Sobering global #MeToo outcomes show why gender equality will take 4-20 generations By: Dr. Kathleen Brush

Hollywood actresses emboldened to share #MeToo stories that haunted their lives inspired a global movement. Women all over the world joined in, and for many or most, their lives got worse, sometimes a lot worse. #MeToo inadvertently revealed why gender equality is estimated to arrive in the 24 th century in the United States and the 27th century in Iran.

Sometimes women used #MeToo and sometimes they created new hashtags. In Japan, many #MeTooers were shamed to a point that was seen as dangerous. Japanese women switched to #Wetoo and #Withyou to show support for the movement.

At first, government censors in China kept a lid on #MeToo. Undeterred women began using virtual private networks. #MeToo was labeled as a hostile force using Western feminism to interfere with the government. Some #MeTooers believed their lives were in danger. Minimally some were in danger of being sued. In China, more accused sue than victims, and they often win. Male-dominated judiciaries can be very powerful for reinforcing the status quo that silent women are better off.

In South Korea, women filing lawsuits alleging sexual assault have faced shaming and taunting as gold diggers. The message sent was the real victims are men. In Slovenia, #jaztudi took a more cautionary route to protect alleged victims. Stories were posted anonymously by an NGO. Instead of women facing threats, the NGO has.

In Latin America, women tired of violence, which too commonly takes the deadly form of femicide, launched #NiUnoMenos, which means not one less. Peru’s highest religious leader, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, said, “[They tell us] there are many abortions among young girls, but nobody has abused these girls. Often it is women who put themselves on display, provoking men.” Another response: well-known women supporting #NiUnoMenos have been murdered.

Russian #MeTooers have not been murdered, but murder inspired a Russian #MeToo-type movement #янехотелаумирать, which means I didn’t want to die. According to the Russian government, at least 12,000 women die from domestic violence every year. What’s being done about it? In 2017 Russian President Putin signed a law, originally proposed by a female legislator, that decriminalized violence against women unless it is so severe, they require treatment in a hospital. Regarding #MeToo, Putin said he doesn’t support the movement, and like the Chinese alludes to a western conspiracy. In Russia, there is a saying, “if he beats you, it means he loves you.”

France shared something in common with Russia; influential women opposed to the premises of #MeToo, or in France #balancetonporc which means squeal on your pig. Hollywood icon, Catherine Denueve and others saw #MeToo as a puritanical movement, and men sexually pestering women as "essential to sexual freedom." France obviously sees issues of sexual harassment and abuse differently. In 2020, highly feted “literary genius” Gabriel Matzneff found his acclaimed writings about sex with young girls were being re-examined. Millions around the world responded in disbelief asking how this could happen? Perhaps, it’s because a previous open challenge to Matzneff’s sexual deviance was rebuffed. How can a nation hailed as a leader in gender equality not protect young girls from sexual abuse?

In sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN, violence against women is second to Latin America. Here #MeToo barely made inroads. Equal rights advocates suggested the fear of backlash was too high. In India, women in Bollywood joined the #MeToo movement, but lawsuits against alleged victims, exoneration of perps, and men battling back against false complaints drowned out #Metooers. False complaints are a tiny fraction of accusations everywhere, but they have become a potent weapon in the arsenal of men to silence women seeking equal rights. Outside Bollywood, Indian women have stayed silent for two reasons that are similar to reasons in sub-Saharan Africa. It’s a better alternative and many females (and males), sometimes most, see intimate partner violence (IPV) as justified in some situations, like burning dinner, or refusing sex.

#MeToo didn’t gain traction in small Pacific island nations. One reason is, because here too there is a widespread belief that IPV as justified. The problem, or not, depending on your view, is not, limited to intimates. One study found 27% of men in Papua New Guinea admitted to raping a female non-partner, and 14% admitted to multiple rapes of female non-partners. In neighboring Australia, #MeToo had problems catching on. Some pointed to strong anti- defamation laws as the reason. In one case an Australian actor won more than a $600,000 in an anti-defamation suit. That would be enough to cool the heels of any media source or alleged victim going public with a story.

In some Muslim-majority countries, estimates for gender equality reach 20 generations or 500 years. Iran is a 500 year-to-equality country. Iranian women have struggled with #MeToo because they are up against a government that insists Islamic traditions prevent harassment. But interviews with unnamed women in Iran disagree. “If you ask 10 women about this, nine of them will say, yes, they have suffered harassment.” There is a correlation between gender equality and IPV, which would indicate that this 9 of 10 might not be far off in a 500 year-to- equality country. Laws passed in some Muslim countries are often unenforceable because they violate religious laws. Under sharia law, there is no marital rape, and a husband can justifiably beat a disobedient wife. For unmarried intimates, sexual harassment and assault are not illegal. Sex out of wedlock is what is illegal. An unmarried intimate reporting rape would be self- reporting a crime, so would a non-intimate without four witnesses. Being illegal is anyway a technicality that the potential global population of #MeTooers knows too well. In the United States, 1% of victims will see perpetrators jailed.

Religious institutions like political institutions are male-dominated, and their leaders often see women creating their own problems. In 2018, authorities in Thailand warned women “not to dress too sexily” during the New Year holiday. The thinking was if women get sexually harassed, it’s their fault for dressing like sluts. Thai women created #Donttellmehowtodress, which has been adopted in other parts of the world. Another Thai movement has been launched to teach women about consent in a culture where men don’t ask, because it seems apparent that they don’t need to. Around the world, girls don’t know there are age-of-consent laws that range from 9 to 21. But should a 50-year old man, like Matzeff, be free to have sex with a fourteen, let alone nine-year-old girl, because she said yes? In male-dominated governments, that’s not for women to decide.

There is plenty of evidence that very powerful political men can see nothing wrong with sexual harassment. The president of the Philippines, President Duterte’s regular sexist comments spawned #BabaeAko, which translates into #Iamwoman. Duterte has made jokes about rape and referred to a second wife as a “spare tyre” in the trunk of his car. What hope do women in the Philippines have to escape the most heinous form of discrimination if the leader of their country perpetuates the notion of women as men’s sexual playthings?

US President Donald Trump was a catalyst for #MeToo. Like Duterte, online logs are kept of his sexist comments. In office, they haven’t been as crude, but that’s a tempered outcome similar to the evolution of #MeToo in the United States. In the US, #MeToo has tempered sexual harassment but increased gender harassment. For victims the results are similar: the ambitions of degraded women decreases and many leave the workforce. Who leaves? Not sure, but senior women face higher levels of harassment. They are, after all, the ones that pose the greatest threat to male-dominated institutions.

#MeToo challenged powerful men all over the world, and they have responded to let women know that power in this world is securely in the hands of men, and they won’t be letting go anytime soon. Sexual harassment and abuse has been and continues to cement the inferior position of women in society. Harassment and abuse isn’t about sex; it’s about keeping women subordinated all over the world. Gender discrimination is blind to color, religion and wealth. The latter simply causes biases to change forms, and to offer legal remedies that are more likely to haunt victims than deliver justice.

Without generating global outrage that compels lawmakers and business leaders to address a scourge on half the world, harassment and abuse will continue to reinforce gender inequality. The estimates of 4-20 generations to equality and a global survey of #MeToo outcomes reinforce this won’t happen anytime soon. Women fear reporting acts of sexual violence, females have been raised to see it as justified, male political leaders promote women as sex toys, handfuls of falsely accused men drowned out millions of female victims, incidents are censored or swept under the carpet. When allegations are formalized, judiciaries send unsupportive messages.

There are other problems too. In many governments, data is not reported because the actions are not illegal. Where it is illegal, data can be censored, unprioritized, or used for purposes that obviously aren’t having much of an impact. The World Economic Forum produces the gold standard for measuring global gender equality, but it doesn’t find the most blatant and egregious form of gender discrimination relevant to evaluating equality. There is an adage that what gets measured, gets improved. If NGOs tracking gender equality don’t see a problem and neither do male-dominated governments, there is a problem without a solution. We certainly can’t rely on female heads of government. Today there are fourteen (7% of countries), up from one, fifty- eight years ago. But, even females as heads of government doesn’t automatically mean progress for women. A forecast for gender equality spanning centuries makes sense. The bigger question is, how do we bring this forward? More senior women leaders that accept part of their charge as ending gender discrimination could work.

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13 Reasons Why I Ditched My Title of DIETITIAN by Megan Pennington

Becoming a Dietitian made me fat, stressed, and miserable.

Before I explain further, let me be clear that I have NOTHING against Dietitians. What I am about to say is in no way meant as a discredit or disrespect to those Dietitians who are out in the world helping others and doing a great job.

