April 22nd, 2009
Casinos are offering deeply discounted rooms, free shows and food for a visit to Las Vegas this season. On a recent trip to Las Vegas, my first in almost two years, I noticed an immediate difference in casino and restaurant activity. To no surprise business was down even after the strip’s biggest hotels discounting their rooms.
The story is not all bad for Las Vegas though. People are starting to venture out this spring! Although there is still some concern over the economy, people still want to enjoy and experience. Kids want to have fun and parents want to provide a vacation. What better place than Las Vegas to forget your problems for a while and get the most of your vacation dollar! The hotels are still impressive, shopping and food are some of the best in the country if not in the world.
So how can Las Vegas bring more visitors to the city? By returning their focus to families once again! Over the past two years or more, Las Vegas seemed to concentrate on advertising to those looking for the adult experience with their ”What happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas” campaign. Changing how some families view of Las Vegas.
Families still that want a spring and/or summer vacation should look at see what Las Vegas has to offer. Hotels such as the Mandalay Bay Hotel, New York New York and Excalibur are a wonderland of fun for families. What family does not love big wave pools for body surfing, roller coasters, shows and games?
Small children love the M&M and Coca-Cola store where they can sample Coca-Cola from around the world. The Big Top circus presents circus acts with the world’s largest permanent circus that are free 7 days a week. Are your kids animal lovers? The white tiger open air exhibit, lion habitat and dolphin habitat is perfect experience for them.
For teens, the Adventure Dome is one of America’s largest indoor theme parks and the Manhattan Express that soars up to 203 feet. For the rollercoaster and NASCAR lovers there is ”Speed -The Ride” at 70 mph. For the entire family experience the shows at the Bellagio, Treasure Island and Fremont Street all offer no cost entertainment with ease access right on the strip.
Casinos would be smart to consider a point reward program for their guests. Much like other programs, if food, entertainment or other services are used within their hotel they earn points during their stay to shop online at over 300 online retailers. This will encourage their hotel guests to stay in their hotels for most meals and for some types of entertainment.
Point reward incentives provide hotels branded benefits with no set up or monthly fee.
Highlights of Most Point Rewards:
- Seamless incentives page that continually brands your organization
- Each participant’s email tracks accumulated points and balances
- Send broadcast emails to announce a new promotion or call for action
- Select your choice of online retailers by locations, products or services
- Set a point reward calendar for birthdays or company anniversaries
- Maintain a personal touch with a personalized communication
- Learn what promotions and incentives were a success using provided reports
An incentives broker’s relationships allow them to share discounted incentives that hotels and casinos can use to thank and motivate clients and employees. Incentives include travel, sport, music, and point rewards. For more information contact www.strategicconcepts-ca.com.
Tags: incentive, point rewards, Travel
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April 19th, 2008
My grandma, Mabel Reynolds Ostrander, and I shared one of those special relationships as rare as a double rainbow. She was fifty-three when I was ten. That’s when we planted our first “Victory” garden together during World War II. We planted seeds together — in the soil — and in each other.
Grandma lived eighty-seven seasons without a complaint. I was forty-four when I last saw her. But I remember every mince and lemon tart, every bite of “made from scratch” apple pie, and every lingering wave of her hand as she stood (out of sight or so she thought) behind the rayon, Priscilla curtains in the little house at 718 West Pennsylvania Avenue in San Diego, California, where I was born and raised. As our station wagon full of kids and contentment would slowly pull away from the curb, we would all look back at her and wave – and I would gaze at her fragile silhouette through the rear view mirror, wishing I could frame her there forever, just that way – wondering how many more Easter and Christmas dinners we would share.
Most of all, I remember my grandma and me planting seeds. We planted squash, beans, corn, watermelons, beets, pansies, mums and other flowers. I’ll admit I rode my bike those twenty miles each Saturday more for the bonus of the conversation and the homemade pastries, than for the vegetables and flowers. But no matter how full I was after I ate, I was always left hungry for more of the wisdom and optimism she shared with me.
I’ll never forget the day we tasted our first harvest as a result of crossing a plum tree with an apricot tree. The ripe fruit was pink, not purple like a plum, nor orange like an apricot; but a combination of both. “Gee, do you suppose they’ll be any good?” I asked. “Why of course they will be wonderful,” she chided. “Didn´t we do the planting, nurturing and pruning?”
Sure enough, they were delicious, even though they were different than any fruit I’d ever seen before. “That’s because they are uniquely unlike any other fruit you’ll ever eat. They are plumcots!” she exulted. “You always get out what you put in,” she continued as we sat under the tree eating most of what we had picked.
