve their work and personal lives. It offers ideas that make international travel more feasible than many may think it is. On the negative side adopting the Ferriss model entirely would be highly disruptive to most people and deprive families of the stability and connectedness to a home neighborhood that so many value very highly.

And the 4 hour work week – well some could pull that off using nearly all his techniques. But for most of us it is an illusion. Because it is technically possible and apparently Ferriss has lived it I cannot call it totally misleading – but for many the changes needed to get there would be at too high a cost.

Readability/Writing Quality:

The writing style is very good. It is easy to read. It is well organized and uses real life examples of how others have adopted his ideas. Ferriss is also very funny and will make you laugh at least once in each chapter.

Notes on Author:

Tim Ferriss is a writer and entrepreneur who has written for a number of newspapers and magazines including the Wall Street Journal and Business Week. He is also a guest lecturer and runs his own multinational firm since 2003.

Three Great Ideas You Can Use:

1. To the extent that you can take extended working vacations or mini retirements you can enrich your life and avoid burn out in a job.

2. Most of us do not make major lifestyle changes or travel extensively because we do not understand how to and because of fear. With adequate planning and proper technique we can lead far more interesting lives and travel the world unless we choose to stay in jobs that forbid it.

3. You can liberate yourself from many mundane tasks from reviewing email to paying your bills by outsourcing it either to trusted sources in the US or more affordably to companies in India and Asia. Ferriss explains how to do this and how not to.

Publication Information:

The 4 Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss, copyright 2007, 2009 by Tim Ferriss. Published by Crown Publishing, a division of Random House.

Rating for this Book

Overall Rating for Book: Very Good

Writing Style: Easy to read and understand.

Usefulness: Parts of the book will be useful to almost anyone. Other parts of the book may be of limited usefulness depending on one’s limitations and choices.

A Power of Attorney is a binding legal document, one that effectively allows someone you nominate to make certain kinds of decision and act on your behalf. Powers of Attorney are usually used if you either become unable to work for yourself, or you do not wish to act for yourself.

There are many reasons why you might choose to make one, including being out of the country or hospitalised for an extended period and you need someone to mind your assets while you are away; or to protect yourself and your assets should you lose mental capacity.

However, a lot of us put this job off due to, among other things, certain misconceptions.

This article aims to debunk some of the most commonly held misconceptions regarding a Power of Attorney.

Misconception One: Attorneys, once nominated, cannot do whatever they like

This is one of the main fears people have about giving someone else control over their assets. However, it is entirely unfounded as attorneys are heavily restricted in what they can and cannot do.

There are various checks and balances in place to make sure an attorney does not abuse their position, including a set of rules regarding getting the power registered so it can be used at all.

The first set of restrictions come from you. When creating a power, specifically a lasting power, there is an opportunity for you to put as many or as little restrictions on your attorneys. For example, if you are setting up a financial lasting power, to allow our relatives to look after your finances should you lose capacity, then you can state clearly on the paperwork that while your attorneys can do X, Y & Z they cannot sell your home, or they must all decide together before spending an amount over £X.

The second set of restrictions comes from the Office of the Public Guardian which lay down clear rules for how an attorney must behave, including preventing them acting outside the power given in the power and making sure they always act in the donor’s best interest.

Misconception Two: You must use the Power of Attorney the moment it is made, or You cannot make a Power of Attorney until you know you will need it soon.

A lot of us put this job off as we are not in the position where we need it now or (to our knowledge) in the imminent future.

Unfortunately, life doesn’t always give you warnings and powers of attorney are not just for the elderly who may have concerns about dementia. Anything can happen that could cause you to need an attorney immediately, including a sudden and unexpected hospital admittance, an unplanned trip out of the country, or, tragically, an accident which causes you to lose capacity.

It is wise to create a power long before it is needed, especially a lasting power of Attorney (expressly designed for a loss of capacity).

It is entirely possible to write and sign a lasting power but keep hold of it until you need it or want to use it. This is because for a Lasting power to be used it must be registered until it is registered it is just a piece of paper with no power or purpose, and it can sit in a drawer until needed.

You could easily create and sign a Lasting power when you are in your 30’s and not register it until you need it in your 70’s.

Misconception Three: You can wait until someone loses capacity before making a Lasting Power of Attorney

This ties in with the above misconception and is completely wrong. Making this mistake can cost you and your loved one’s thousands of pounds.

To make a lasting power or a general power the person making it must have capacity. There is no way around this. If you lose capacity, you cannot make a Power of Attorney and your loved ones must apply for what is called a Guardianship of you and your assets, which costs over a thousand pounds and takes several months to sort out.

Considering that you could put together a power yourself for free or use a solicitor for £200 (depending on the firm, shop around) it should be a no brainer that this is the superior document.

