The Great American Dream Challenge – Goal-Setting
The Great American Dream Challenge
Pull Quote: "the secret to living a "dream come true" life is to believe in your dream simply because it matters to you."Making Your Dreams Come TrueYears ago, people came to America in pursuit of their dreams-work hard, stay focused and you can achieve the American Dream. For many who have attained the basic American Dream?basic freedom, own a home, own a car, have a family, finding a dream that takes us to the next level of achievement can become a fragmented experience. We want this. We want that. We want everything. And ever since September 11th, we want to feel safer and more connected to family, friends and community.There's never been a more important time to set forth to achieve your dreams. Without dreams and vision, companies and countries fail, and without our personal dreams, hopes and aspirations, life can become meaningless. For this reason, I propose "The Great Dream Challenge" and I encourage you to take advantage of this support system to achieve your dreams.The ChallengeIf we define a dream as something that you want, that has heart and meaning for you and that you believe in, than what are your dreams? Even if you tend to be overly realistic, you still have dreams or things that you want for yourself and others.Whether you have a dream or are in need of a new one, whether your dream is for yourself, your community or the world, this is your chance to act, to get help in making it happen and to support others in doing the same. The Challenge here is simple, yet powerful. Pick a dream, at least one, small or large, personal or professional that matters to you and make the commitment to achieve it (or a portion of it) by a certain date.Here's how The Dream Challenge works:- Identify a dream that you are passionate about-something that matters to you.
- Put it in writing, tell others about it who will support you and is committed to helping you overcome obstacles and achieve results.
- Join an organization or online community that will help you get closer to your dreams through volunteering, helping you to build skills, or providing support.
- Learn to make specific requests that will help you achieve your dreams and then share those resources with others.
- Create a broad "Dream Circle" for support and accountability.
- Take serious action.Many of us think, "I'll believe in my dream when I see that it's a sure thing or at least when there's proof that it's likely to happen." But the secret to living a "dream come true" life is to believe in your dream simply because it matters to you. In other words, looking for certainty out in the world is not the place to begin. The place to look is in your own heart. Choose to believe in your dream. Then take action to demonstrate ? to yourself and others ? you really do believe.My Dream CircleDuring tough times or those days when there is no evidence that your dream is possible, much less a good idea, it's essential to have a place to turn for encouragement. It is important to have a support group around you who are also working to achieve their dreams. When we see dreams can come true, we are willing to dream bigger dreams. That is why I encourage you to create a Dream Circle of friends and accountability partners who are committed to be there to spur you on.The reality is we all have good and bad days. Personally, there are days that I get distracted and forget my dreams. And then there are the days when the doubters and dream killers ? internally and externally ? become so overwhelming I want to give up. That's when I turn to My Dream Circle who help me remember and reclaim my belief in myself and in my dreams.This support system has assisted me through many hard times and the great thing is that it is reciprocal. I can to do the same for them daily. My Dream Circle provides support through ongoing encouragement, coaching, inspiration and, most importantly, accountability for taking risks. We are finding new dreams, partners, investors, volunteers, answers, creative ideas, mentors, friends and fellow dreamers. But beyond networking, educating, challenging and celebrating, we are a community with a shared commitment that is profoundly impacting our lives.Your Invitation to DreamIf we bring our intentions, offer support and resources to aid each other, what could happen? During a time when many have lost hope, are afraid of dreaming or taking risks, this is the essential time for us to be bold. What would you do if you believed in yourself? What might you change if you believed in your dreams? And how would you alter your life if you knew people would stand by and help you to achieve your heart's desire?Dreams are precious and essential and can change your family, community and the world. Your dreams can make you a better and more passionate human being. If no dream is too big or too small, the real question becomes, simply: What matters to you and what are you willing to do about it?The Great Dream Challenge is to believe in yourself, create a Dream Circle of support, take