That being said, the Dietetics profession was not for me.

As young as 13 years old I became enthralled with nutrition and health. I began doing my own research, read all the different diet theories at the time, and encountered an enormous amount of conflicting information. I decided to learn the “truth” about nutrition, and pursued it as a career.

When I started my degree in Dietetics and Human Nutrition at McGill, I was ecstatic. I wanted to help others (and myself) feel alive and well and to live a long and healthy life.

I was eager to learn and it felt pretty amazing to be studying my passion at one of the best schools in North America.

However, things didn’t quite work out the way I had planned.

I gained 30 pounds.

I became obsessed with food and eating “healthy”.

I was constantly thinking and stressing about my next meal, trying to get all the nutrients I needed without consuming too many calories.

I implemented the low fat, low calorie eating plan I learned for weight loss, which only resulted in major food cravings, mood swings, fatigue, and a very poor relationship with food. I didn’t even lose weight!

Food became my enemy – something that was causing stress in my life and making me feel awful about my body. The more control I tried to have over my food intake, the worse things got.

In a nutshell: it sucked. And worse, I felt there was nothing I could do about it. I mean, I was following the guidelines set out for me by experienced Dietitians! My teachers! If this wasn’t working, then I guessed nothing else would….

After a few years I decided to take a completely different approach. I went on a 4 month backpacking trip across Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, and came back with an interesting revelation:

When I threw everything out the window, everything I “thought” I knew about nutrition and healthy eating; when I stopped counting calories and stressing about my diet, I felt 100% better and lost all the added weight, effortlessly!

After my trip, I worked as a Clinical Dietitian in long term care for about 5 years. During this time I performed nutritional assessments, devised meal plans, provided advice in the management of various diseases, yet never felt that I was having a very big impact on my clients’ wellbeing. There was something lacking; something important.

I tend to view the Dietetics profession as I view the western medicine profession. Everything is broken down into parts, which is great for detail, but often makes it difficult to see the big picture.

For example: let’s say you have body pains. A doctor may give you painkillers, or refer you to a specialist. If the specialist can’t find anything wrong with you, then what? When you have no one looking at you as a WHOLE, things get missed. Such as the stress, sugar abuse, depression and food intolerances all contributing to that body pain!!

Sure, there are exceptions. Some doctors are amazing at taking a full assessment and considering all the potentially relevant factors. But generally, they will focus on treating your symptoms and not necessarily address the underlying cause.

Similarly, a Dietitian will often focus on managing your symptoms with a diet, because this is what they are trained to do. For example, someone with heart disease will likely be shown how to decrease their salt and cholesterol intake, and will be encouraged to lose weight and exercise. HOWEVER, it is well known in the scientific community that inflammation plays a huge role in heart disease, so what’s causing the inflammation?

Diet can only go so far when there are other underlying factors contributing significantly to your current state of health.

I have found much more success in taking a holistic approach, which does NOT focus on a single area such as food or nutrition. This approach allows for a broader view of what’s going on, and the opportunity to bring everything together to create a truly effective action plan. One that also looks at root causes and contributing factors unrelated to food.

SO HERE ARE THE 13 REASONS I CHOSE TO DITCH MY TITLE OF DIETITIAN:

(Note that these are generalizations – certainly there are exceptions, but this was my experience…)

1) A Dietitian’s main role is to create a diet for a patient. I personally found that regimented diet plans don’t usually work over the long term, and can result in eating disorders, poor body image, and control issues.

2) As I touched on before, Dietetics offers a very limited approach to health. No amount of organic broccoli is going to help someone who is depressed. We need to look beyond salt, fats, calories and portion sizes.

3) Dietitians are generally advised to follow the US and Canadian Food Guides. While these have dramatically improved in recent years, they are still influenced by lobbying food industries. These guides are still a balancing act of science and politics.

4) And yet, Dietitians are held to a standard of practice which includes best practice guidelines based solely on scientific literature. Interesting

5) A Dietitian’s recommendations are based solely on current guidelines based on the scientific literature. The problem with this is, there are limitations in terms of what HAS BEEN and what CAN BE studied and proven, thus the Dietitian is in turn limited by these same boundaries. This is to protect the public, but to think that one century of science should be the sole basis for our treatment plans, at the exclusion of thousands of years of traditional, alternative, or anecdotal evidence, seems a bit ludicrous to me.

6) Formal training in Dietetics concentrates primarily on calories, macronutrients, and micronutrient quantities in isolation. This is highly beneficial for tube feeds and IV calculations, in addition to some other clinical situations, but makes it difficult to translate into practical information for the general public.

7) Since so much emphasis is placed on nutrient quantities, there tends to be a focus on specific intake levels according to the Recommended Daily Intakes. This can be problematic because we don’t eat nutrients; we eat food. Too much of a single nutrient, for example calcium, can cause more harm than good.

8) Dietetics offers minimal training in food sensitivities, allergies, and the laundry list of symptoms that so many people are suffering from (headaches, indigestion, bloating, weight gain, body pains, autoimmune disease). If Dietitians, traditionally THE nutrition experts, aren’t trained in these food related issues, who is?

9) Dietetics offered minimal training in the psychology of eating (I remember only receiving one class in general psychology). Yet psychology is a HUGE driving factor in many dietary issues and general eating habits.

10)  Dietetics offered minimal training in counselling. For example, how to be a good listener, show compassion, build rapport and trust, provide a safe space for the client to share their struggles, and how to guide them in such a way that feels supportive and will encourage change.

11) Dietetics focuses minimally (if at all) on the mind-body connection in relation to food and overall health. Even the impact of the microbiome was not widely discussed when I was in school.

12) Dietetics trainings are infiltrated by politics. I attended several annual meetings and workshops for continuing education provided by the association, and these were often funded by the Canadian Sugar Institute and PepsiCo. As attendees we received little gifts with the logos of such companies.

13) The Dietetics profession seeks to monopolize the skillset. As a student my teachers would regularly preach “YOU are the trained professionals. YOU are the only nutrition experts. Everyone else lacks proper training”. There are laws and regulations to back this sentiment. My question is: why is a newly graduated Dietitian with NO experience automatically “better” than a nutrition coach with 30 years of independent study and practical knowledge? Were soldiers who learned surgery in the field less competent or worthy than those who studied in a lab? I believe it is extremely close-minded to teach students that they know best and are the most qualified in their field, while disregarding the competence of other modalities and practitioners.

So that has been my experience in the Dietetics world.

Again, I know MANY Dietitians who are FANTASTIC and do an amazing job. They are open-minded, compassionate, and extremely supportive. The above 13 reasons are generalizations from my own personal experience.

I feel that the Dietetics model as a whole is lacking in some very important areas, and thus I have chosen to move away from that modality and approach. Currently I am a Certified Holistic Health Coach and LEAP Therapist (Lifestyle Eating And Performance), specializing in food sensitivity reactions, inflammatory conditions, weight management, and disease prevention.

I work with the body mind connection and energetic field. I have learned that there is much to be discovered about the human body and I will never discredit any healing technique or modality that brings my clients relief or improved wellbeing.

I would like to encourage others to search out a health practitioner with whom you resonate with and feel supported by. And NEVER give up on your path to health. Don’t let anyone tell you “there is no cure for that” or “there is nothing else you can do”. There is so much waiting for you J

Megan Pennington is a Certified LEAP Therapist and Holistic Health Coach with a BSc in Dietetics and Human Nutrition.

Piling on the unconscious bias against female doctors By: Dr. Kathleen Brush

Some languages, like English, are androcentric. The he pronoun can refer to he and she or just he. The word doctors refer to male doctors, or male and female doctors. You can probably see the problem here: androcentric languages fuel bias by making the male gender the de facto gender. In the case of a doctor, sight unseen the assumption is they are male.

A patient is waiting for the doctor. In comes Doctor Smith. It would not be uncommon for the patient to think, wait a second, I want to see a doctor, not a nurse. When the patient finds out this is the doctor, he or she unconsciously decrements her competence but increases expectations that the doctor will be warm and friendly.

Most languages distinguish between male and female professions. The male version of a word refers to males or males and females, and there is a special word for female professionals, for example, in Italian il dottoreand la dottoressa,respectively. But this may not help perceptions of competence for female professionals, like doctors. Studies in Poland and Italy have shown that when women use the feminine form of their occupation, like la dottoressa in Italy, their patients decrement their perceived competence in advance of an appointment. If instead, they used the male and sometimes androgynous word, their situation resembles Dr. Smith’s common mistaken identity as a nurse and a competence downgrade. They do receive a consolation prize in the form of an unconscious increase in perceived warmth. That is a crummy tradeoff; the primary criteria used to select a doctor is perceived competence.