It is also worth noting that if you make a general power and then lose capacity your general power loses all its power. If you had made a lasting power when you had capacity then subsequently lose capacity your attorneys can register the Lasting Power of Attorney with the Office of the Public Guardian immediately and start helping you with your finances and care.

Misconception Four: A Power of Attorney is for Life

This simply is not true.

There are different types of Power of Attorney, Lasting and General. Lasting powers (you might have guessed from the name) are usually long term. However, a general power is not.

A general power is a document that you can set up to allow someone to look after an affair of yours while you are not able to, if, for example, you are out of the country, hospitalised for a few months or unable to leave the house for a while. A general power gives someone else authority to act on your behalf for a particular reason, to perform a specific task or for a specific length of time. As soon as you become able to manage your affairs again, you can destroy the general power.

Misconception Five: You can only have one attorney

The role of attorney is challenging at times, and there is a lot of responsibility.

So rather than put all of that responsibility onto one individual you can spread that about by having more than one attorney. This second person is called a joint attorney.

You can appoint any number of attorneys in the same power, and you can specify if they can act on their own separately or if they must cooperate and come together to decide. You can have them act jointly on some issues such as sale of property but have them work singly on all other matters there is a lot of flexibility, and it is entirely up to you.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is a lot to consider when making a Power of Attorney, but it is not a decision that should be put off.

For those who have rarely used Xactimate or for some who use it but only perform line item estimation, you are short changing yourself. One of the most useful features that Xactimate ever put into the software was the ability to do graphical estimation, or ‘drag and drop estimation’.

To my knowledge there has yet to be a Insurance Carrier that will allow you to turn in an estimate with out some type of drawing of the room(s), elevations, or roof. So with that being said, once you learn graphical estimation it will make things that much easier when writing your estimate.

One of the keys to being able to graphically estimate is the ability to use the different tools that were built into the software. One of these tools is the square break tool, which we will be our focus here.

The square break tool is exactly what it says it is– a tool utilized to break bigger squares into multiple smaller squares. This tool really comes in handy when you are trying to add a closet to a room, or even add an entire new room. The square break tool allows you to move onto any wall you choose and break that wall at desired points.

Due to the ability of this tool you can quickly manipulate a room to give it characteristics other than a perfectly square or rectangle room. This is how you add an offset or a closet– or an entirely new room.

Once you choose a wall that you want to break, the next key is selecting the break points. When trying to break a wall you can start at a corner or you can start anywhere you want. If you do not start in a corner then you will be creating a triple break in a room instead of a double. This will allow you to pull or push any of the three points in the break to your desired width, which will create an offset.

Now if you hold down the control key while you perform the last action, you will be creating an entirely new room off of the room you were just working in.

Honeybees cannot be domesticated in the sense that cows or pigs or sheep have been. They are essentially unchanged by man, despite many attempts to breed them to suit our needs. Their unique mating behaviour and reproductive cycle ensure that diversity and adaptability will continue to be the dominant themes in their evolution.

As I see it, our main job as bee keepers – or bee guardians, or bee herders – is to be observant and to understand our bees to the best of our ability. We cannot fully enter into their world, but we have the opportunity to gain a greater appreciation of it. And once we begin to understand how deeply embedded they are within the natural world, and what sensitive indicators they are of disturbances in the natural world, we may find ourselves unable to image a functional planet without them.

So before launching headlong into the keeping of bees, I would urge you to take a deep breath and consider what it is that really interests you about them, as this will give you some important information about how best to proceed. An hour or two of careful deliberation at this stage could save you weeks or months of time, trouble and money.

To help you decide where you stand on the ‘beekeeping spectrum’, I have identified six types of bee keeping, three of which fall on the ‘conventional’ and three on the ‘natural’ side:

• Honey farming: production-focused, intensive management of bees for maximum honey yield or for migratory pollination. Typically involves routine sugar feeding and prophylactic medications, including antibiotics and miticides. Queens are usually raised using artificial insemination and replaced frequently, while drones are suppressed and swarming is prevented by the excision of queen cells or by splitting colonies. Usually involves some movement of hives, sometimes over large distances. This is a business run for profit, but like other agricultural work, there will be good years and bad.
• Sideline beekeeping: a smaller-scale, part-time version of honey farming. The principal aim is profit, but your livelihood may not entirely depend on it.
• Association beekeeping: a miniature version of commercial or sideline beekeeping, as promoted and taught by most bee keepers’ associations. Usually the intention is still to produce the maximum amount of honey, but from fewer hives and not necessarily for financial reward. Queens are often marked and clipped and in most other respects the methods ape those of the honey farmer.
• Balanced beekeeping: the emphasis is on bee welfare and facilitating the natural behaviour of bees, with the intention of providing conditions in which bees may find their own solutions. Restrained taking of honey and other bee products only when plentiful and appropriate. Beekeepers may or may not use mite treatments or medications, but if they do, they use non-toxic, natural substances that support bee health rather than target specific disorders. Queens are open-mated, splits optional and swarming may or may not be managed.
• Natural beekeeping: similar to ‘balanced beekeeping’, with the emphasis on ‘do-nothing’ approaches. Little or no management is attempted, and rarely are splits made or queen-rearing conducted beyond what the bees do themselves. Hives are rarely opened; routine inspections are discouraged; honey is rarely taken; other hive products barely at all.
• Conservation beekeeping: bees for their own sake; no honey taken and no inspections, treatments or feeding. Bees do as they please and take their chances with the weather and forage. Bee-friendly plants may be incorporated in a conservation-style scheme, which may include other pollinator species.