“Plant apple seeds and you get apple trees, plant acorns and you get majestic oak trees, plant weeds and you will harvest weeds (even without watering), plant the seeds of great ideas and you will get great individuals,” she said softly and intently, looking directly into my eyes. “Do you understand what I mean?” I nodded, remembering I’d heard her say the same thing before, in different ways.
I learned from my grandma that the seeds of greatness are not special genes, dependent on the gifted birth, the inherited bank account, the intellect, the skin-deep beauty, the race, the gender, or the status. The seeds of greatness are attitudes and beliefs that begin in children by observing, imitating and internalizing the lifestyles of significant role models and heroes.
“Model your thoughts and actions after men and women who have been passionate, excellent, honest, unselfish and creative in their service to others,” my grandmother had counseled. Armed with that affirmation, I ventured forth to sow and reap my own legacy in life.
I’ve traveled the world to the seven seas.
I’ve been up at the top and down on my knees.
I’ve been blessed with abundance and plenty of weeds.
But I’ve never stopped caring about others’ needs.
As you tend your own garden, unlike any other.
Remember the words of my lovely grandmother.
“If you’re hoping to harvest a life of great deeds, remember you first have to plant some great seeds.”
Taking Time for Yourself in a Relationship by John Gray
We have all heard this advice before. No matter how wonderful togetherness feels in a relationship, it is still crucial for partners to take time for themselves. There is simply no way that a man or a woman can fulfill all of their partner’s needs; it’s just impossible to do. Too often people will give up a favorite hobby, sport or pastime in the beginning of a relationship in order to devote more time and energy to making the relationship work. But, what happens down the road when one or both partners realize that they are terribly out of balance and not taking time for themselves? Relationship stress, miscommunication, or worse: resentment and emotional pain can result.
It is healthy to have different interests. In fact, giving up our own interests and the little things that we do to nurture ourselves when a relationship starts will eventually lead to resentment down the road.
It’s important for both partners to value quality relaxation time. There is absolutely no need to feel guilty about spending time alone. Independence is good for both men and women, no matter how close they may be in the relationship. Typically, when one partner actively takes some alone time, their partner is encouraged to do the same.
How our differences compliment each other:
Just as men and women have different needs in a relationship, they also have different reasons for needing time to themselves. Too much togetherness usually results in partners expecting too much from each other. Women may tend to smother their mates, while men may seem cold and uncaring. It is healthy for each partner to take time out to explore his or her individual interests.
What Men Need:
Men need to periodically pull away. Remember that men are like rubber bands. It is his natural cycle to get close, pull away, and get close again. It is important for men to fulfill their need for independence. Men automatically alternate between needing intimacy and autonomy. Give a man his space and he will be a better, more attentive, partner. When a man gets too close and doesn’t pull away, he often experiences increased moodiness, irritability, passivity, and defensiveness.
Also, when a man is in his cave, he wants to be left alone. He is working out his problems and frustrations by either doing something alone, like reading the paper or watching TV, or doing something active with his male friends.
Most men are happy when their mates do something fun for themselves at these times. It means that she is not sitting around waiting for him to come out of the cave. He will come out ready to talk and be intimate again, and she will have curbed her frustrations by being good to herself and having some fun.
What Women Need:
It is good for a woman’s self esteem to take care of herself. She can get wrapped up in taking care of her family and forget how much she needs to nurture herself. Particularly when a man is off in his cave, she can enjoy the time alone to go shopping, work in her garden, go to a class at the gym, or simply languish in the simple pleasure of soaking in a hot bath with a glass of wine.
It is especially important for a woman to cultivate relationships with other women. Women need to talk about what’s happening in their lives. On Venus, this is an important part of relationship building. Since this is not the case on Mars, it is wonderful for a woman to get together with her girlfriends so that they can talk about, and listen to, each other’s problems, without judgment or offering unsolicited advice.
Couples can even plan these separate times apart. For instance, Tuesday could be his poker night with the boys, and Thursday her night for dinner and a movie with her girlfriends. Both partners will not only appreciate the time to do the things that make them feel good, but will come back feeling renewed and excited to be in such a healthy, well-balanced relationship. — John Gray
Tags: Travel
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April 17th, 2008
Money. Money. Money. There just seems to be less of it these days but there actually could be more in your pocket. If you were to think back to when your parents were making ends meet and you were about 12 or 13 you probably witnessed a lot of ways to save money.