Whether a female doctor uses a gender-neutral doctor title or not, mistaken professional identities should not be occurring with the frequency they do. In some countries, people unconsciously assuming a doctor is a man would be wrong more than right. In Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Spain, and the United Kingdom, there are more female doctors than male. (I’m sure there are many other countries too.) In the United States, there are almost as many women doctors as men, and data on medical students indicates that women doctors will soon be a majority.

Some researchers have inferred that when women dominate male professions, unconscious bias and all the discriminatory outcomes, like decrementing competence that accompany bias will decrease. This may be optimistic. Patriarchal societies have existed forever, and men are not going to relinquish power easily.

Challenges for female doctors do not appear to be decreasing. A survey conducted by InCrowdfound that the number of female doctors that said being treated respectfully was a problem surged from 10 percent in 2018 to 36 percent in 2019. Their sense of inequality in the profession rose from 8 percent in 2018 to 34 percent in 2019. And in spite of near equality in numbers, the belief that medicine was male dominated rose from 4 percent to 15 percent. These are outcomes of increasing not decreasing bias.

Even though female doctors are ubiquitous in the United States, look at how unconscious biases are working in medicine to preserve the status quo. Arecent studyfound that while women introduced male and female doctors using their title 96.2 percent of the time, when men introduced female doctors, they were more likely to use their first name. If a man was introducing a male doctor, 72 percent of the time they introduced Doctor Male Name.

What’s in a name, right? Turns out a lot for female doctors. Honorifics, like Dr. Somebody confer confidence, competence and respect that Didi does not. In medicine the title doctor confers a high-status position, Didi broadcasts a subordinate. The Dr. Didi Smiths of the world already faces a host of women-specific challenges working in a traditionally male-dominated profession. This includes bias against her competence, sexual harassment, and more difficult marriages. Add to this a bias that results in being introduced as a woman in a white lab coat, while a bias against her male nurse results in being mistaken for a doctor.

In spite of some evidence indicating female doctors deliver higher quality care, female doctors have been unable to escape biased assessments of their competency, and the unconscious bias that assumes they are distracted by domestic responsibilities even when working equivalent hours to their male colleagues. These biases have been shown to influence pay and promotions. Female doctors are on average paid less – a lot less. According to a Medscape survey conducted from October 2018 to February 2019, female doctors on average worked 8-9 percent fewer hours than male doctors, but compensation for female general and specialty practitioners was 25 and 33 percent less. Another survey by Merritt Hawkins in 2018 found that on an hourly basis female doctors were paid about 40 percent less.

When it comes to who gets promoted, the situation is strikingly unequal. Even though women make up 80 percent of the workforce in medicine, they have only 20 percent of key leadership positions. Compared to Germany where women make up 11 percent of leadership positions in medicine, the United States seems progressive. It’s not. It would be progressive if it was 80 percent – certainly at least 50 percent. Imagine if this were the case. Women would be dying less frequently because treatments and prescriptions they received would probably be devised for women, rather than men. A 2019 study published by the Medical Journal of Australia said that: “Historically and consistently across a broad range of health domains, data have been collected from men and generalized to women.” Dr Janine Austin Clayton for the US National Institutes of Health said: “We literally know less about every aspect of female biology compared to male biology.”

It’s known that women in male-dominated professions face more unconscious bias than in other professions, but when women face more bias in formerlymale-dominated professions this is one more sign that patriarchal societies that subordinate women are not going down without an unconscious fight. This will include diminishing a woman’s professional confidence and competence by calling her Didi when she is Doctor Diane Smith.

“First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. Then they fight you, and then you win.” Mahatma Gandhi.

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Oprah’s new horizon becomes a reinforced glass ceiling by Dr. Kathleen Brush

Two years ago, Oprah galvanized the Golden Globes with her #metoo speech. She declared a new day was on the horizon. For men - time was up. Oprah threw down the gauntlet on gender equality. Hollywood elites roared in appreciation. People implored her to run for president. With Oprah Winfrey as CEO of gender equality, how could a new day not be on the horizon for women?

Let’s face it, Hollywood and MainStreet share little in common. Oprah’s speech, in combination with millions of #metoo tweets and the newly launched Times Up movement, sounded to many like women declaring war on men – all men – from abusers to allies. With men holding the vast majority of senior leadership positions in the public and private sectors, heeding a call to arms to protect their own was inevitable. What were the prospects women would prevail? In 2019, Forbes 75 most powerful people included five women. Time’s 25 most influential leaders of 2019 counted four women. Biography’s 100 most influential people of all time included two women. In 2019, 11 out of 100 of the richest people in the world were women. In 2019, 25 female CEOs were leading S&P 500 companies and 23 women were leading 193 sovereign nations.

Women have not prevailed. In the past two years, the path to gender equality has gone backward. In 2017, the World Economic Forum predicted it would take 170 years for economic equality, in 2018, it rose to 202 years and in 2019, to 257 years.

Look at some of the subtle ways men are halting the progress of women. The number of male managers consciously avoiding one-on-ones with female subordinates has skyrocketed. Harvard Business Review reported in 2019 that 27% of men said they were avoiding one-on- one meetings with women colleagues and 21% said they were leery about hiring women where a job required close interactions. A survey in 2019 by Lean In and Survey Monkey found that 60% of men are uncomfortable mentoring, socializing, or working one-on-one with women: a 32% increase since 2018. Meetings with women have been characterized as unknown risks and something to be avoided.

Women already face a host of unconscious biases in the workplace. A heightened fear of interacting with women is bound to increase them. How can women dispel biases held by the male gatekeepers of their career if they’re excluded from interacting with them? The giant gap between male and female leaders will never be closed with increased segregation and people and organizations will never experience the validated benefits of sufficiently representing the other 50% of the population.

One good news outcome for #metoo is that sexual harassment in the workplace appears to be on the wane. The bad news is, it’s being countered with increased gender harassment. Gender harassment is like sexual harassment minus the sex. Things like insulting the competence of women, belittling their professional presence, or making crude comments about women in general. Men are altering behaviors that cast them as sexual deviants to ones that paint them as chauvinists or garden-variety sexists. This turn of events is similar to the change that took place when overt discrimination against women was made illegal in the sixties. Discrimination in an unconscious and ambiguously legal form skyrocketed (Noe: according to the EEOC, gender harassment in “serious” forms is supposed to be illegal). Sexual or gender harassment has the same impact on women. Confidence takes a hit, perceptions of suitability for senior leadership are decremented again, and women exit the workforce. You could say the mission of letting women know who’s in charge is accomplished with either form of harassment.

There have been some positive #metoo outcomes. Company leaders have stepped forward with measures to strengthen policies against sexual harassment and have made commitments to promote more women into senior leadership. It’s still unclear if the walk is matching the talk. Some nations have also strengthened laws against sexual harassment, but enforcement remains a question mark. There are always problems implementing unpopular policies or laws, particularly when people believe they were motivated by politics or public relations. There is also the reality that while most agree on what constitutes sexual assault, agreement is missing when it comes to sexual harassment or serious gender harassment. How could there be agreement? Northeastern University’s Dr. Judith Hall, an expert on forms of sexism, which include actions of sexual and gender harassment, said these actions can “literally look welcoming, appealing, and harmless" to some women -- but not all women. It seems reasonable that men could be confused and angry by being cast as a sexual predator for something many women see as harmless or even a positive endorsement of their attractiveness.

Women should never be declaring war on men, and not just because men are in the catbird seat. Wars have winners and losers; the goal is win:win equality. To make progress toward this goal, women need a lot more than Oprah. Women leaders need to be at least 25% on all of those top-powerful-people lists. With critical mass, women leaders can get beyond the stigma of tokenism and can leverage their positions of power to influence others to accept that moving toward equality is in everyone’s interest. How women get there won’t have the glamour of Hollywood. Instead, it will have lots of women that understand why #metoo backfired, why and how discrimination against women, including sexual and gender harassment, is perpetuated, and what women can do to rise above socially-baked-in biases to land positions of senior leadership. Then we can talk about a target for a new horizon of gender equality, and it needs to be a lot less than 257 years.