While I have shown these as distinct categories, they should really be thought of as segments of a continuous spectrum, from most to least invasive and from most to least ‘production-focused’. It is also possible – at least, in theory – for a honey producer to operate apiaries along ‘Darwinian’ lines – with no medication and relying on survivor stock – thus closing the circle.

You may notice that in the above list I have not mentioned any particular types of hive. While it is true that certain designs are more suitable for specific applications, it is possible to be a ‘balanced beekeeper’ using a conventional frame hive, and in France there are honey farmers using Warré hives – a vertical variant of the top bar hive, which was designed for honey production.

It would also be perfectly possible to be an ‘interfering’ beekeeper in a top bar hive, so I don’t think it is useful to categorize beekeepers purely by the shape of their hives or even their personality traits: it is their intention and attitude toward their bees that matters.

The origins of ‘natural beekeeping’

Some of you who have read my books and are familiar with my methods may be wondering why I appear to be creating a category of beekeeping – apparently out of thin air – just as we had become used to using the term ‘natural beekeeping’. Where did this ‘balanced beekeeping’ thing come from?

The term ‘natural beekeeping’ was first (to my knowledge) openly discussed at a meeting of about a dozen interested people at the offices of Bees for Development in Monmouth in 2009. We were trying to find a generic term for what we were all attempting – in slightly different ways – to achieve, and to differentiate ourselves from the conventional methods as widely taught in the UK and elsewhere. While we recognized the paradox hard-wired into the term, we also felt that it encouraged discussion and drew attention to the distinctions we were keen to make.

Ever since that meeting, there has been an on-going discussion about what ‘natural beekeeping’ actually means – given that no keeping of bees is entirely natural – and just how natural we should be, and what is unnatural about conventional methods. This conversation has generated further distinctions and it has become clear to me that some ‘natural’ beekeepers have come down – at least tentatively – on the ‘no interventions’ side of the fence, preferring to observe bees and keep them in containers not designed to be opened very often – or at all, in some cases – while others want to keep bees in a way that still allows for some measure of swarm control, compliance with inspection requirements and with the possibility of the removal of some honey when plentiful.

In short, ‘natural beekeeping’ seems to have shifted towards the ‘conservation’ end of the spectrum and created a gap between itself and the ‘amateur beekeeping’ promoted by conventional bee keeping associations. This is the gap in which, I suggest, ‘balanced beekeeping’ happily sits.

Balanced beekeeping: bridging the gap

Balanced beekeeping, therefore, allows for the use of a wide range of equipment and methods, while tending to prefer the ‘natural’ over the conventional. It is for people who want to do more than just observe bees: they want to be bee ‘keepers’ rather than just bee ‘havers’; they want a more intimate relationship with their bees than is allowed by never opening the hive – while understanding that this should always be done mindfully and not too often. They want to keep healthy bees without resorting to medications, but they also are happy for the bee inspector to call occasionally and check their charges for signs of disease. If a hive becomes bad-tempered and begins to cause a nuisance to neighbours, they are willing and able to replace the queen if appropriate, or move the hive to another location. When combs become black with age and propolis, they can easily remove them. If a hive becomes honey-bound, they can rectify the problem. They know how to raise a few extra queens – should it become necessary – and they can tell when a colony needs some extra feeding and can provide it: they recognize that beekeeping is both a science and an art and constantly strive to improve their skills.

So the point of balance is somewhere between doing too much and doing nothing; being over-controlling and letting nature take its course; being a bee-farmer and a bee-watcher.

I would suggest that the three principles I outlined in The Barefoot Beekeeper fully apply to this sector and there is still no need for a ‘book of rules’ – everyone can decide exactly where the balance is for themselves.

Balanced beekeeping is about working with the natural impulses and habits of the bees, respecting the integrity of the brood chamber, leaving them ample honey stores over winter and generally arranging things in order to cause their bees as little stress and disturbance as possible, while being willing and able to intervene when the bees need help or when their activities are causing a nuisance to others.

Compared to the more ‘honey-focused’ approaches, more time is spent observing the bees and some operations may need to be performed a little more often: honey harvesting, for example, is likely to be done by taking smaller amounts over a period of weeks or months, rather than the typical all-at-once, smash-and-grab raid practised by honey farmers and most amateurs.