Some place between 1990 and 2008 we lost our minds! We put value and created our reputation on things, labels and lavish dinners. So here we are today, did all that spending make a difference to anything more than debt? Don’t feel bad, we all got caught up in it at some time. Do we blame our parents? Most likely not. Do we blame the media? Maybe, movies and shows do influence us. Or do we just blame the keeping up with the Jones or better yet, let’s pass up the Jones again and again.
Here are some money saving ways to help you get back to a normal and healthy reality for life:
1) Plan your day and your errands saving gas. Make a list and pack up your trunk with laundry before you leave the house. If you can’t fit it in today you are prepared for a quick drop off on the way home from the soccer field.
2) Eat healthy and make your lunch each day. While preparing dinner, prepare lunch for work. Get the kids involved and teach them about eating healthy and about saving money.
3) Start a coop of sorts. Get your friends and family together and take advantage of low bulk prices at Costco or Sam’s Club. Rotate the responsibility of purchasing cleaners, meats and other staples then split the bill for added savings.
4) Use coupons! Each Sunday there are $10.00 to $20.00 in savings in the newspaper. Check the market’s ads for additional savings and go to a market that double your coupons. Often times you can combine the doubled coupon and market savings receiving an item for a savings and you might even get it for free. One week I saved $100 off my grocery bill. Yes, I said $100.00! It took me 30 minutes to cut and sort the week’s coupons.
5) Buy scout and school discount books helping a charity at the same time. This year the Boy Scouts in my area sold a book for $10.00. Within the book it offered 3 items for free, 1 coupon for $10.00 of my total grocery bill, another for $15.00 off my bill and other coupons.
6) Jump on the Internet in search of coupon sites or onto the manufacturer’s site.
7) Eat out during the week and save. Many restaurants are offering substantial savings or free desert during the week. It is a nice break and you can take your time on the weekend making something you enjoy.
8) Gas prices are up so use Mapquest.Com to find the best deals on gas in your area each week.
9) Google provides a free 411/information service on cell or other. Just dial (800) g00g-411 or (800) 466 4411.
10) If traveling or you want a change of atmosphere while on your computer check out Freewifi.Com for nationwide and international free wifi location and get connected.
11) Skype.Com is a great way to call and save. Easy upload and used all over the world.
12) Cheap.Cheap.Cheap.Com for deals of the week and coupons galore for all kinds of stuff.
13) Search local banks for free checking.
14) Go basic cable, do you really have time to watch the same movies over and over again. It will be summer soon and you will be outdoors and on vacation anyway.
15) Keep the blinds and curtains closed on hot days, it really does save money on your air conditioning bill.
16) Going on vacation? www.strategicconcepts-ca.com has vacations to amusement parks, Hawaii, St. Thomas and other fun places at a big savings. Their incentives are purchased in bulk by companies such as Pepsi, GE and others providing the consumer savings.
17) (800) contacts is the way to go if you are a contact wearer. Safe, quick service and delivered to your door.
18) Shop online and save at Target and other stores. Free shipping and/or discounted items all to encourage you to shop online.
19) I recently saved $50 just by walking across the parking lot from the Verizon Store to Circuit City. They offer all the same services and telephones a discount.
20) Talk to mom and dad, you will most likely find some great ways to save and invest in your future.
Learn to save and teach your children a valuable lesson. There is more to life than keeping up with the Jones!
Tags: coupons, Travel
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April 11th, 2008
We can choose our attitudes about anything, including learning and education. That’s right. We get to choose what our attitudes are. Here is the definition of attitude: “The feeling or opinion about something or someone, or a way of behaving that follows from this.” We choose our opinion about people and situations. We choose the way we will behave in relation to other people and circumstances. We choose what we believe about learning. We choose it. Learning doesn’t have to be bad. It doesn’t have to be anything but what we want it to be. We have the option. We can have tremendously optimistic attitudes about learning – attitudes that will help us grow in ways we have never achieved before!
The choice of a right attitude will significantly determine new circumstances. Choosing to have the right attitude will change the world around you. This isn’t any sort of magic; it is just how the world works. Now, don’t get me wrong. It won’t cure everything and turn your world into a virtual Shangri-La, but it will significantly improve the world you live in. For example, let’s say that every day you go into work and you gripe about life and work from the moment you get there until the moment you leave. Will others want to be around you? Will others ask your opinion? Will others like you? Will others ask you to join them for lunch? Probably not! But what if you come to work every day and you are the positive optimist of the crowd? Will everybody love you? No, but significantly more people will than if you are the office pessimist! Your choice of attitude will determine what kind of circumstances you get!
The same is true with learning. What we feel about learning, and what we believe about it will determine the outcomes of our learning. And the outcomes of our learning will determine the outcome of our lives.
