The first time I ever heard of elderberries was from watching TV. While Monty Python’s quote is easy to remember, I also remember the pioneer shows where “good, old fashioned” remedies included elderberry wine, syrup and tincture. I just assumed it was the alcoholic properties of the wine that did the “job” in reducing cold symptoms, but a year ago my wife joined the elderberry team. She made us some tincture, and insisted I have some every time I started the cold season sniffle....

Today, more developments have proven the many benefits of napping. One of them which always come to mind is the ingenious idea of building nap rooms for workers to combat fatigue. One private organization that is a prime mover of this trend (a desirable one) is Huffingpost. This company invested on futuristic nap pods to cuddle their employees. These sleeping quarters are aptly called EnergyPods! According to Arianna Huffington, sleep is a performance enhancing tool....

Life must have been great when you didn’t have the stress of figuring out a career. No, you just were told: “You’re a blacksmith. You’re a beer wench. You’re a princess.” There’s no confusion. You just get on with your potato hoeing, and life is good. Right? Uh, wait. What if you don’t like being a potato hoe? Tough potatoes, kid. Who do you think you are? A minstrel? No....

Let’s get real: when you work on an hourly basis, there are two ways to increase income: raise your rates or increase the number of working hours. I’m assuming you don’t really want to spend more time working, so let’s talk about something that a lot of people don’t like talking about: raising your rates. Raising your rates is a way to increase your business income that is often difficult for people to face, and there are many reasons why....

Having the ability to decide at each moment what merits your attention is to me one of the secrets of success. It’s been proven time and again by sports stars and high achievers If there is something you want, fearlessly focusing on it will give you a much higher probability of achieving it. How to Practice the Art of Detached Focus to Achieve Your Goals

Don’t ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up. Fortunately, there is a cure. Stop Being Offended Today: 3 Cures for Everything That Irritates You

Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. 12 Steps Closer to Your Ideal Work Day

Poverty is not a disgrace, but it’s terribly inconvenient. I remember reading Tina Sellig’s (executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program) book- What I wish I knew when I was 20. (I don’t know Tina, though I wish I did, and I love her book.) She gave her students the exact same problem. Here are her words, with my emphasis. If you don’t have time to read the whole thing, just skim and read the words in bold....

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. Not only is there a lot of excitement loaded in those events, but there is also a fear of some sort included. You may be thinking about whether or not you are able to perform well enough, or what the other person (or persons) think of you if you fail. Instead of having thoughts like that, what if you turned the first time into a very positive and exciting event?...

Well David has found a new playground over at Huffington Post where he began posting last week. He’s beginning with the basics so it’s a great place to get started and follow the man himself. Think Smarter By Capturing Your Ideas – [HuffingtonPost] Or hit his usual hangout at DavidCo.

Did you know that genes only play a very small part when it comes to genius ability? So, it doesn’t matter what genes we inherit from our parents, we still have the ability to improve ourselves to ‘genius’ level – whether it be our intelligence, our sporting ability, our artistic or even musical ability. Modern science has now revealed that: Intelligence is not fixed Talents are not innate gifts – but the result of a slow accumulation of skills No one is genetically designed into greatness and few are biologically restricted from attaining it...

As with everything else in life, too much comfort can be detrimental to your overall well-being. And when you’re too comfortable in your relationship, it could end up falling apart. 1. Comfort is indifference. Happiness is fulfilling. Ever since you were little, you were probably inundated with the idea that when you find someone to be with you’ll end up living “happily ever after.” This notion of “happily ever after” makes it seem as if there’s nothing more to strive for after you’ve met the person of your dreams; you’ll just live out your days in complete comfort....

DIY: Build your own cubicle bike rack – [Berserk.org] The solution is pretty straight-forward and is really easy to make. Here is what I did. Performance How does it fare? Very very well. I’m surprised at how sturdy it is. As you can see I sort of have it setup to have the handlebars lean a bit against the adjacent wall for support, but that isn’t needed at all. Being the ever observant employee I also put some cardboard behind the wall and on the floor for dirty tire marks…

Can being cold give you a cold?

1. Try not to get analysis paralysis You know the situation when you start to over-think the decision. You spend far too much time weighing up the ifs, buts, and what-ifs. One practical way to speed up all this is to set a deadline. You tell yourself that you have to make a decision in half-an-hour’s time, or slightly longer, if you prefer. This forces you to make a decision and you avoid unnecessary procrastination....

But these temporary problems cause immediate pain. And we often let this pain drive our choices and actions. For example… An employee suffering from the pain of not feeling important enough or powerful enough might take a terrible job with a fancy title. An individual suffering from the pain of feeling unloved or unappreciated or misunderstood might try to resolve that pain by cheating on their spouse. An entrepreneur suffering from the pain of a faltering small business might resort to using questionable marketing tactics to try to drive more sales....

Desperately wanting a piece of pepperoni pizza? Hankering after a pack of M&M? or Yanking open the fridge just to get a scoop of ice-cream? Have you ever wondered where do all these sudden cravings come from? They visit you at times that you didn’t expect, can be in the middle of work, during shower time or even after a big meal? Why is that? I used to think when I suddenly craving for donuts, it simply means my body (or even my life) is low on donuts....

The first thing that comes to mind after reading that quote is, “Enough said!” But let’s dig in and pull out at least 10 benefits of you being your awesome self that can rock your world with very little effort on your part. After all, you’ve been you since you were born, you know. 1. Wherever you go, there you are. Let’s face it: you can’t even go to the bathroom without you tagging along, so making peace with your authentic self can make every experience on this path of life much more interesting and entertaining....

1. Earth View Earth View gives you random satellite images from Google Earth every time you open the new tab page. It also tells you the location, so you can take a virtual cruise around the world whenever you need a break from the daily grind. Of the many ‘New Tab’ page extensions, Earth View is definitely one of our favorites. 2. Lazarus You’ve been filling out that online scholarship application for hours, and by mistake you suddenly hit the back button on your browser!...

A common question my new clients ask me at the start of each year is “what are the best workouts to lose weight and burn fat?” and, very likely, that’s something you’re wondering as well since you’re reading this article. The reality is that there is no “one-size-fits-all” answer to this question, but there are ways to maximize the calories and fat you consume while exercising. In this article, I’m going to explore which type of exercise consumes the most calories and why that may not matter when it comes to fat loss....