How to Wake Up in the Morning

Wake Up and Feel Fresh In The Morning

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 Oct 10, 2011

In this article I am not going to talk about how to sleep enough to wake up naturally without an alarm clock. Nor will I talk about how to make waking up a regular habit so you don’t need an alarm clock anymore. While I don’t disagree that it may be beneficial and a good habit to wake up at the same time daily, it may not be a realistic option to wake up at the same time for everyone due to various work-life circumstances. I am not in the position to afford the luxury of waking up at a pre-set time daily due to my lifestyle – and I am dependant on alarm clocks to meet my lifestyle demands. Today, I am going to discuss how to wake up in the morning effectively without causing too much stress and strain on your health.

Keep Your Alarm Clock Out of Reach – Do not keep your alarm clock too close. If you do, chances are you will stop your alarm clock and go back to sleep without knowing. When you wake up in the morning, your mind is not fully conscious yet, and even without realising you will go back to sleep again. Don’t keep it too close and not too far either. It should be placed somewhere that requires you to get up and move from your sleeping position to get it.

Use Gentle Alarm Tone – Do not use a harsh or too loud alarm tone. Use a gentle tone that makes you happy or gives you positive vibrations when you hear it. An alarm tone is the first thing you are starting your day with. If this is harsh and annoying, it’s bound the set you off for the whole day.

Don’t Rush Out of Bed – Once you are up and awake, don’t jump out of bed or rush to leave the bed. Take a deep breath in and out a few times, slowly sit up, and then slowly walk to the washroom.

Splash Cold Water – Splash some cold water (not too cold either) on your face, it will invigorate your senses and will make you happy and fully awake. Don’t forget to drink a glass of water.

Take an Invigorating Shower – Taking a shower works perfect for me to make me cheerful and get ready for the day. However, if I plan to work out or need to do some cleaning, I skip my shower right after waking up.

There are some specific things that work for specific people. The art is to find out what works for you and perform those to make your day more productive and a joyous one.

Questions To Ask Yourself Before Getting A Mortgage

Easy Ways to Get a Good Mortgage Deal

First Published Date : July 26, 2009 ADawnJournal.com

Finding the right mortgage is something that is becoming increasingly important for property buyers in a world which is more unforgiving than it ever has been towards bad debtors. As far as getting the mortgage you want is concerned, it is vital to ask yourself some questions be sure that you are giving realistic answers. The most important questions are as follows:

– How much can I realistically afford to pay, per month, to my mortgage?

– How long can the amortization on the mortgage be – how much longer will I have the ability to make these payments?

– Do I have options if I lose my job/fall ill? Will insurance cover the payments, or can someone else meet them for me?

The above are the instant questions which require immediate answers before you can in all good conscience move forward with a mortgage application on a property. If, at any given time during the process, the answers do not line up for you, you will need to put your application on the back burner. As the questions above are sequenced, so your priorities must also be. Before anything else is taken into account, you have to be sure you can make the monthly payments. This requires sitting down, working out what you have coming in and going out every month, and seeing what you can save if you need to.

The above can be done manually, or equally it can easily be done online with one of the vast range of online mortgage calculators. These are generally extremely simple websites which have a series of boxes to fill in, allowing you to break down your income and expenditure. The more advanced online mortgage calculators will be attached to comparison sites which will take your details and show you which lender has the best mortgage for you. A few words of advice regarding their use, though – using one mortgage calculator and comparison site will leave you with one view on the matter, so it is better to use two or three to ensure that you are happy with the accuracy of the information. Additionally, be as honest and as realistic as you can with the figures you enter. Different lenders will give the best deals to different borrowers, and a lie or a miscalculation could set you back considerably.

One thing you should always keep in mind is that although the many online resources for mortgage borrowers can be extremely helpful, not all are 100% independent. It is more than possible to visit a website looking for mortgage advice and come away with the strong impression that a particular bank is by far and away the best one for your purposes. This may be true, or it may be a carefully created impression that was always going to emerge from any research carried out on that website. Companies are not beyond putting up sites that have no visible connection to them, in order to support their positions. The best way to avoid falling victim to this is by using a range of sites.

A Walk in the Parnell Village | Auckland Travel Blog

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 11

Parnell is an upscale suburb or village in Auckland, known for being one of the New Zealand’s most affluent neighborhoods. Parnell is Auckland’s oldest neighborhood and has lots of specialty and antique shops, pubs, cafes, and restaurants.

If you walk down further south, you will hit the eternally-bursting New Market, which is a suburb known as the fashion and trend capital of New Zealand.

I was walking along Parnell roads and grabbed a coffee and a cake. I saw also lots of galleries, souvenir shops, chocolate boutique shops, restaurants, and small cafes as well. Walking down the road also gives you a nice view of the ocean.

Parnell village looked to me like an English country town straight from a history book, albeit with a modern touch. There are lots of side lanes that can be explored and it has lots of stores, each with its own charm.

After Parnell village, I boarded the tour bus and our next destination was the Auckland War Memorial Museum in Auckland Domain. However, we would only pass by the Museum and no sightseeing was on our itinerary.

The Auckland War Memorial Museum showcases New Zealand’s natural and military history, especially the history of the Auckland region. The building itself is also very historic. It is one of the most iconic buildings in Auckland, constructed in the neo-classical style in 1852 and built on the remains of a dormant volcano.