Ultimately, our attitude is a choice. Nobody else can force you to have a bad attitude. Nobody else can force you to have a good attitude. It is simply a choice we each make.
Where are you with your attitude about learning? Is it positive? Take some time to give it some serious thought. Then, no matter where you find yourself, decide to take your attitude to the next level! If you have a really bad attitude, decide to take it up a couple of levels!
So, if our attitudes determine to a great degree what kind of life we have, shouldn’t we focus on the best attitudes to have and then make them ours? Absolutely! If we want to soar with the eagles in this life, and if there are attitudes that will make us soar, shouldn’t we pursue them with all our hearts? By all means! So here we go!
Attitudes of Successful Learners
1. “I can.”
This is the most basic of all attitudes. We simply must choose to believe that we can learn. In our house we are not allowed to say, “I can’t.” We can say, “I’ll try,” or “I tried and failed,” but not “I can’t.” Telling yourself that you can’t will in effect make it so. But telling yourself that you can, will in effect enable you to learn much more. Even if you actually only achieve 50% of what you tell yourself, you will achieve at least that much more than if you told yourself you couldn’t. So many people were told at a young age that they couldn’t learn. Many others were allowed to engage in that kind of negative self talk (tell themselves, “I can’t learn”, “I don’t understand”, I’ll never get this”, etc.) and their parents and teachers didn’t intervene. This enabled them to develop the “I can’t” attitudes that become self-fulfilling prophecies.
I actually have a standard way of going about getting myself off of the starting block. I simply say if somebody else has achieved great learning heights, then I can too. I have to be smarter than at least one of those who has already done it. I have to be able to work harder than at least one other. There has to be at least one other person who has come from more difficult circumstances than me. And if they can do it then certainly, “I can!”
2. “This is a long-term approach.”
Learning isn’t something that happens overnight. Yes, you can learn individual facts, but the real growth comes when you see your learning build on itself and compound for years, when your knowledge meets up with your experience. When we take the attitude that it all has to happen immediately, we hurt ourselves in the long run because the fact is that it takes time to learn (even though we can accelerate it). If we expect it to happen immediately and it doesn’t, then we can get frustrated and stop learning altogether.
Instead, we need to take a long-term view just as we do in financial matters, weight management, leadership, etc. Long-term thinking, including our learning is always the best way to go for success.
3. “Learning is valuable.”
Some people have a “learning schmearning – who needs learning” attitude. They think that learning is overrated. I hate to tell you this, but not only was that wrong 5000, 500 and 50 years ago, it is especially wrong today. We live in the information age. We must gain knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge if we are going to be successful. We must tell ourselves and cultivate the attitude that learning is valuable and that it will affect our lives.
4. “I will make a difference in the lives of those around me.”
People who soar are generally people who have the attitude of helping other people. Yes, they may do it for monetary gain, but they are others-focused. They want to change the way people live and experience life for the better. They are difference makers all around. This is the same in what we learn. We learn first for ourselves, but then with the goal of taking what we have learned, and what we make of ourselves, and we then help others to do the same.
I live in a town that is very affluent. Most of the people I know, work with and have as friends are very successful in this world. They have learned a lot about life and how it works. They have learned how to make money and be successful in business. One thing I can say, as almost a universal truth, is that as people, they are not self-consumed but genuinely care about others and will do what they can to help others. This is what I know to be true about the attitudes of the genuinely successful.
These are the attitudes of people who are not just successful at getting information into their minds, but in becoming good people because of that information. Learn all that you can, and be sure to keep the attitudes that will make you a successful learner and a successful person!
Tags: how to motivate, increase sales, Travel
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March 14th, 2008
Many of us have lived in the same home we had when are kids were born where memories abound. You have to watch your local housing markets for when it makes sense to sell then buy into a senior community but you really should consider it.
When I asked some people I know about the homes they have owned for years, I often soon learn about leaking, the need of a new roof and the time it takes to clean and maintain it. In many senior communities the social-based culture and engagement in a multitude of events along with the excitement you get from developing rich relationships with others in the community are wonderful!
Since many of us purchase homes years ago even in a slower market the equity you now have will provide you an opportunity to buy during a buyer’s market. In the East Hills area of Bakersfield, California on the rolling hills of the Sierra Mountains is a Del Webb Community offering many upgrades, memberships in local country clubs and even golf year round.
The reality is you should consider a senior community because you are now entering a time in your life when you want to get the most of it. To add to it if you have the right long term care plan you can stay in your home with assisted care and still enjoy most of the amenities. You probably are not thankfully in the sub-prime mess because you have had your mortgage on your home for years or have the right loan in place. By selling and buying you are also still going to enjoy increases in property value over the next several years.