action and risk and to encourage others to achieve their dreams along the way. I challenge you to do what you need to do now to achieve your dreams and make them happen. The only thing you have to lose by not doing taking the challenge is your dream.Marcia Wieder, America's Dream Coach, is a best-selling author and speaker known for giving inspiring and moving talks to AT&T, The Gap and American Express. She appeared several times on Oprah and The Today Show. She's also writes for The San Francisco Chronicle. To receive Marcia's free e-book filled with simple steps you can take to act on any dream. Send a request to: info@dreamcoach.com. To experience a Powerful Weekend Designed to Help You Exceed Your Expectations & Achieve Your Dreams, visit http://www.dreamcoach.com
American OverDrive – LCDs in LDCs – Ezine-Publishing
American OverDrive - LCDs in LDCs
OverDrive - an e-commerce, software conversion and e-publishing applications leader - has just expanded an e-book technology centre by adding 200 e-book editors. This happened in Montego Bay, Jamaica - one of the less privileged spots on earth. The centre now provides a vertical e-publishing service - from manuscript editing to conversion to Quark (for POD), Adobe, and MS Reader ebook formats. Thus, it is not confined to the classic sweatshop cum production centre so common in Less Developed Countries (LDC's). It is a full fledged operation with access to cutting edge technology.The Jamaican OverDrive is the harbinger of things to come and the outcome of a confluence of a few trends.First, there is the insatiable appetite big publishers (such as McGraw-Hill, Random House, and Harper Collins) have developed to converting their hitherto inertial backlists into e-books. Gone are the days when e-books were perceived as merely a novel form of packaging. Publishers understood the cash potential this new distribution channel offers and the value added to stale print tomes in the conversion process. This epiphany is especially manifest in education and textbook publishing.Then there is the maturation of industry standards, readers and audiences. Both the supply side (title lists) and the demand side (readership) have increased. Giants like Microsoft have successfully entered the fray with new e-book reader applications, clearer fonts, and massive marketing. Retailers - such as Barnes and Noble - opened their gates to e-books. A host of independent publishers make good use of the negligible-cost distribution channel that the Internet is. Competition and positioning are already fierce - a good sign.The Internet used to be an English, affluent middle-class, white collar, male phenomenon. It has long lost these attributes. The digital divides that opened up with the early adoption of the Net by academe and business - are narrowing. Already there are more women than men users and English is the language of less than half of all web sites. The wireless Net will grant developing countries the chance to catch up.Astute entrepreneurs are bound to take advantage of the business-friendly profile of the manpower and investment-hungry governments of some developing countries. It is not uncommon to find a mastery of English, a college degree in the sciences, readiness to work outlandish hours at a fraction of wages in Germany or the USA - all combined in one employee in these deprived countries. India has sprouted a whole industry based on these competitive endowments.Here is how Steve Potash, OverDrive's CEO, explains his daring move in OverDrive's press release dated May 22, 2001:"Everyone we are partnering with in the US and worldwide has been very excited and delighted by the tremendous success and quality of eBook production from OverDrive Jamaica. Jamaica has tremendous untapped talent in its young people. Jamaica is the largest English-speaking nation in the Caribbean and their educational and technical programs provide us with a wealth of quality candidates for careers in electronic publishing. We could not have had this success without the support and responsiveness of the Jamaican government and its agencies. At every stage the agencies assisted us in opening our technology centre and staffing it with trained and competent eBook professionals. OverDrive Jamaica will be pioneering many of the advances for extending books, reference materials, textbooks, literature and journals into new digital channels - and will shortly become the foremost centre for eBook automation serving both US and international markets".Druanne Martin, OverDrive's Director of publishing services elaborates:"With Jamaica and Cleveland, Ohio sharing the same time zone (EST), we have our US and Jamaican production teams in sync. Jamaica provides a beautiful and warm climate, literally, for us to build long-term partnerships and to invite our publishing and content clients to come and visit their books in production".The Jamaican Minister of Industry, Commerce and Technology, the Hon. Phillip Paulwell reciprocates:"We are proud that OverDrive has selected Jamaica to extend its leadership in eBook