My next destination would be the Cruise around Waitemata Harbour with a short stop at Rangitoto Island from Auckland harbour.

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 1

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 2

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 3

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 4

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 5

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 6

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 7

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 8

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 9

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 10

How to Empty Your Mind

How to Clear Your Mind

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 Aug 24, 2011

Have you noticed what happens when you don’t clear your closet, cabinet, fridge, or anything regularly? Unwanted things start piling up and soon it becomes unmanageable. Our brain is no different than the above situation. In a world of high-stress, work overload, and infinite demands and responsibilities, our mind gets tangled, over-loaded and messy. That’s why we need to untangle and unwind to empty and clear our mind, so it can refocus and work at its fullest potential. Today, I am going to talk about some simple things you can do to empty your mind.

Take Deep Breaths – This is quick technique to clear your mind. Deep breathing puts more oxygen in your body, and your mind benefits from increased level of oxygen. For the same reason, aerobic exercises can clear your mind as well.

Write It Down – Whether on a piece of paper, in a notebook, on a laptop, or on your smart phone, writing down what’s bothering you can clear your mind from clutter. It is a good practise to keep a handy notebook or an online space to write down your thoughts – whether it’s something you want to vent about or it’s something pleasant. If you can’t do it daily, try to do it whenever you can. When you start writing down without worrying about anything else, your mind get rids of its unconscious clutter and makes more room for conscious thoughts.

Talk A Pleasant Walk – A pleasant, unhurried walk around the block, or in the park can empty your mind from accumulated stress and negative thoughts. While walking, try to feel and sense all the bits and pieces of your surroundings. For example, try to smell the air, feel the humidity or moisture in the air, pay attention to the various noises around you, notice anything unusual, and enjoy a beautiful garden, a mild breeze, or a beautiful sunset.

Talk to A Good Friend – Everyone should have reliable friends to whom they can talk without fear or worry of criticism. Share your concerns and thoughts with your friends and you will feel a lighter state of mind than before.

Listen To Light Music – This is one of my favourites. When I feel too burdened, I play some instruments or new age music, lie down or sit relaxed, close my mind, and concentrate on music. Doing this just for a half an hour can clear out my mind a lot and I feel totally invigorated and energized after that.

Enjoy A Great View From A High-Rise Building – As a skyscraper fanatic, I like living in tall buildings. One of the many benefits of living in a skyscraper is that you can enjoy great views from your balcony or through your glass wall bedroom or den (home office). When I feel my mind can’t bear it anymore, I just stay in the balcony or sit in front of my condo glass wall on a relaxing chair to enjoy outside views for some time. This works out perfectly for me to empty out my mind.

These are some tips that work for me. Try some of these to see if it works out for you or not. The art is the find those that work out best for you and apply them to empty your mind for a better yourself.

China – THE Superpower of the Future?

It Is Expected That By 2050 China
Will Have The Highest GDP On The Planet

First Published Date : July 28, 2009 ADawnJournal.com

The four separate and disparate countries which make up the grouping known as BRIC have taken up a lot of newsprint in recent times, often with an alarmist tone. The old order certainly seems to be being shaken up a little, if not completely overturned, and it is the identity of the countries doing it which is surprising most people. Although the countries themselves are not tied by anything concrete beyond some early multilateral trade talks Brazil, Russia, India and China do all have something in common. They are all in the top ten nations of the world in terms of

population. Between them these four countries have a combined population of more than two and a half billion. In terms of percentage they are home to more than forty percent of the people in the world.

Although sizeable in terms of geographical mass and population, however, these countries with the possible exception of Russia had not, until recently, been seriously grouped in the “superpower” category by the generality of analysts. Decentralised populations, poor communications linkups and government policy were among the reasons for these countries being associated more than anything with political stricture and

grinding poverty. And while it would be hopelessly naïve to say that poverty was a thing of the past in any of the above nations, there is no denying that they have each somewhat overturned their reputations and are on target to be the most important economies in the world within a generation.

China, for its part, spent much of the 20th century with a reputation for insularity, government repression of subjects and human rights abuses.

While the country still has work to do to shake off the reputation, it is certainly opening up in comparison with the past. This is expected to continue, and may need to if China is to meet the expectation that by 2050 it will have the highest GDP on the planet, increasing from its most recent annual GDP of US$4.4million to a number higher than seventy million, twice the forecasted GDP for the expected nearest competitor, the US. What this confers on China, its government and its industries is a great deal of bargaining power. International summits without China are increasingly going to be seen as largely irrelevant, because even if a powerful group of countries wish to move the world in one direction its richest, and most populous, nation exercises powerful veto muscles.

There is no doubt that the way China moves in the coming years will have a major influence on the way the world will move. There is some question over how this will change China as a country. Money at the moment is not as evenly distributed and like India, China has a significant proportion of its population living beneath the poverty line. If its greater financial muscle results in more of the Chinese population sharing in a greater level of its wealth, then it is inevitable that China’s cultural reach will increase. Having hosted the Olympic Games in 2008, it is thought

that China will next bid to host the soccer World Cup – and with that comes greater scrutiny. Financial change is coming to China, now how will that change be reflected in the rest of it?