We do not aim to extract every possible drop of honey from a hive. We respect the bees’ need to eat their own stores – especially over the winter – and regard sugar syrup as an inferior supplement to be given only when bees are short of their own food, due to prolonged bad weather or other causes.

Supporting other species

Our natural allies are gardeners, smallholders and especially those who understand and use the principles of permaculture, which are also the principles of nature. A mutually beneficial and sustainable relationship with our bees must be based on such a truly holistic approach: we need to learn more about how the colony works as a complete, living entity and the manifold ways in which it interacts with its environment, with us and with other living things. For too long we have been locked into an un-balanced, old-fashioned, reductionist approach, dealing with bees as if they were mere machines created solely for our benefit, instead of highly-evolved, wild creatures, with which we are privileged to work.

I believe that keeping bees for honey should be small-scale, local and carried out in the spirit of respect for the bees and appreciation of the vital part they play in our agriculture and in the natural world. I disapprove of large-scale, commercial beekeeping because it inevitably leads to a ‘factory farming’ mentality in the way bees are treated, handled and robbed. I believe we should think of honey much less as a food and much more as a medicine, and adjust our consumption accordingly. We should not expect to see supermarket shelves piled high with jars of honey from around the world, as if it were jam or peanut butter. Honey should be valued as the product of innumerable bee-miles and the assimilation of priceless nectar from myriad flowers.

An important aspect of ‘balance’ is to ensure that our activities as beekeepers do not have a negative impact on other species. Honeybees evolved to live in colonies distributed across the land according to the availability of food and shelter. Forcing 20, 50, 100 or more colonies to share the territory that – at most – half a dozen would naturally occupy is bound to lead to concentrations of diseases and parasites. Unnaturally large concentrations of honeybees can also threaten the forage and thus the very existence of other important pollinating insects, such as bumblebees, mason bees and the many other species that benefit both wild and cultivated plants. This means that we do not over-stock any location and we create habitat for other species, which may take the form of ‘bee hotels’ or simply piles of old wood and leaves. Anything that is done to improve the environment for honeybees will also be beneficial to other pollinators.

Having a deep appreciation of the interconnectedness of all living things, and an understanding of the impact our own species has had and is still having, leads us inevitably to the conclusion that we have a responsibility towards everything that walks or crawls or slithers on the earth or beneath it, or that swims in the sea or flies in the air, and shares this precious planet with us. As bee keepers, we have a special responsibility to also be ‘earth-keepers’.

A relatively unknown fact is that Architect Frank Lloyd Wright frequently designed clothes to coordinate with the colors, patterns and style of his clients’ homes. (Hmmm…What a surprise this would be to the guest, after one too many martinis, to realize that he has been discussing the origin of man with the kitchen wall.) It also has been claimed that one way to determine a client’s color preferences is to simply look beyond the skeleton’s in the closet to the colors on the hangars. This concept begs me to to wonder why I haven’t been inclined to paint my home as well as those of any of my clients in a range of matte to to high gloss enamel black or, as another option, white with Ralph Lauren’s faux denim. (So, let’s presume that if this method really worked the profession of residential interior design would quickly become obsolete.) But there is one final method worthy of mentioning, since it has has reclaimed itself as the trendy answer and is found in the ancient art of Feng Shui. Here you can achieve appropriate color and good karma simultaneously with ultimate modern efficiency.

Letting the cynic in me subside, I am not proposing to entirely cast aside these methods, ancient and modern, but would like to also consider other guidelines which will take into account the natural lighting conditions, color effects, and recent color trends as another solution to selecting paint.

SELECTING COLORS THAT WORK:

Natural Lighting: Clearly, more light brightens and accentuates while less creates shadows and dulls color. However, one color on a wall could be entirely different on another due to natural lighting conditions that also shift and effect color values throughout the day. The direction of each room will also need to be considered since northern exposure rooms receive more cool blue casts while southern exposures receive warmer reds and yellows. Although many color guidelines advise against using the same cast of color this will be, in the final analysis, a personal choice. (De gustibus, non est disputandum.) Blues in eastern facing exposures can also be brilliant and comfortable due to the natural cool effects of light. Fire red on a southern exposure wall can also create high impact appropriate for a particular room that demands a dramatic effect. So, whether or not you use a cooler color to tone down a southern exposure or a warmer color to support it will rely ultimately upon the effect you are trying to achieve.

Color Intensity: Another challenge is how to imagine the effect that one inch paint sample will have across the entire room. If your room receives a lot of natural light consider toning down the intensity by lightening or neutralizing it. Otherwise the effect could be too extreme for comfort.Color Trends: Color impacts everything from cars to make-up to upholstery, clothes and well, just name it. Understanding these trends will help determine when to put an out-dated color to rest and provide newly improved alternatives. At this time the darker neutrals have replaced the lighter ones, especially darker taupes. Also new to the map are slate and charcoal grays as a savvy alternative to taupe and a subdued version of the impossible black. Camel is and will remain the classic and sophisticated neutral that works with every color. All three options work beautifully with bolder trendy accent colors in the red, orange, turquoise and avocado range. Let’s turn to effects of color and some of many recommendations provided by Benjamin Moore.

