Te Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley Natural Wonders

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 6

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 5

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 1

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 2

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 3

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 4

After finishing my Hobbiton tour, I was heading for Te Puia, which is located within the historic Te Whakarewarewa Valley. Te Puia spans 70 hectares and sits on the edge of Rotorua. Travel time to reach Te Puia would be close to one hour.

On my way, again, I was mesmerized by the scenic beauties of New Zealand. It’s hard to describe, but I have captured them for you to watch on my YouTube channel and Instagram page. 

Upon arriving at Te Puia, I was given an hour and a half for lunch and the Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley tour. The building or structure where the Māori cultural centre, tourist welcome booth, restaurant and other sections are located were all made based on a combination of Māori architecture with a modern feel.

Te Puia is the centre of New Zealand’s Māori culture. The Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand who arrived from Polynesia more than 1000 years ago. The Māori represent 15% of New Zealand’s population and their culture, history, language and traditions are central to New Zealand’s identity.

The buffet-style lunch in the new restaurant had a large selection of Traditional (Maori) food and typical Kiwi dishes. There were so many items and such a short time that I was overwhelmed and was not able to enjoy the dishes properly. I rushed to sample 6-7 items and then headed towards Te Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley sightseeing.

Free E-Book: 101 Reasons to Love a Recession

How to Prosper During an Economic Downturn

First Published: ADawnJournal.com May 27, 2009

International Best Selling author Ernie Zelinski has generously offered his latest E-Book free for A Dawn Journal readers.  Titled 101 reasons to Love a Recession, it talks about how motivated individuals can capitalize on recession. A recession can present opportunities to prosper during an economic downturn and benefits of a recession should not be overlooked. Economic turmoil can bring the best and it’s up to you to turn adversity into advantage.

This E-Book is yours to download right now. I will not ask you to provide your email address or force you to subscribe my RRS Feed to enjoy this book. However, If you would like, you can subscribe my RSS Feed voluntarily right here – RSS.

101_Reasons_to_Love_a_Recession.pdf

How to Motivate Yourself

Simple Ways To Motivate

We have all been there, sitting around trying to get motivated. Being motivated is not always easy but when you are involved with personal development it is essential. Motivation stems from not being lazy, but when you work a full-time job, and having a family to care for, motivating yourself can be very difficult. However, it is not impossible and there are several things you can do.

1. Always remind yourself of why you are trying to motivate yourself. Remember that you are doing this because you want to do something better for yourself. When you wonder why you should get up off the couch and go for a run, remember that you are trying to improve who you are and you will find that the motivation comes.

2. Start small with what you are doing and build at is as you continue to grow. The more you do something, the more motivated you will be to do it and that feeling will grow as time goes on.

3. Have a set list of goals in mind. It is hard to stay motivated when you don’t know where you are going with something. Hence, by knowing the next step and the end goal, you will be more motivated to keep on the path.

4. Determine what it is that keeps you from actually being motivated. If you want to run five miles a day to lose weight but can’t seem to get motivated, discover why. If it is because you live in a bad neighbourhood, then go to the gym. If you are feeling as though you can’t write that book you want to write, discover why and then fix the problem.

5. Get the things you need to stay motivated. If you are trying to learn a new language on the computer but the computer is too slow, then you should get a faster computer. If you want to read more books but your library is too small, then you should find ways to get more books elsewhere.

6. Don’t sweat the small stuff. c that will drive us to not do something. Yes, things may be difficult, and there will be roadblocks, but don’t sweat the small stuff. Just keep your eye on the prize.

7. Develop a system of statements that will keep you focused. If you are trying to lose weight, then you can keep saying to yourself ’20 more pounds’. When you lose ten pounds, you can keep saying ’10 more pounds’ and so on until you have been able to reach your goal.

8. Once you have a taste of success, you will want to keep building on that success and that will be what motivates you. If you get a story published and you learn a new language, build on that and remember how you felt reaching your accomplishment. That will continue to motivate you into the future as each new accomplishment adds to your motivation.

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. This article originally published on the above website on Nov 20, 2010

MEET YOUR AUTHOR A DAWN AT THE TORONTO REFERENCE LIBRARY

Canadian Financial Author Ahmed Dawn at the Toronto Reference Library

First Published: ADawnJournal.com : June 5, 2009

The Spring 2009 Toronto Small Press Book Fair will take place at the Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St. (Closest major intersection: Yonge Street and Bloor Street. Located one block north of Bloor Street on the east side of Yonge Street; Public Transit: TTC subway station: Yonge. Walk to library north on Yonge Street) Toronto, ON, M4W 2G8. From 9am-5pm on Sat, June 13, 2009.

I will be participating in this event. For the first time in Toronto Small Press 22-year history, the TORONTO REFERENCE LIBRARY has agreed to host the 2009 Toronto Small Press Book Fair. This is a great opportunity to meet Canadian authors under one roof. Just stop by to say Hi. Hope to see you there.

The Toronto Small Press Group meets twice a year, and I always participate in these fairs. I will be posting video clips and pictures of The Spring 2009 Toronto Small Press Book Fair later on. Don’t forget to check out The Toronto Small Press Group website.

How to Strengthen Your Willpower

Strengthen Your Willpower

Willpower is what keeps you disciplined. It is that voice in your head that tells you not to have that big dessert and instead to go for a walk. It is what tells you to get moving towards your goals and to stay away from things that may deter from bettering yourself. If you are going to venture on the road towards personal development, then you need to consider strengthening your willpower. No different than working your muscles, when you keep your willpower strong, it stays strong and the stronger your willpower is, the better off you will be to reach your personal development goals.

1. When your mind tells you that you don’t need to do something, do the exact opposite. Your mind is acting like a child so just use reverse psychology and do what you know is right for you.

2. Look at when your willpower is the strongest and then focus on using your willpower during that time of day. If you find your willpower is stronger in the morning, then focus on your goals during that time of day. Otherwise it could be an exercise in futility if you try to focus on your willpower at night.

3. Willpower has a lot to do with patience and delayed gratification. Instead of getting what you want now, you wait and hope that the outcome later is better. Well, you can strengthen your willpower by making yourself wait. If you bought yourself a video game, you will want to play it right away. Instead, put it next to the television where you can see it and do not play it for five hours. Then, once that time has passed you can play it. You can do the same with a piece of cake and a 15 minute egg timer.

4. One of the most important things you can do when you are building up your willpower is to step out of your comfort zone. Your comfort zone is where you want to stay because you like it, but to push yourself, you need to step out of your comfort zone. If you are shy, start talking to random people. If you are selfish, start lending a hand at charities. You will be surprised by how much this can help you when you are trying to build your willpower.

5. Remember the carrot and stick approach. Think about the goal you have in mind and how great it will be to reach that goal. Use the goal to fuel your willpower to stay on track and before you know it you will have reached your goal and strengthened your willpower at the same time.

Willpower is very important when you are trying to better yourself, and that is why you need to keep it strong by constantly working with it. If you do not work with it, you will not have strong willpower and you will not reach your goals. Do not underestimate the power of willpower in your quest for personal development.

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. This article originally published on the above website on Nov 5, 2010.