Barriers to Personal Development; And How To Overcome Them

Personal Development Obstacles Come From Your Own Mind

We have said a lot in the past about how personal development can be a long journey, and how the first step on that journey can be the most important one. It is completely natural to be somewhat daunted by the idea of making that step, but it really just makes it all the more worthwhile. The bad news is that even once you get going on the road to self improvement, you will still encounter difficulties. These difficulties may well lead you to question whether it is worth persisting with your personal development journey, and they must be given short shrift. It certainly is worth carrying on, you just need to find a way to make it easier.

It may be that you have skeptical people around you. This skepticism may well not be about you, or your ability. In all likelihood, if the skeptical people are friends or family, they will have plenty of faith in you. What they doubt is more likely to be the validity of your chosen method of self-improvement. They may even utter vague remarks like “You’re just fine the way you are”, in the belief that they are helping. Although we all like to hear affirmation, chances are that you’re not doing it for them. This is your own personal decision, taken for your own reasons, and what you need is encouragement. Your friends will understand and appreciate this, if they are good friends. They will make every effort to encourage you and see things from your point of view.

Occasionally, the obstacles will come from your own mind. It takes a very strong person to take a decision that they are going to change their life, and it is no admission of weakness to have doubts even once that decision has been made. When those doubts come it is a test of your resolve, and if you can face up to them it will make you all the stronger and more ready to deal with whatever life is going to throw at you. All of us have doubts at one time or another. It is in powering through these doubts that we learn more about ourselves, and grow as people.

We may also encounter unfortunate and unavoidable circumstances which make it hard to continue with our personal development. These are the only cases in which it may be advisable to step away from your plan for a time. If you fall ill, have a family crisis or lose your job – or something happens which is similar to these circumstances – then it may actually be detrimental to your self improvement to try and forge ahead regardless.

This relies on you using your own judgement and there is a very clear difference between an excuse (which sees you using a minor problem to step off when you are bored with your project) and a reason (something which clearly interferes with your plans, may well be traumatic and needs to be dealt with on its own merits). You need to give yourself the best chance of completing your project, and if this requires a temporary hiatus then that is something you should not be afraid to take.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Simplepersonaldevelopment.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Ahmed Dawn Dot Com site. This article originally published on the above website on April 12, 2009.

Why Aren’t American Express Cards Accepted Everywhere?

Photo Courtesy: American Express Canada

Leaving Home With Only American Express Is Not A Good Idea

First Published: April 29, 2013 A Dawn Journal

We often hear that there are so many places that won’t accept American Express (Amex) cards. If Amex is such a big name then why they are not universally accepted like VISA and MasterCard?

There are a myriad number of reasons why some merchants won’t use Amex. However, if we dig down to its basics, there are a few I came up with.

American Express offers both conventional credit cards where you can carry your balances and charge cards where you are required to pay in full every month. Unlike other major credit card companies who rely on high volumes to make money, American Express relies on higher margins to make profit by targeting affluent customers. Its affluent customers are spending a lot more money in lower volumes as opposed to higher volumes with smaller transactions.

Retailers pay much higher fees to provide American Express services than other credit cards. Also, other credit cards use a 3rd party to facilitate their services (like an issuing bank, trust company, etc.), but American Express does it all by itself and keeps all charges for itself for higher profits. For some retailers, it will not make sense to pay higher fees to American Express as they may not be able to make money on fewer transactions. However, merchants who have businesses where they can make a lot more money with fewer transactions (as affluent consumers will spend lot more than average consumers) will be glad to offer American Express.

There are other reasons for merchants not to accept Amex, but what I have discussed above are the most common deciding factors on accepting American Express.

Why Travel Solo?

Going Solo Travel

There is some amount of surprise – possibly even suspicion – that emerges when one tells co-workers and even friends that they are going to be holidaying on their own. The responses tend to vary between pity and unconvincing encouragement of the “good for you” variety. This is clearly misguided in the extreme, because traveling alone can be the very best way to holiday. Rather than thinly veiled pity and other even less wholesome emotions, the correct response to someone holidaying on their own really should be envy – because it means you get the holiday you want with no compromises. Never mind trying to find a break for two, four or more – the solo break is the way to go for the unmarried traveler.

The first thing that a solo break has over traveling with people is the freedom it gives you. If you have always wanted to go to a specific location but have never been able to persuade anyone to go with you, stop trying! They clearly don’t get it, and if they came along then you would spend more time trying to convince them that the city is awesome than enjoying it yourself. By going on your own you can set out an itinerary which fully suits you. Eat in the restaurants you want to eat in, catch the shows you wanted to catch and do all this when you want to. You’re traveling on your own, so you can go according to your own whim and enjoy the ride all the more.