Psychological Effects of Color:

While color impacts our mood and behavior, it also reflects our personality and desires. First, consider what effect you trying to achieve. Many answers can be achieved initially by simply describing how you would like to perceive your room. Below are a few of the symbolic associations attached to color with a few trendy color recommendations by Benjamin Moore.

Red: Love and heat. Aggressive and bold. Courageous. A good luck and fame color in Feng Shui. It both attracts attention and creates excitement, while being expressive, rejuvenating, and passionate. Try Benjamin Moore: Fuchsine 1343 or Coral Essence 2007-40.

Pink: Feminity, softness, sensitivity, faithfulness. Try Benjamin Moore: Victorianna 1263 for subtler pink.

Orange: A bold and high energy color of nature. It is the out-going color: friendly, cheerful, and happy. It creates order without being overly-controlling. It can also decrease irritability. Try Benjamin Moore: Tangerine Zing 132, Tangerine Fusion 083, or Peach Brandy 112.

Yellow: Great color to promote study. It is cheerful, optimistic and stimulates memory and mental clarity. However, like the sun, only minimum exposure required. This is a difficult color for the eye to process. Try Benjamin Moore: Firefly 299 or Malton 1073.Green: Life and nature. A powerful and popular color that is easy on the eyes. It is a color of relaxation and comfort, balance and harmony. Darker green represents ambition and prosperity, envy, rejuvenation, moderation, concentration, and security. Try Benjamin Moore: Glacier Lake 867, Four Leaf Clover 573, or Trailing Vines 1505.

Blue: Tranquil and inspiring like the clear blue sky. Like water, it is refreshing and renewing. Symbolic of trust and longevity, also associated with leisure, authority and strength. Light blue reflects patience and dark blue, impulsivity. Try Benjamin Moore: Waterfall 2050-50, Tropical Teal 734, Blue Jean 2062-50 or Ash Blue 2057-40.

Purple: The color of royalty. It contains romance, imagination, passion, and spirituality and encourages wisdom, reverence, inspiration, and quietness. This is the color of elegance and mystery. Color of the season is Benjamin Moore: Frozen in Time 1448.

Black: Noncommittal. Color of sophistication, elegance, dignity, and power, while reflecting aloofness and mystery.

White: Perfect balance and color with hidden values. Indicates purity, sterility, sharpness, and spirituality. It encompasses the entire color spectrum. Tone it down with Benjamin Moore: Super White 02.

Gray: Both black and white, it lacks in assertiveness, but compensates by revealing intelligence and a sense of discipline, and self-reliance. Try Benjamin Moore: Ashland Slate 1608.

Brown: Conveys warmth and comfort, genuineness, solidarity, and masculinity. Try Benjamin Moore El Cajon Clay 1260 or neutral top pick Grege Avenue 991.

Certainly the home is true reflection of ourselves, our beliefs and aspirations, so take care, choose wisely and know thyself!

Are you on the right track to achieve success? Stop for a while, take a look at the map, see the directions, consult somebody or look for assistance.

After that start your journey towards the ways to be successful with full self-confidence.

I mean do so without the tiniest doubt of being derailed.

Their tracks are entirely different from each other leading to various destinations; the location of success and the location of failure.

Either one can learn the best ways to be successful or take an incorrect track doom and gloom, but the best secret to achieve success is to keep oneself on the ideal path.

A very sharp, clear and bright picture of where you are heading is great motivation for an enthusiastic individual to remain vigilant and keep himself focused on the right path versus all odds and obstacles.

It’s true that absolutely nothing can be achieved without effort, however, effort alone can not guarantee you to achieve success.

The world is full of poorly paid unskilled workers who are working hard, but not getting enough benefit.

Striving without planning is similar to taking an elevator from the middle of a multi-story structure without knowing which floor you really need to get off at.

It can take you to the leading floor or ground you in the basement.

The majority of people are not able to set goals and objectives simply due to the fact that they have no future vision, no huge dreams and no specific success strategies.

These poor, miserable people have no choice, but to follow the crowd aimlessly.

The unfortunate part of the story is that the crowd is growing larger day-by-hopeless-day without having anyone to lead them to the ideal path to achieve success.

Enjoying the Success Process

Previously I discussed how many were having fun, for example, trading penny stocks and that as a hobby were finding success.

When we can put some enjoyment into what we’re chasing after being successful seems to be a result.

Due to the fact that many can not commit themselves fully to the job they are appointed to, these directionless people are lost and don’t know for sure what they want.

No surprise, these people are frequently fired by their companies, remain mostly unemployed, survive on social welfare and other public assistance and charities, broke in the end and ultimately buried under heavy debt.