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Women Whose Noise Complaints Have Been Dismissed Are Asked to Advocate for A Quieter Environment by Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D. GrowNYC

In New York City, I have served on the Board of GrowNYC (www.growNYC.org) for thirty years (non-paid position), having been appointed to this organization by the present Mayor and the four former Mayors. Our website provides information on noise and as the individual who has conducted research and written extensively on the adverse effects of noise on mental and physical health, people are directed to contact me if they need assistance with personal noise problems. (I have been called the Noise Lady). Since noise intrusions are a major complaint in New York City, I do hear from many people with most contacting me after having first sought help from the 311 Helpline and the city’s agencies to whom their calls were directed.  Over the years, I have developed techniques to assist many people successfully, but not always. One successful case involved a caller hearing the bed banging against the wall shared with her neighbor when the neighbors were having sex. The woman knew the housekeeper and I suggested telling the housekeeper that she has heard the bed bang against the wall (omit sex part) and it was probably damaging the wall.  The housekeeper moved the bed and the noise disappeared. Additionally, people around the country have also sought my help with noise problems, contacting me often after reading one of my publications or hearing my interviews on podcasts and in the radio.

While both men and women have come to me exasperated with having to deal with their noise problems, I have found that many more women seek out my help and a large number are older women.  Additionally, women callers frequently live in small studio apartments and cannot go to another room that could possibly be quieter. My findings are largely drawn from the many complaints I get about residential noise, often covered by the “warranty of habitability” clause of one’s lease, and most are complaints about noise from neighbors. There are also complaints about noise from building equipment.  Many of these women have already complained to the landlord or managing agent, generally male, about the noise and tell me that their complaints have been dismissed. Those who have not directed their complaints to the landlord or managing agent are generally too timid to lodge a complaint with the person in authority. Women also complain to owners of nearby loud bars and restaurants but report that their complaints are not taken seriously. 

Early in my conversations with the women who call me, I tell them they have a right to live without intrusive, harmful noises and that they should not be intimidated by those in charge who have ignored their complaints. I start out by writing letters on the behalf of these women to the responsible agents and then follow up with phone calls.  Most of the recipients of my letters and phone calls are male. They frequently label the women who have complained as just being “sensitive” to sound.  While there are people who are more sensitive to sounds, and others that are less sensitive, I explain during these calls that the majority of people fall in the middle range and these people are being “reasonable” about the sounds that are bothersome. I also note that others having to live in these apartments would probably find the noise intrusive. When I am told that people have the right to make sounds in their apartments, I reply that they do but their sounds should not intrude on their neighbors’ rights to “reasonable quiet” in their apartments.  Often, I am told that the superintendents have not heard the noises when they visited the apartments. With many superintendents being male and having worked with loud equipment for many years, it may very well be that they have some hearing loss.  Thus, they cannot hear the intrusive sounds.

Let me assure you that noise is an irritant that has been intruding on the lives of many people worldwide, causing them stress, a loss of sleep, physical and mental discomfort, and a diminished quality of life. Going to www.growNYC.org/noise, will introduce you to the relevant research on noise impacts. Knowing that there is literature linking noise to adverse health impacts will be helpful in addressing the noise problem. Secondly, one must become familiar with the bylaws governing noise restrictions, whether it be noise from overhead airplanes and helicopters, neighbors who play their loud music into the early hours, or construction sounds that not only rattle one’s windows but also one’s “nerves.”  People are too often left to their own means to find out about their rights re: noise intrusions—intrusions that disrupt their daily activities, their sleep, their desire for some peaceful, restful relaxation, and more recently, with so many people now working out of their homes, their livelihood. They also have to find out whom to call with a noise complaint.

New York City noise complaints are, for the most part, dealt with by the New York City Noise Code which New York City passed in 1970 and then updated twelve years ago.  (https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dep/downloads/pdf/air/noise/noise-code-guide-summary.pdf). It is largely the New York City Department of Environmental Protection which enforces this Code with a designated group of agents. Yet, this Code does not oversee noise from overhead airplanes and helicopters, controlled for the most part by the Federal Aviation Administration and local airports.  Also, the Code does not cover the many residential complaints from neighbors. Residents have to depend on the “warranty of habitability” clause of their leases. Then, whom does one call to complain about noise.  In New York City, residents generally call 311 and their calls are directed to proper agencies under the Noise Code.  However, with regard to many of the neighbor to neighbor noise complaints, landlords and managing agents have to be contacted directly.

Now that I have provided some information on noise as a health hazard as well as where you can learn more about the New York City Noise Code and to whom to direct one’s complaints, let me explain further as to what one can do to lessen noises in their lives.  Do find out if others in your building are disturbed by neighbor or building equipment noises.  Ask them to join you in contacting building management.  In numbers, there is greater strength and a greater likelihood that action will be taken. With regard to neighborhood noises, e.g. nearby loud restaurant, noisy metal plates on the road, do ask your neighbors if they are similarly disturbed and have them join you in your efforts to reduce the noise. Such complaints can be taken directly to the Environmental Protection Agency, police precincts and public officials.  Do learn who your local public officials are and remember the City Council passed the NYC Noise Code.  To parents who have children who are attending schools that are noisy from within or from without, e.g. passing trains, nearby road traffic, etc., please read the research on the adverse effects of noise on children’s learning and work toward achieving quieter learning environments for your children.  

Do not let the dismissive attitude toward women complaining about noise stop you from taking action to ameliorate the noise.  Instead, let this negative reaction be the incentive to direct you to the activities described above to lessen the noises in your life. On a more positive note, let me add that some of the women with whom I have worked on noise problems, have indeed become more active in reducing noise in their environment for both themselves and for the many other people who have been similarly affected by nearby noises. They understood that less noise in our environment would result in improved health and well-being for all of us. Less noise will also provide greater opportunity to tune in to the wonderful sounds in our environment, e.g. birds singing, gentle breezes, leaves blowing in the wind, which might very well be drowned out in time if the noises in our environment are not abated.

"Ten PC Tips for Communicating with a Diverse Audience" by Simma Lieberman

By learning to speak to a diverse audience, you can broaden your client base transfer the learning to more people. We need to be more "PC". Were not talking "political correctness", were talking "Positively Conscious", of who is in our audience and understanding how to make people feel included. The more people feel included, the more they will listen to you, use your information and come back for more. If you offend people they will shut down and you will lose them.

1) Use words that include rather than exclude. While some women don't mind being called ladies, in a professional setting the word women is more appropriate. Be "positively conscious" of pronouns when discussing hypothetical cases. I have been inn workshops where the facilitator spoke as though all managers were "he" and all administrative support were "she". Metaphors are very effective. Remember to mix them. Don't use only sports metaphors. Have a balance. In Europe when they think of football they think of soccer. Be aware that people have different abilities. Instead of telling everyone to stand, you might say everyone who is able please stand, and have a way for others to participate in the exercise. 

2) Learn the demographics of the audience before your presentation, and prepare. 

3) Do not assume everyone shares your religious beliefs. 

4) Look at everyone in the audience and smile at them. Speakers can have a tendency to visually relate to people who look more like them. Assume everyone wants to be valued. 

5) Do not use humor that puts down any particular group. If you are not sure, get feedback from others. 

6) Examine your assumptions about people who are different than you. Be open to letting go of those assumptions. 

7) Do not be afraid to ask for the correct pronunciation of someone's name. 

8) If someone has an accent and you can't understand them, ask them to repeat what they said slowly, because what they are saying is important to you. 

9) Use methodology in your presentations to accommodate different learning styles. Visual Auditory Kinesthetic 

10) Be comfortable with silence. In some cultures that can mean respect and attention. Be comfortable with direct interaction. In some cultures that can mean respect and attention. Be comfortable with saying, " I don't know."

"Marketing vs. Sales" by Anna Lieber

"You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do." – Henry Ford. 

Business owners often confuse marketing and sales. But the distinction is really simple. Marketing is communicating what you do to generate prospects and increase visibility. Sales is converting prospects into clients. You need both. Here’s why. 

First, we all know commitment takes time. Before you marry, you date to get to know one another. Doing business is similar. It’s what we call the “know, like and trust” factor. 

Second, marketing is an ice breaker that warms up your leads. Prospects can be confused because they don’t understand how to judge your expertise. Sometimes they don’t even understand what you are talking about. Your knowledge base is simple to you but it’s a foreign language to them. 

Marketing educates prospects and helps take the fear and uncertainty out of a buying decision. It moves them from a flying leap to a more comfortable leap of faith. It’s that trust factor. The discount clothier Syms says “an educated customer is our best customer”. And we’ll add an educated customer guarantees a better experience for all. 

Third, marketing attracts new prospects. A company which markets all the time, via traditional, viral or guerrilla techniques, in good economies and bad, slow times and busy times, has the edge. Marketing generates brand awareness leading to a larger pool of warm leads and greater success.