The second point is connected to the first. Simply put, sometimes on holiday you have an instinctive desire to go to a specific place – and this instinct can arrive at the shortest notice. By traveling alone, if you have this kind of whim, you can set off and enjoy yourself without having to convince your companion(s) of the brilliance of your idea. Often when you have discussion about what you want to do, you find yourself sitting there two hours later, only knowing what you don’t want to do. This way, you can have the thought one moment, and be in the cab the next. Surely this beats deciding everything by committee? If you want to change your mind at a moment’s notice, you can. It can make the holiday perfect.

There are also other reasons for going solo. Among these, there is the fact that, if you go somewhere with a different language, the chances that your traveling partner will speak it as well as you do are remote. You will find yourself translating for them, and bound to them in situations where you would prefer a bit of space. And then there is also the fact that may just clinch it – going on holiday solo makes the group holidays better, because it allows you to discover a new place at your own pace and then introduce friends or family on a return trip – where you will be the perfect tour guide. This is really the best way to travel!

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Travelnowsimply.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Ahmed Dawn Dot Com. This article originally published on the above website on July 10, 2009.

Canada’s Best Top Favourite Credit Cards

Canada’s Top Favourite Credit Cards

Canada’s top favourite credit card is not issued by TD or CIBC. According to a report published by J.D. Power, President’s Choice Financial credit cards by Loblaw Company ranks Number 1 for customer satisfaction and is the most favoured credit card in Canada.

This is no surprise, as the general population is looking for credit cards that are easy to understand and easy to accumulate and redeem rewards points.

The top credit card rankings out of 1000 are:  

PC Financial 788
American Express 780
Canadian Tire 774
Capital One 764

The least favourite credit cards are:

CIBC 741
MBNA 741
TD 739

The J.D. Power report is based on 6,000+ responses and looked at customers’ satisfaction based on rewards, benefits, communication, terms, customer interaction, key moments, and so on. The report also revealed that 48 percent of Canadians switched their primary credit cards last year for better perks.

Remember, a card being on the top favourite or best credit card lists does not mean it’s best for you as well. You should always pick your best or favourite credit cards based on your own lifestyle, needs, and spending habits. You can access information provided on my website or YouTube Channel to research and find your own best credit cards by visiting the links below:

www.ahmeddawn.com

www.youtube.com/adawn

Why Buy International Real Estate Abroad

Options for buying a retirement home abroad

For a long time in the past when people went abroad all they had in mind was simply going out to spoil themselves vacationing from the familiar environment and all they brought back was a few mementos and probably a camera full of pictures they clicked away. However things are turning different today, what with the prospects of acquiring property abroad and settling there, especially after one has retired. Many folks who faced an uncertain future due to the cost of property at home are discovering they can actually acquire high end properties such as condos and villas abroad at what would sound like a good bargain at home.

Many people are now in the acquisition frenzy because of the many stories they have heard from others who have successfully bought real estate abroad. The current economic crisis has not made things better, what the depreciating value of most people’s lifetime savings. The cash people thought would go along way in taking them through retirement is slipping through their fingers. Whereas it would cost you hundreds of thousand of dollars to try and invest locally, things are looking very positive abroad and it is now a race against time as most savers try and get a piece of the cake.

To give you an idea of how sweet things are, consider that for example, a resident of Florida who wants to escape to someplace out of the country but not to far from home would consider settling in Mexico. Whereas they would require a minimum of $100,000 in Florida itself or $150,000 to buy a small apartment in New York city, going down to Mexico they would most likely acquire a beautiful condo with a beachfront for as little as $50,000 which means they will still have enough change to help them settle down for many days to come. Apart from the low prices they will have escaped to a quite and secure place to enjoy their sunset years.

For the person who is a little adventurous another unique location to consider would be Nicaragua which is nestled quietly at the heart of Central America. This is a country that has left behind a long dark history of civil wars and is now a fast developing third world country but with all the trappings of the first world. For a long time people consider Costa Rica to be the only place you could settle in the region but now they are knowing better. You will enjoy getting a nice villa with its own large compound, fro those who love space for anything between $50,000 and $100,000 on the very higher side. The cost of living is nothing to compare with many places in the Americas.

But if your idea of a real escape is far away in Europe you may want to consider the emerging property market of Eastern Europe. For prices that you will consider a real throw away when you compare with the rest of Western Europe you will grab for yourself a first class condo or even a serene waterfront villa. As the rest of the continent struggles to grab the little remaining space, here you will acquire large swathes of beach property for as little as $40,000 and that is just the beginning of the good news.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Ahmed Dawn Dot Com. This article originally published on the above website on Dec 5, 2009.