One must distinguish between right-minded and wrong-minded; either achieve success or settle for failure.

The Course in Miracles states, “You are the mirror of truth, in which God Himself shines in perfect light. To the ego’s dark glass you say but need, ‘I will not look there because I know these images are not true’.”

Bringing Passion and Purpose to the Scene

Because we are not allowing the light of our passion and purpose to be in charge, far too often we as humans are filled with uncertainty of the dark.

You just need to keep inspired and keep on moving to the destination you set for yourself when you are on the path of certainty.

The desperate and dark travels through life many take are entirely different from each other leading to different destinations; to achieve success or the destination of mediocrity.

Either one can be on the ideal track to achieve success, or on the path where wealth creation is never accepted into the mind.

The millionaire secrets will help to keep you OFF the wrong-minded track, where you can never find ways to be successful in life, no matter how much effort one puts in.

Effort needs to be invested in keeping yourself inspired and continually reprogramming the subconscious when you are on the right-minded track with a millionaire mindset.

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Continuing my assessment of the work of Patricia Highsmith’s five Ripley novels, I review two recent movies, one with Matt Damon, “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and the other with George Malkovich, “Ripley’s Game.” Both of them were entertaining movies, but both took liberties with their source material, Highsmith’s novels. I also review the script of “Talented” by Anthony Minghella and show how he drastically altered the book’s content to fit his film concept.

“The Talented Mr. Ripley” – Screenplay

The screenplay and movie of “The Talented Mr. Ripley” are, in their own rights, excellent and quite effective, but they are a decided departure from Patricia Highsmith’s novel. We all know that the motion picture is an entirely different medium from the world of the novel, but some of the changes screenwriter Anthony Minghella made are questionable.

The novel deals so much with Ripley’s inner existence (it’s told entirely from his perspective) that it calls for the adaptor to externalize and use devices which will bring out what is going on in Tom Ripley’s warped mind; otherwise we’d have a movie of too many voice-overs. Some of the alterations used, I think, would not appeal to Highsmith, but the motion picture is an art unto itself which must externalize and make visual what is going on in the psyche.

A good line in the movie from Tom is “it’s better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody.”

Marge in the novel does not confront Ripley with Dickey’s murder as she did in the movie, and Dickie never said he was going to marry her. In the book Tom’s gayness is not as open as it is in the movie, but it is certainly there. In the novel Ripley commits “only” two murders, whereas in the movie he commits three.

The movie makes Freddie Miles much more of a presence than he is in the novel, more of an instigator who dislikes Tom and is opposed to him. He has Tom figured out, whereas in the book they don’t see very much of each other. Meredith, a major character in the movie, and Peter Smith Kingsley do not appear in the novel.

In one sense, because of the importance of all these other characters, Tom gets subordinated. Dickie is an amateur painter in the novel; in the flick he plays the sax. In the novel toward the end Ripley is almost always alone. He’s hemmed in by people in the film.

In the movie Dickie is a much more sexually active heterosexual. In the book there is no Silvana who finds herself with child.

Dickie says that one of Ripley’s gestures is spooky. If only he knew how spooky Ripley would become. Tom Ripley at times is like Uriah Heep, slavish, picking up things after his idol. Tom tells Dickie right off the bat, supposedly in jest, that he’s a forger, a liar, an impersonator.

In the movie there is more of a tone of a gay relationship although one-sided on Tom’s part. It’s a great movie script in its own right but a quite divergent adaptation of a brilliant introspective novel.

“The Talented Mr. Ripley” Movie/DVD

This is a beautifully crafted movie with fine acting, insightful direction, brilliant cinematography, and an artful script. The Italian locations are beautiful and striking. In its own realm of cinema, it is a superb production.

What interests me most, though, is how the film differs from Patricia Highsmith’s fine novel. The film medium should not slavishly follow another art form, the novel, but should it veer so far off course as this one? We know that Highsmith was not too happy with film interpretations of her work, but we wonder how she would have reacted to this. She died in 1995; this came out in 1999.

Anthony Minghella, director and screenwriter, took considerable liberties with the source material. In the movie Tom commits three murders rather than the two in the novel. He is gayer in the movie while he is more closeted in the book. The character of Freddie (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is more sinister, nastier, and more important in the movie. Meredith, a key player in the movie, is non-existent, and Tom does not have a love affair with Peter Smyth Kingsley.

In the book Dickie paints rather than plays the saxophone. He has no local girlfriend whom he gets with child. In the book Marge has no accusation scene with Tom and is far more passive. In the movie Dickie’s father cedes his son’s inheritance to Tom; in the book Tom steals it by forging the son’s signature. And so it goes.

Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf steals the movie while a toothy and bespectacled Damon, though he does a fine job, seems more a witness than participant in the first part of movie. Tom is always trying to ingratiate himself with Dickie while Dickie often shows his complete disdain for him, calling him spooky, creepy, and a leech. Tom openly admits to his idol that he forges, lies, and does impersonations. Later, of course, he becomes Dickie for a time. Tom reads too much sexual meaning into some of Dickie’s actions.

The movie is so different from the book that the viewer/reader experiences Tom in two separate Ripley universes.

The movie makes Tom more guilt-ridden than the book in which he jettisons his conscience.

It’s an engrossing movie experience, well-acted with beautiful cinematography, but Highsmith purists may not be happy with the adaptation.

“Purple Noon” with Alain Delon was a movie based upon “Talented” in French.

“Ripley’s Game” Movie/DVD

“Ripley’s Game,” a movie version of the Patricia Highsmith novel, like the “Talented Ripley” (the Matt Damon flick) takes considerable liberties with her text. George Malkovich does a fine job in the part of Tom Ripley, although I feel he’s wrong, too effete, for the part. The beginning scene in Berlin, not from the book, is there to establish Tom’s character as a murderer and a crook who does errands for a thief named Reeves (Ray Winstone).

In the movie Ripley’s home is far too elaborate, too much like a palace rather than a country villa. A picture framer, Jonathan Trevanny, makes scurrilous remarks about Tom, and Tom decides to get back at him by setting him up through Reeves as an assassin. Trevanny goes along with the crime because he’s dying of cancer and wants to take care of his wife and son after his death.

In the movie Tom’s wife, Heloise, is his enabler as she is in the last four books of the series, but he didn’t let in her in on his nefarious schemes the way he does in the movie.

The killing scene in the zoo in which Trevanny kills a Russian mob boss is very effective. The picture framer gets talked into a second killing, this time on a train, and Ripley, cool and brutal, true psychopath that he is, turns up to help him. The most powerful scene in the movie: multiple murders in a WC.

Ripley says, “I’m a creation, a gifted improviser. I don’t have a conscience.”

In the last part of the movie the mob bodyguards come after Ripley and Jonathan at Ripley’s mansion, and the movie stays close to the book’s plot.

Judging it as a movie apart from a novel adaptation, it is extremely effective with a brilliant conclusion in which Malkovich at his wife’s harpsichord concert proves by his silences what a fine actor he is.

Dennis Hopper starred in “The American Friend,” another version of this novel.

The term Pecorino designates each of the six Italian cheeses (Romano, Toscano, Sardo, Filiano, Crotonese, and Siciliano) that are so designated as being produced entirely from sheep’s milk. Note that the names correspond with Italian regions or provinces. Also note that American cheeses that are also called Pecorino derive from Cow’s milk because the American dairy system and American tastes are built about cow milk.

As a member of the European Union, Italy acquired legal protection of the process for making the Pecorino cheeses. Pecorino Romano, for example, a cheese developed as a key component of the diet of Roman soldiers, is still hand salted as it ages, just as it was during the time of the Roman Empire. There are variants of these cheeses, mostly due to village traditions of adding some kind of nut, truffles, or honey to the cheese. Some additives cross boldly into the “What are you thinking?” category, such as the variant called Casu Marzu, in which larvae of a fly (the cheese fly) are embedded into the cheese to cause the cheese to ferment. Casu Marzu literally means “rotten cheese.”

Americans are more familiar with Pecorino Romano. Usually it is labeled as grated Romano Cheese. One sprinkles it onto Italian dishes the same way that Parmesan Cheese is applied. Romano is saltier and sharper, and more so of both the longer that the cheese wheel is aged. Apparently, the Roman soldiers appreciated those qualities that aging produced.

I found three references to cheese or curds (curdled goat milk) in the Christian Bible. Butter is mentioned more often, but cheese does not appear to have been a mainstream food in the Hebrew or the Arab diets. As mentioned, the Romans made and provided cheese to their soldiers’ food rations. Roman government and soldiers were common in Judaea during the time of Jesus’ ministry. So, the Hebrews knew of it as a provision that came with and supported their conqueror. However, a verse in the Old Testament of the Bible reveals a different conclusion about cheese.

Web search 1 Samuel 17:8. The Book of Samuel was authored by Samuel, the Hebrew Prophet who lived between 1070 and 1012 BC (the number of years before the birth of Jesus, the Christ). Samuel’s time was during the first dynasty of Hebrew Kings (Saul) and more than 500 years before the Romans had an empire. The Hebrew people had occupied the land of Canaan that God had promised to them, settling the land to keep and herd livestock, mostly goats, and to farm. Perhaps cheese, a goat’s milk byproduct, was accepted and used by them.

Until a few days ago, if you had asked me to tell you about Sierra Leone, I would have had to think long and hard to tell you much about this West African country. I could probably have explained roughly where the country is located. I may have mentioned something about the slave trade being connected to Sierra Leone. I could certainly have told you that they had experienced a brutal civil war. I might even have admitted that I wasn’t entirely sure whether the war was 100% over. And that’s about it.