Strategic marketing provides a select audience – you attract interested prospects instead of needing to track them down. Attracting rather than chasing – what could be better? A known brand is the comfortable choice. It makes decision making intuitive and creates raving fans.

Sales or converting prospects to clients is the next part of the process. There are various sales methodologies but most use a variation of these steps: qualifying leads, approaching them, presenting or demonstrating, probing for needs, answering objections and closing the sale. 

Sales skill is essential in moving prospects from stage to stage but marketing ensures prospects feel good about the decision. Expert selling is consultative and meant to create lasting relationships. And marketing continually communicates your expertise. 

The bottom line: Sales success is facilitated by good marketing. Marketing plus sales is the winning equation.

"Ideal Client Profile" by

Every business needs to generate referrals to new clients. So it’s imperative to know who we want as clients. A prospect is someone who has a need, ability to pay and the authority to make a decision to buy. But to design a better business, one which is more profitable and enjoyable, we want to be aware of first-class prospects, those who are likely to be our very best clients.

A ideal client is one you most enjoy working with, who is receptive, committed and can successfully use your product or service. They understand what you do and appreciate the value you bring. They may have purchased your type of product or services before and therefore require less time and education.

The most qualified leads come via referrals. Therefore the more specifically you can define your ideal client, the more likely you can communicate to get the right referrals. And the more focused your target, the easier to determine how and where to market. 

Develop your ideal client profile. Analyze your best clients using the following criteria:
€ gender, age 
€ income, education
€ position, industry 
€ type, size of of company 
€ need or problem
€ professional organization 
€ trade magazines, newspapers 

Use the profile in your conversations. Let others know the kind of people you want to work with and how to recognize them. Once you’ve determined your ideal client, you’ll find it’s a lot easier to find them. 

"Design: the Ultimate Brand Booster" by Anna Lieber

It’s no coincidence that products and services with high design values become household names. FedEx, Nike and IPod are a few examples. 

Tom Peters in his excellent book “Re-imagine!” says: “Design is the NO. 1 DETERMINANT (his caps) of whether a product-service-experience stands out–or does not.” 

Peters also quotes Fortune magazine: “Design is treated like a religion at BMW.” Hey, doesn’t everybody want a well-designed car? If the design is slipshod, what about the safety? It’s ironic that many of us will spend a premium to equip our offices with well-designed furniture and our kitchens with beautiful appliances. Yet, there is a disconnect when it comes to our business brands. Small business owners have a difficult time making an investment in good design. Rarely is it valued as the most critical brand component. 

And just as often corporations fail to manage their valuable brands. Time and resources are wasted as different departments produce materials which don’t even resemble each other. Lack of consistency is the ultimate brand killer. 

Our recommendations: appoint a brand leader, create brand guidelines, integrate your materials, educate your staff. Use great design to set your company apart. 

Some of you run creative businesses; others are business owners or corporate managers who work with design firms, writers, web developers, etc. In any case, to ensure a positive outcome, you need to manage the design process. Here are a few tips:

€ START WITH A PROPOSAL AND A TIMELINE 
Determine the project scope in a signed agreement. The proposal needn’t be extensive but it must outline the project parameters, deliverables, work process, fees and payment schedule, usage (if it applies), preliminary timeline and cancellation policy. An agreement will help prevent problems.

€ SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE
The larger the project, the longer the commitment and the more extensive the documentation. A contract prevents miscommunications which disrupt the relationship and derail the project. Sign the contract before work begins. It’s a lot harder to negotiate after a fallout occurs. 

€ AGREE ON WHO DOES WHAT
Agree about the number of design choices, number of revisions, how you will handle printing or computer programming, and who supplies content (copy, images). Agree also on the client’s responsibilities and time frame on approvals, especially if there is a tight schedule created by an event or other deadline. 

€ MANAGE THE RELATIONSHIP
Many clients don’t fully understand the design process and what’s required of them. The client is concerned with being satisfied with the results, finishing on time and not going over budget. The designer’ is concerned with creating a great product, making sure the client is happy and charging for time spent. Sometimes these concerns conflict. Most disagreements occur when services additional to the proposal crop up. If they do, be sure to discuss it before proceeding. The designer’s role is to educate the client, manage expectations, schedule and budget, and charge fairly. And the client needs to communicate their needs, make timely decisions and agree to pay fairly for all services rendered. 

€ DESIGNER’S ROLE
Design firms can help projects go smoothly by creating a simple but structured work process. Create a welcome package to walk your client through the way you work. Get a deposit before beginning work. Get additional payments as the work progresses. Make sure you are buttoned up. If things do go wrong, be honest and correct the problem quickly. Clients hate surprises.

€ CLIENT’S ROLE
Clients can help projects go smoothly by educating yourselves about the design process. Practice due diligence in choosing a designer whose work you like. Realize good design takes time to percolate. Be reasonable. Handle the project professionally as you would with an attorney, accountant or doctor. And if you negotiate a lower fee, understand what you will be giving up. Know what’s included, what’s not—before beginning a project. Do your homework and ask the questions. 

Most important, remember design is a partnership between client and designer. Each shares responsibility for the success of the final design. 

"Are You A Commodity Or A Brand?" by Anna Lieber

Business owners often tell me they are frustrated when their service is seen as a commodity, virtually interchangeable with others. So how do service providers get out of this quagmire? And how can purchasers distinguish one designer from another, one accounting, technology, construction firm from the rest? 

We all know it’s not always how much something is worth but how much people think it’s worth. Consider the beauty industry where cosmetics companies put $3 worth of skin cream into $10 worth of packaging and charge $100. And if you had told people twenty years ago that we would all be paying for bottled water, they would have laughed. 

Why do we pay a premium for brands like Starbucks and Perrier? One answer is that their product is better, they give us a better experience and ... because they’ve told how they are better. 

So first, realize that your clients want to understand the differences but find it confusing. Second, understand it’s your responsibility to show them how you are different and better. And third, recognize that image and perception are everything. 

Rather than emulating competitors, figure out what you possess that they do not. What sets you apart? Is it your special capabilities, training, patents and trademarks, industry knowledge, access to resources, proprietary processes or just plain know how?

Now how do you change perception? In plain English, toot your horn. Once you’ve developed a clear and sustainable competitive advantage, drive it home with the right brand message. Communicate frequently with clarity and consistency. 

We trust companies we know and so to create value make sure others know you. A recognized brand is worth more. That’s what we mean by brand equity. 

"10 Marketing Mistakes: Are You Guilty" by Anna Lieber

1. YOU SPEND TIME ON SALES, BUT NOT ON BRAND BUILDING
Sales flow more easily, once you’ve built a brand with a point of view. 

2. YOU SPEND MORE TIME SECOND-GUESSING YOUR CREATIVE TEAM THAN SELECTING IT
Once you’ve selected a great team for their expertise, let them do their job which is to make you look good. 

3. YOU DON’T HAVE A CREATIVE TEAM
If you wouldn’t let your nephew fix your car or your teeth, why would you let him mess with your company brand? It’s just as important. 

4. YOU HAVE NO STRATEGIC VISION
It’s essential to develop a shared vision, with all members of the team pulling in the same direction. 

5. YOU HAVE NO MARKETING PLAN
If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there. Creating a dynamic, actionable plan is the foundation for control over your marketing. And planning is not a one-time event, it’s a process. You don’t know where to begin? Call me quick.

6. YOUR POSITIONING STATEMENT IS WEAK 
You don’t have a positioning statement? You don’t know what a positioning statement is? Check the Q & A above.

7. YOU HAVE NO SPECIALIZATION
A specialist will usually win over a generalist. Find a special niche and communicate it convincingly. Passion plus experience attract clients. 

8. YOU CREATE DIRECT MAIL FOR THE CIRCULAR FILE
If you have no strategy, no position, no call to action, no contact information, it’s pointless. Take 5 steps back to strategic vision. 

9. YOU HAVE NO MARKETING SYNERGY
What’s that? A mix of marketing initiatives will get your pipeline flowing. 

10. YOUR BRAND IS DULL 
You have no brand personality. Don’t take it personally. Change it. 
Strategize. Then add some snap, crackle and pop. 
     

"5 Social Media Mistakes Businesses Make" by Sherrie A. Madia PhD

Ready to jump into the social media world? Great! But before you do, know that being a user of social media, and understanding its strategic applications for your PR, marketing, and communications initiatives, are two dramatically different skill sets.

Some mistakes to avoid:

Mistake #1: Diving in without a strategic plan.
Don't start podcasting, blogging, tweeting, friending on Facebook, and posting YouTube videos until you know what your messages are, who will manage them, who your audience is, and how they and you are going to benefit from the content and relationships.