technology. OverDrive is benefiting from the investments Jamaica has made in developing the needed infrastructure for IT companies to locate and build skilled workforces here."There is nothing new in outsourcing back office work (insurance claims processing, air ticket reservations, medical records maintenance) to third world countries, such as (the notable example) India. Research and Development is routinely farmed out to aspiring first world countries such as Israel and Ireland. But OverDrive's Jamaican facility is an example of something more sophisticated and more durable. Western firms are discovering the immense pools of skills, talent, innovation, and top notch scientific and other education often offered even by the poorest of nations. These multinationals entrust the locals now with more than keyboarding and responding to customer queries using fake names. The Jamaican venture is a business partnership. In a way, it is a topsy-turvy world. Digital animation is produced in India and consumed in the States. The low compensation of scientists attracts the technology and R&D arms of the likes of General Electric to Asia and Intel to Israel. In other words, there are budding signs of a reversing brain drain - from West to East.E-publishing is at the forefront of software engineering, e-consumerism, intellectual property technologies, payment systems, conversion applications, the mobile Internet, and, basically, every important trend in network and computing and digital content. Its migration to warmer and cheaper climates may be inevitable. OverDrive sounds happy enough.About The AuthorSam Vaknin is the author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited" and "After the Rain - How the West Lost the East". He is a columnist in "Central Europe Review", United Press International (UPI) and ebookweb.org and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com. Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.His web site: http://samvak.tripod.com
American Gambling Basics-Gambling
American Gambling Basics
Casinos have always been a destination for the wealthy and the famous, however, these days they are hoping to be a regular stopover. But the gambling cannot be confined to one spot. However gone are the days when Las Vegas was the all and all destination for serious gambling.The success of Las Vegan model inspired a lot of other states to legalize the concept of gambling resorts and palatial casinos as sources of churning hefty revenues.The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 was path breaking in more then one way. Not only did it permitted casinos on land controlled by Indians, but it also proved to be the forerunner of a plethora of other laws aimed at liberalizing gambling scenario of the nation.The act injected much needed money into the sagging and cash deprived economies of the states and was by and large successful on doing so simultaneously also providing a large number of jobs.Another concept that soon emerged on the scene was that of River boat Gambling. Though the name strikes all the right chords in the heart and creating images of garishly decorated boats moving to and fro on the river Mississippi and other inland waterways. However there is one twist to the tale. While yes the boats are with the most exquisite of the Victorian decoration and to stir up a lot of chords, but they never leave the docks!! Thus they are nothing but casinos on water. While the rules in actuality vary from state to state and in some states such casino boats are actually allowed to cruise through water also!The busy life of the up town leaves people with hardly any opportunity to have exclusive gaming holidays. The entire country of US today can be traversed with al the fun and frolic a gambler would ever want. The acts of different states though are a bit different. Starting with the northeastern experience there are various reasons that make the make state and districts such attractive destinations of gambling. The facilities available in them and what are the legal requirements for gambling in these states though vary to an extent.Mid Atlantic is another popular destination the regulatory authorities in these states however ensure that the avenues for gaming are ample. The avenues available to any one planning a trip around the US with only one aim, and that being gambling are vast to say the least.Gambling travel in the states can be best planned if some information which foremost includes the laws governing gambling in that state and the right places to be looked for are known. Following are the regions classified which cover the entire length and breadth of the US and to get the most out of the country's best gambling experience each one must be paid homage to.These include:* Northeast* Mid-Atlantic* Southeast* South Central* Midwest* North Central* Central Plains* Southern Plains* Northwest* Western* NevadaAny plan should make sure that best of the above-mentioned are covered in totality.Mansi aggarwal writes about american gambling topics. Learn more at http://www.gamblinginamerica.com.