Slavery and war. A pretty negative view of what is in fact an exceptionally positive country. Today, I see Sierra Leone from an entirely different perspective.

It is difficult to ignore Sierra Leone’s history and focus purely on the present. Once a fertile area inhabited by dozens of tribes, it was settled by the Portuguese in the 1400’s who built a fort as a trading post for gold, spices, ivory and slaves. A British protectorate in later years, Sierra Leone had the dubious honour of becoming home to more than 40,000 freed slaves who gave Freetown its name. As a protectorate, Sierra Leone was exploited for its mineral and diamond wealth in the 1900’s and Sierra Leonean’s fought against the Germans in Cameroon in the First World War, and alongside the British in the Second World War. In 1961, Sierra Leone achieved independence from Britain and governed itself peacefully for 30 years. The peace was not to last and was followed by a decade of brutal civil war that destroyed the economy, brutalised the people and left a country that is rich in resources as one of the poorest in the world.

The conflict was officially declared over in January 2002, and President Kabbah reelected in May 2002. Since then, the people of Sierra Leone have been pulling together to repair, renew and regenerate.

Whilst doing research for a new website looking at travel and tourism in Sierra Leone, I came into contact with Sierra Leoneans from all manner of backgrounds living in both Sierra Leone and elsewhere. Their passion for the country was infectious: they clearly wanted to get the message across that Sierra Leone has far more to offer than a sad recent history and that reconstruction is moving ahead at a rapid pace. And indeed, proof of reconstruction is everywhere – new roads are being built, mines are being re-opened, dam projects started before the war are once again underway, markets are once again thriving and humming with life. There is also a great deal of confidence in Sierra Leone’s potential as a tourist destination: a Chinese company has recently invested a reputed US$270 million in the hotel infrastructure; enterprising companies like Kevin McPhillips Travel (based in the UK, USA and the Netherlands) offer exclusive twice weekly flights to Sierra Leone; African Tour specialists are researching viable package holidays in the region. The exciting thing about investment in Sierra Leone is that more is set to follow!

They have a right to be confident. The beaches along Sierra Leone’s golden peninsula are said to be one of the world’s best kept secrets. Secluded, clean and stretching for miles on end, beach tourism is one of the top items on the government’s tourism promotion agenda. Beaches with very British names like Kent, Lumley, Sussex and York mix with more African names like Bureh Town, Tokey and Mammah beach, and

Although many of the forests and much of the wildlife has been disturbed and in some cases, destroyed, by the war, eco-tourism is an important focus of Sierra Leoneans and natural treasures like Outamba-Kilimi National Park, populated by game animals such as elephants, chimpanzees and pigmy hippos, and Mount Bintimani, the highest point in West Africa, are just two of the worthwhile wildlife attractions on offer. Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary rescues orphaned and captured chimps and has been described as one of the most successful Sierra Leonean wildlife endeavours, whilst Tiwai Island is home to over 3000 chimps as well as other game.

Lakes, rivers and dams are perfect for picnics and relaxing. The marshlands hide a myriad of colourful birds – indeed, the bird life has been less affected by the war than the animals, and everywhere you go, the air is filled with birdsong. Sierra Leone is a bird-watchers dream! Tiwai Island for one boasts over 135 different bird species!

For culture vultures and those with historical interests, the remnants of the slave trade make interesting and though-provoking expeditions. Bunce Island, a slave trading fortress, is a brief boat trip up the river; Freetown is itself a monument to freed slaves and its Cotton Tree, which stands in the heart of what is thought to be an old slave market, is now an impressive national symbol. Graves, monuments and forts are all that remain of British and Portuguese power in Sierra Leone: each has a tale to tell. There are over 16 different ethnic groups in the country, including the Krio, descendents of freed slaves who speak an English-based Creole called Krio, and visiting villages and chatting to people in markets and in the streets is rewarding for all parties!

Freetown is probably the most developed of the cities, offering a level of safety that is difficult to match even in Western countries. Hotels, restaurants and nightspots are sprouting like mushrooms, and eating out in Sierra Leone promises a range of traditional and international treats, and seafood that is beyond belief!

One has to wonder what attraction will tip the scales in making Sierra Leone the popular destination that it once was before the civil war. Based on my experiences with Sierra Leoneans in recent weeks, I feel that it will be the people who make the difference. Without exception, every Sierra Leonean that I have met or worked with has been proud of their country, proud of its progress and excited about the future. They are unfailingly welcoming, greeting aid-workers and travellers alike with smiles that you can only find in Africa, with an optimism – no, positivity – that other countries would do well to emulate.

For travellers in search of a “diamond in the rough”, Sierra Leone offers a holiday like no other – my only advice to you is to visit sooner rather than later, to avoid what is sure to be a stampede once holiday-makes and tour operators latch on to this gem of a destination.