Mistake #2: Not having a social media policy.
Your social media policy needs to outline how employees behave in the online universe during and outside of work. It should include education on style preferences and confidentiality. All messaging coming from employees should be aligned with your company's values and brand.

Mistake #3: Failing to tailor the plan to your target audience.
Hone in on sites, tools, and applications your target audience is using. Is your audience out walking in the park most afternoons, without so much as a cell phone? Or are they technology lovers who are never parted with their BlackBerry or iPhone? Research your target market to find out who they are and how to reach them

Mistake #4: Producing weak, unfocused, or unhelpful content.
The same messaging rules that apply to classic public relations and branding apply to social media. Create strong, smart, well-thought-out content that adds value to your customers' lives. Don't waste their time with self-serving promo. Give them something they can use -- tips, incentives, product information, new ideas, fun, and inspiration.

Mistake #5: Allowing your social media efforts to stagnate.
Gone are the days when companies could put up a website that sat on the screen like an electronic business card. Social media is about maintaining a dynamic conversation between you and your customers. Equip your content for the RSS-share-save-post-to revolution so it gets out there in multiple places. Answer blog, Flickr, and podcast posts; respond to tweets; engage "friends." Remember: Social media, done right, is not a one-off campaign by a handful of staff; it's a long-term corporate commitment.

BUY NOW!!!! The Social Media Survival Guide: Everything You Need to know to Grow Your Business Exponentially with Social Media b

You Are Creator of Your Own Destiny! by Rachel Madorsky

The more we know, the more we want to know. From millennium to millennia, we attempt unceasingly to find answers to one big question: for what purpose do we exist in the human form in which we reproduce ourselves on Earth? 

We have to accept the wisdom of our ancestors transmitted to each of us through birth. We especially have to respect the truth that has been passed down to us through generations. We have to find the courage to refuse to accept at face value everything told to us by orthodox medical practitioners. Don't misunderstand! Physicians trained in modern medicine can benefit our lives. We should consider their knowledge, but not as though it was the ultimate or complete truth. Modern pharmaceutical medicine evolved approximately 100 years ago when aspirin tablets were introduced. Aspirin in its natural form, willow bark, has been prescribed during millennia by people who call themselves healers, shamans, priests, and medicine-men, or other names synonymous to the Latin word "doctor" - teacher, or practitioner of healing arts. The organic and functional transformations called diseases, once initiated, may be stopped or reversed at almost any point. 

People of all races, nationalities, cultures and religions must recognize the value of accumulated experience. Every one of us has (his or her) own knowledge and understanding, which is priceless. 

Since ancient times humans have sought to unravel the mystery of their destiny on Earth. Much has been accomplished by individuals who have discovered personal spiritual missions in the material world. The underlying mystery of reality can be ignored but not avoided; it is independent of our will. Finding ways for its elucidation is alluring and part of my task. 

Different sources, which have survived the centuries, bear witness to the invisible and often impalpable reality behind appearances. Engravings found on the walls of Pyrenean caves reflect the work of healers, as do descriptions in ancient Egyptian scrolls. The methods of treatment that act upon the energetic formations of organisms, as legends testify, were discovered in the East about 3000 B.C. In the Dead Sea scrolls, which were found in mountain caves located above an unearthed Qumran settlement in Israel belonging to the Essene sect, researchers discovered many world-shaking facts. The Essenes routinely trained members of their community in the practice of curing diseases by the laying on hands. A number of people in the Essenian sect demonstrated astonishing healing miracles by touching the afflicted with their hands. The cave sketches of American Indians depicting a treatment process with hand healing, practiced since ancient times on the Eurasian continent, testify to the permanence and universality of such treatment. Since then we haven't changed; the only thing that has changed is our approach to caring for our bodies. 

The component material parts of the body and its functional physiology have been well investigated under the microscope and are sufficiently catalogued at this time. Modern medicine treats a human being as a mechanic does an automobile: let's fix it here and there, replacing one worn-out part for a new one. There is little comprehension of the human body as an entity. Medicine disregards the spiritual being of a person - the state of interconnection of the soul with the body. 

Through modern technology, the hidden has become apparent, noted in science, and is a recognized phenomenon in the arsenal of the struggle for human health. 

From my observation, viral and other infections are secondary events that often distort the understanding of the prime cause: the disruption of the interrelationships between our spiritual being and the laws of the Universe and its Creator.

An awareness of many karmic outcomes has been awakened, starting with atonement for the extinct types of plants and animals and a feeling of happiness for the ones saved in time, such as buffalos and whales, before they became extinct. The understanding that there are other types of energy, which we haven't as yet learned how to detect and measure, gives us a sense of awareness of our presence on the chessboard of the Universe. The joy of knowing that we are not the only beings in the Universe already exists in scientific circles. There are theories about the transformation of one type of energy-matter into another. Everyone understands the irrevocable consequences of nuclear experiments and those who have gone through them know the effects of the tragedies on the next generations in Hiroshima and Chernobyl. Nature and the Universe do not forgive a violent intervention into their laws. The earth is an organ of some cosmic entity, but we are doing it harm by taking advantage of a temporary lack of self-control and non-union with Higher Forces over us. As we do damage to our planet in the form of wars and various fossil extractions, we forget about the eternity of cosmic and karmic laws. 

The three true states present in the world keep it in balance: positive and negative, good and evil, health and disease. To choose which side you are on as you try to reach a specific goal completely depends on your life in the earlier ages. This choice affects both present and future lives as well as redemption for this decision.

Everyone must develop a basic knowledge and cultivate his or her abilities to pose honest questions and not be afraid of the answers. We must also prepare to seek second opinions or advice from alternative medical practitioners. This is an option which has been a taboo among the people of Western civilization for centuries, but it is increasingly being chosen now.

Knowledge is power! This power is inside each one of us! It's inside of you. You have the capability and responsibility to make wise decisions. Ignorance breeds fear. Give yourself a chance to get rid of your fear of the unknown. You are Creator of Your Own Destiny! Ancient healing arts and modern medicine are not necessarily enemies; they can compliment each other. Don't be afraid to understand, learn about yourself and help yourself! 
       BUY HER BOOK: Create Your Own destiny!

World, Heal Thyself by Donna Labermeier

More and more people today are being converted to the benefits of self-healing, a metaphysical process by which one can rid the body of toxins, illness and stress. By employing a blend of positive thinking and new-age philosophies, some even claim to be able to influence the health of others.

Self-healing can help people to recover not just from physical ailments but also from psychological trauma. Relying entirely on their own instincts to direct the treatment, those who seek self-healing may enjoy any of the following benefits:

* Greater awareness of the causes of their pain
* Release of deep emotions, such as guilt, fear and anxiety, which might be preventing the achievement of full potential
* Increased self-esteem
* Less unhappiness and stress
* A more profound sense of serenity

My story:
After years in the business world, I decided to try my hand at “stay-at-home” mom. I soon realized that it was the hardest job on the planet! With a few years at this under my belt, a four year old on one hip, a two year old on the other, an ailing mother with dementia, an elderly father living on his own, and a husband working more hours than not trying to keep his business going and pay the bills, I had lost myself somewhere down the line. I no longer had an identity. Who was I? Did I have a purpose outside of caregiver? I felt completely drained, used up, a shell of a human being…I had given my power away.

My mother died later that year, and my depression became deeper. I felt terribly disappointed and angry at the way she left me. I was never alone, it seemed, but I felt utterly lonely.
My mental anguish had begun to manifest itself physically. Like clockwork, every month, I would acquire an unbearable strep-like sore throat. Knowing what I know now, I realize it was from not speaking my truth, not expressing my authentic self.

In the Spring of the following year, my sister asked me to go on a trip with her. She was sure I needed some time for myself. I, of course, was very reluctant to even entertain the thought with two small children at home. I had responsibilities, and how would my husband feel about the added duties? So after mulling it over for a time, I woke up one morning and made a command decision…I was taking my power back! This was my life, too! I was going to go on a trip with my sister! Everyone was just going to have to make due without me for a few days.
So my sister, Ginny, and I went to Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Arizona. My sister had been there before and enjoyed it so much as a relaxing retreat that she was sure it would be good for me, too. There, I did some reflecting, but I was still very sad. I felt as if I was supposed to be doing something else in life. I was searching for a missing piece of myself. I didn’t know what it was or how to go about figuring it out. Then one day, I scheduled myself for a session called “Healing Touch.” For many years of my adult life I had been interested in the metaphysical and in spiritual development, but energy healing was a new concept to me. This process of healing another individual of emotional and physical blockages using only the healing energy inherent in each of our bodies and minds was positively fascinating to me.
When I came home from this adventure, I still couldn’t put my finger o exactly what my larger purpose in life was, but I began studying energy medicine.