When you experience losses of your social support, you can make new friends in a senior community. Many of your friends may not be able to drive any longer closing some opportunities for socializing leaving you with a neighborhood where you may be surrounded by 30 somethings.
Today, many builders are creating beneficial and down right enjoyable communities. Some seniors have a more active life than their children. You grand-children, friends and family will also enjoy events open to them at your community from time-to-time. Nothing makes everyone happier than seeing their parents enjoying their retirement. It is sure a great inspiration for them too.
Enjoy the next 20 to 30 years of retirement like never before.
Tags: Travel
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February 23rd, 2008
You already have everything you need to create a wonderful life for yourself. You know everything you need to know to be your own best friend, a gentle guide, a teacher and a helper to yourself so you can be truly happy and fulfilled.
You can learn how to become your own psychotherapist for life, and how to resolve the difficulties that stand between you and personal joy.
Be Honest With Yourself
The starting point of becoming your own best friend is for you to be perfectly honest with yourself and your relationships. Refuse to practice self-delusion or hope for the best. For example, when something is making you unhappy, for any reason, the situation will tend to get worse rather than better. So avoid the temptation to engage in denial, to pretend that nothing is wrong, to wish and hope and pray that, whatever it is, it will go away and you won’t have to do anything. The fact is that it probably will get worse before it gets better and that ultimately you will need to face the situation and do something about it.
Deal With Your Problem at a Higher Level
There’s an old saying that you can’t solve a problem on the level that you meet it. This means that wrestling with a persistent problem is often fruitless and frustrating. For example, if two people who are in a relationship together are constantly fighting and negotiating and looking for some way to resolve their difficulties, they may be attempting to solve the problem on the wrong level. Dealing with the problem on a higher level, those people would ask the question, “In terms of being happy, is this the right relationship for us in the first place?”Find the Right Job For You
Many people work very hard and experience considerable frustration trying to do a particular job. However, in terms of their own happiness, the right answer might be to do something else, or to do what they’re doing in a different place, or to do it with different people-or all three. Here are a few questions for you to answer in this arena of happiness. Write them down at the top of a sheet of paper, and then write as many answers to each one as you possibly can.
What Would It Take?
The first question is: “What would it take for me to be perfectly happy?” Write down every single thing that you can imagine would be in your life if you were perfectly happy at this very moment. Write down things such as health, happiness, prosperity, loving relationships, inner peace, travel, car, clothes, homes, money, and so on. Let your mind run freely. Imagine that you have no limitations at all.
What is Holding You Back?
The second question is a little tougher. Write down at the top of a page this question: “In what situations in my life, and with whom, am I not perfectly happy?” Force yourself to think about every part of your day, from morning to night, and write down every element that makes you unhappy or dissatisfied in any way. Remember, proper diagnosis is half the cure. Identifying the unsatisfactory situations is the first step to resolving them.
Determine Your Happiest Moment
The third question will give you some important guidelines. Write down at the top of a sheet of paper these words: “In looking over my life, where and when have I been the happiest? Where was I, with whom was I, and what was I doing?”
Decide What to Do
Once you have the answers to those questions, think about what you can do, starting immediately, to begin creating the kind of life that you dream of. It may take you a week, a month, or a year, but that doesn’t matter. Every single thing you do that moves you closer to your ideal vision will be rewarding in itself. You’ll become a more positive and optimistic person. You’ll feel more confident and more in charge of your life, and you’ll achieve true peace of mind.
Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, examine your business and personal relationships carefully. Is there any situation you wouldn’t get into again if you had it to do over?
Second, make a list of every single thing in your life that would make you happy and then think about what you could do to begin achieving them.
Third, allow yourself to dream and fantasize about your ideal life, what it would look like and feel like, and then do something every day to make it a reality.
Decide What to Do
Once you have the answers to those questions, think about what you can do, starting immediately, to begin creating the kind of life that you dream of. It may take you a week, a month, or a year, but that doesn’t matter. Every single thing you do that moves you closer to your ideal vision will be rewarding in itself. You’ll become a more positive and optimistic person. You’ll feel more confident and more in charge of your life, and you’ll achieve true peace of mind.
Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit. – Napoleon Hill
“If you are never scared, embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take chances.” — Julia Soul
“You stop being average the day you decide to become a Champion, because the average person won’t make that decision.” Tom Hopkins
Make a strong and permanent commitment to invest your talents only in pursuits that deserve your best efforts.” Nido Qubein
Change before you have to. – Jack Welch
“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” Woodrow Wilson
Tags: incentive, rewards, Travel
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