After a few more months of feeling aimless and continuing to search for my path in life, I became terribly sick. I had come down with a respiratory illness and coughed incessantly for a month. Again, I now know this was a serious sign that I was shoving negative energy down into my body instead of releasing it through some form of personal expression and having some fun in my life.

I was prescribed stronger and stronger medication, but I continued to get worse. I was desperate to get well. One night, afraid that I might fall asleep and never wake up, I said to myself, “What if these medicines I’m relying on to heal me don’t work? There MUST be a way for me to heal myself.” And the instant those thoughts poured out of my mind, the premise for my book, The Healers, flooded in. The detail was amazing, especially considering my exhaustion and delirium at the time. So crisp and clear were my visions of the characters – children from various parts of the globe, each with their own healing abilities, using specific techniques, teaching other young people and adults, alike, to use energy healing in their own lives.

The next morning, the ideas were still so vivid in my mind that I began writing them down on paper. I had now found what I was searching for: a greater purpose in life, an identity, a creative outlet to express my true self, a way to spread a message of hope and love to humanity. In a world of infinite possibilities and infinite abundance, I had finally attracted what I was ready to have. That was two years ago, and I haven’t been sick or depressed since.
I sincerely hope that my readers will come away from this book with the realization that they have more power than they ever dreamed. The power of the Universe lies inherently within each and every one of us. We live on a vibrational planet, and all that exists is simply made of energy. We have the ability to shape our own realities through the focus of our thoughts, so if you hold your thoughts on the positive and the good, your life will be a mirror reflection of them. This Universe of ours is loving, caring, supportive, and abundant; and I passionately believe that every person on Earth has the inner strength to better his or her own life – to release all fear, worry, anxiety, distress, and dis-ease from their bodies and minds...It is a gift we ALL possess.

 BUY HER BOOK: The Healers

What's Your Dream? by Barbara Callahan Quin

Everyone has a dream. Dreams are not reserved for super-achievers or those who have plenty of money and time to pursue them. Everyone has a dream. How can you tell? Listen to you heart - it's there. It's speaking to you all the time. It wants you to make It come true. It stays in the back of your mind when you're thinking about the next thing on your list of must-do's. It haunts your daydreams and mystifies your night dreams. It catches your eye when you hear It in a song, see It in a headline, or feel It whispered in the longing of your heart. 

What is "It"? It is your Dream - your personal, heartfelt wish that you long to do, accomplish, or acquire. It can be anything under the sun. But you may have made excuses for not pursuing It. Why? Maybe you think It takes too much money, you don't have enough time, no one will believe in It for or with you. But you know what? The Truth of the matter is that You CAN make your Dream come true! You will never be satisfied unless you're pursuing your Dream in some way, shape, or form. Just look at those around you who seem to be living the perfect life. You know why? It's because they are living their Dreams, pursuing that "It" that speaks to their hearts in the still of the night. You can, too. You can start right now, today, going after that secret desire of your heart. Here are a few tips for claiming your right to your Dreams: 

1. Believe in yourself. YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU SET YOUR MIND AND HEART ON! Yes, you can! Do not allow anyone to tell you no when pursuing the Dreams of your heart. Think you're not smart enough? Get an education! Read up on the subject - learn all you can! You don't have to go to school to start learning about something special to you. Listen to your Self Talk. What is that? It's what you say to yourself over and over all day every day. Do you limit yourself? Or do you encourage yourself? Talk to yourself every day and tell yourself, "Yes! I claim this day to be a day of growth and change for me! I can do anything I set my mind on! I am smart enough and deserving enough to go after my dreams! I begin today to takes the steps needed to make my Dream a reality!" 

2. Don't know exactly what your Dream is? Start identifying It now! Perhaps It's vague, hiding in the shadows of your heart because you have not allowed It to reveal Itself. Daily stresses and self-doubt make it easy for our Dreams to be reclusive, but they are still there, and if you take the time to start listening, feeling, observing, It will start to reveal Itself. Start keeping a journal just for yourself. Find a few minutes a day to enjoy quiet reflection (yes, you can find ten minutes - just turn off the radio, TV, or spend a few extra moments in the shower, or utilize those minutes waiting in traffic or lines at the grocery store). Carry a small notebook with you to write down ideas as they occur - you think you may remember them later, but sometimes they go back into hiding! Give yourself permission to think about your Dream. 

3. As the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. And most likely, your Dream won't be manifested in one day. This means you start taking steps toward your Dream, no matter how small they are. Every step is important and every step is a learning process for you to be able to accept and live your Dream when it is revealed. Maybe your Dream is not one thing that can be contained, but rather a way of living or thinking that is ongoing. Start NOW to be the person who has made her Dreams come true! Think like It's coming true! Act like It's coming true! Breathe It! See It! Smell It! Taste It! Touch It! Make It so real in your mind that It has no choice but to come true! Yes! Your Dream can come true! You have to believe in It as much as It believes in You! 

4. Action required! You have identified your Dream. You wonder where It is. When will It come true? It is important, once you have identified your Dream and begun to give mental attention to It, that you put Action behind your thoughts. Do something every day that will help your Dream move closer to your reality. Read about It, research the Internet about It. Network It. Find someone who has It or is doing It and talk to them about It. Pursue your Dream with gusto and It will meet you halfway! 

5. Best Intentions, Please! "With the highest good for all concerned" is a tagline often added to prayers or affirmations when seeking to align with our Greater Good. To be happiest, realizing real Dreams will not require you to treat anyone badly or purposely hurt another in your pursuit. You can still fulfill your daily obligations and go after your Dreams without too much sacrifice (unless you're unwilling to sacrifice those two hours of TV at night in lieu of reading or taking a class that will help you get closer to your Dream). When you are on track, you will also be helping others achieve their Dreams, resulting in a Win-Win result. 
6. Adequate supply? Is there enough to go around? Absolutely! The Universe is an Abundant place overflowing with supply! If you think differently, then you will need to look at your thinking in that regard - limit your thinking and you limit your supply! Expand your thinking and know that you deserve to receive, and your avenues of supply will open up, making it even easier for your Dream to come into Reality. 

A few steps a day can help you go a long way on the road to realizing your Dreams. You know they are real when they won't go away, won't stop speaking to your Heart, when you ache to make them come true. These kinds of Dreams are put into us by our Creator and are meant to come true if we will but follow our own Star of Grace, and open ourselves up to all the goodness there is here for us right now! You can do It! I know you can! Go for it! 

Use Astrology to Change Your Life for the Better! by Stephanie Clement

As we enter the autumn season I am reminded of the many times this meant a return to school. After a summer of vacations, part-time jobs, and outdoor activities, I went back to the classroom to begin a new learning cycle. Even now I feel the strongest urge to explore new subjects in the fall. It happens again in January as we start the New Year.

Are you looking for something new to wrap your mind around? Make astrology your new subject this year. You'll discover there is much more to the subject than just your Sun Sign!
How can you make use of all that astrology has to offer, even if you don't feel like becoming a professional? My clients ask me this question often, so I have gathered together some suggestions for using astrology in your daily life. Let's start with your birth chart.

Understanding Your Chart

The basis of astrology is the birth chart. Each of us has a unique chart for the time, date and place where we were born. Here's what you can find out from your chart:
· about your individual potential
· how to direct that potential to become a creative, happy person
· how to develop satisfying relationships
· how your chart reflects your personality and desires

Here's a short list of what astrology can tell you about yourself:
· Sun - You as an individual
· Moon - How you act from instinct and accomplish goals
· Mercury - how your thinking is organized, how you communicate
· Venus - how you attract love and harmony into your life
· Mars - how you experience action and desire in your life
· Jupiter - how you expand your thinking, your philosophy
· Saturn - how your structure your life on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual planes
· Uranus - how you experience imbalance in your life, how you use intuition to regain balance
· Neptune - where you experience glamour and illusion, how you cultivate compassion
· Pluto - Your power and will
· Ascendant (rising sign) - the mask you wear, your personality
· Midheaven (the highest point in your birth chart) - what you can learn about yourself, your self-awareness

As you learn about the myriad differences among the planets and signs, you gain a new appreciation of the variety and power of opportunities you have. You develop sympathy for other people, whose potential takes them in different directions. And you learn how to work with other people more successfully.

BUY HER BOOK: A to Z Horoscope Maker and Interpreter

Unleash Your PowerZone: Intuitive Intelligence - The Other IQ (Excerpts from Why Cats Don't Bark) by Edie Raether

I did not arrive at my understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe through my rational mind. The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you.
Albert Einstein 

Unlike traditional IQ, with a century of research behind it, intuitive intelligence is a new concept. It is a different kind of intelligence. In recent years, it is gaining in respectability largely because psychologists are recognizing it as a natural mental skill that helps us make decisions, solve problems, generate creative ideas and even forecast future events. We are beginning to realize that intuition is not just a mysterious gift or an accidental insight. 

As you get rid of the emotional cataracts and your vision becomes clear, you will find the walk upon your path effortless as you proceed with ease. Fears will dissipate as you relinquish yourself to a greater cause or your reason for being. You will feel in sync, not out of touch. You will experience your work as an extension of your "self" or you very soul, feeling one with the process of becoming. You will achieve a level of unconscious competence where excellence and peak performance feels effortless as the energy is allowed to flow through you. Perhaps that is why Michael Jordan refers to this as being "in the flow." Other sports use different buzz words, although the experience is the same. In golf, it is referred to as being "in the zone." Tiger Woods would qualify. In the current world of musicians, Wynton Marsalis seems to become one with his instrument, as does any exceptional musician. The question is, can we all achieve this supreme level of mastery? I believe the answer is "yes," if we are in sync with our instinct and we learn the mind-empowering strategies that provide access to the inner unconventional wisdom of our intuition and instinctual intelligence. 

While all living things grow into their nature with a supportive environment, we must also have the courage to be different to make a difference. We must transcend from success to significance. As we gravitate toward our own uniqueness, we must respect the direction of our "future pull" which is our present self becoming our future authentic self. Singleness of purpose means avoiding exterior clutter like power, prestige and possessions, which may interfere with the chief purpose of our lives. Shakti Gawain, author on visualization, explains, "Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power and a sense of spiritual deadness."

Activities and life experiences which derive from our purpose are not burdensome because there is harmony between what we feel we are supposed to do and what we want to do. Unfortunately, we are often derailed and live in someone else's comfort zone other than our own. Our parents often encourage and coerce us to manifest their own unfulfilled wishes and destiny which, if we obey, is a violation of the soul. 

Until we do the work of excavating, claiming and expressing our uniqueness, we run the risk of putting our life script into someone else's hands. Joseph Campbell, in his book Myths to Live by, warns, "The world is full of people that have sopped listening to themselves to have listened only to their neighbors to learn what they ought to do, how they ought to behave and the values are that they should be living for." Unfortunately, for many people, Campbell is right. 

All of us are far richer than we imagine. None of us possesses a life devoid of magic, barren of grace, divorced from power. Our inner resources, often unmined and even unknown or unacknowledged, are the treasures we carry, what I call our spiritual DNA…the stamp of originality, which is the blueprint of our unfolding.

Human curiosity, intuition, practicality and logic are the fulcrums of personal and professional achievement. They are the revitalizing forces for converting raw human energy and potential into sound judgments and creative ideas. Intuition cannot be ordered, commanded, contrived or predicted. We simply have to be ready for it. 

Jack Schwartz, renown researcher and author, has a theory that at the moment of indecision, there is simultaneously a solution. However, it may take years for us to discover that awareness and act on it, creating confusion and learned helplessness, as we become victims of toxic logic. Yes, "look before you leap," but sometimes we just have to take an intuitive leap and trust that the net will be there. To be fully intellectual beings and experience those "leaps in consciousness" that Albert Einstein believed are necessary for bringing solutions to us, we will need to develop our intuitive abilities as well.

BUY HER BOOK: Why Cats Don't Bark...unleash Your PowerZone: Intuitive Intelligence-The Other I.Q.

To Love Yourself is to Love Your Soul by Rachel Madorsky

One unique story after another, each told by our friends, has one thing in common - karmic consequences. Most of these stories touch upon families experiencing manifestations of deadly diseases. Using modern technology and acknowledging longer life expectancy, most of these cases can be documented and analyzed. It makes one shiver to think how all of us are interconnected and interlaced with energy fields and affected by the exchange of information; not just on the visible level, but also on the atomic and metaphysical levels. 

This exchange of information could help determine your attitude toward disease. It could also help add meaning in your life and assist in making the right choice to live life to its fullest. It is necessary to view each disease as a lesson from which we can learn

From the moment the sick person openly acknowledges the existence of his illness, he has taken a step forward in his fight with the disease. A doctor or healer will be his guiding star to lead him toward recovery. They will provide advice on diet, breathing and physical exercises, imagery and meditation or suggest a change of habits. 

We cannot change the laws of nature, but we are can successfully adapt to them. The main idea is to accept that the cosmic laws are eternal and immobile and that the smallest transgression is returned according to rules of the universe. They are as old as mankind and have served as the primary rules for our existence on earth.

Acquiring the ability to recover is similar to developing the will to pursue self-education. To force oneself to change a habitual way of life, which demands perpetual exertion and daily struggles with one's disease and the spiritual enemy - an inert subconscious adapted over the years according to one's needs - is not an easy task. 

The first step on the road to fostering resistance against disease is the beginning of your self-education. Each painful sensation is the impetus toward the knowledge of the new, which asks for some strength in the search for the truth. Each time you ask yourself: "Why is it me and why does some terrible fate force me to seek ways of deliverance?" Each new step in the search for the answer means another step toward healing. 

Knowledge of the anatomical and physiological structure of one's own body leads to the discovery of ways to deliverance through nontraditional healing. Who, besides you, must love yourself and your own body most of all? Your body demands knowledge to help it cope with disaster, and you are its only assistant. Knowledge, accumulated through millennia, is in your hands once you manifest curiosity. From where it comes doesn't matter; the result is most important. Your recovery or prevention of disease depends only on you. A willingness to preserve oneself and to follow one's heart can assist in the yet unwaged battle. 

Conversing with our subconscious, we find the reason for our physical state, and then, we continue the search for clues to eliminate the illness. If necessary, traditional methods using medicine and surgery can be of service. However, at the same time, one can also employ the old ways of healing, such as herbs, positive affirmations, breathing exercises, acupuncture, or the use of special invisible forces through those unique individuals--the healers. 

Various temptations await you here. To follow this path, you may receive clues from your own body, which subconsciously knows the successful road to recovery, sometimes in spite of the various opinions of your relatives. 

Trust your subconscious. It will prompt you to make the right choice, and your chosen guide--educator, doctor, counselor or your family friend who, for a time will become an intermediary between you and the Higher Forces of nature--will be your teacher. 

The spiritual growth of a human being is the biggest victory over the dark forces of nature Internal spiritual purification is necessary not only for those in search of the righteous path, but also for those who have grasped the meaning of life at the moment of confession and fusion with this mystical Quasiworld which has attracted people throughout millennia. 

The road to the Truth is captivating because it passes through self-knowledge, which amounts to the highest rapture - to the self-healing of the spirit, and then the body, as its physical attribute. Those who find themselves in the service of mankind carry a heavy burden in both moral and material dimensions. The spiritual development and self-perfection doesn't stop for a second. It draws you into an eddy, from which there is no escape.

Faith in yourself is still your weapon - whether it's facing a disease or embracing the appearance of your talents! Throughout the process of realization, the need for spiritual transformation changes the soul and the healing of your body begins. I cannot even talk about healing of the body if the person will not embrace a feeling of tender love and respect towards himself as an individual. This is the key to the healing process. 

To achieve self-respect, I remind you to love yourself, your body and your soul. I recommend looking in the mirror and talking with your reflection as you would with a close friend. Speak about your worries and how you respect and love yourself despite physical or mental deficiencies. Tell yourself that your love grows proportionately to the number of wrinkles on the face, folds on the stomach, and number of ailments. You can promise to be loyal to yourself and to give complete support in the process of recovery. The "I" that knows all that has happened in previous incarnations and generations will receive invaluable information through such conversations and will retain it forever. Make this self-contact every morning or evening as often as possible, and you will start to rejuvenate. The destiny of each of us resembles a delicate cobweb, woven from billions of thoughts, deeds and epiphanies that happened to us, our relatives, our friends and everyone whose roads we intersected during our life on this planet. The fate of our ancestors leaves a red trail on our life, whether we realize it, and the fates of our children are shaped by our deeds. Both positive and negative information is unconsciously transmitted as we resume the race with karma. It is worthy to note that as soon as we recognize the phenomenon of general interdependence, the sparks of recovery immediately manifest themselves. 

Each of us is in charge not only of our own actions and the creation of our own karma, destiny or fate, but we are also responsible for their effect on every human being in the present as well as in the future. The results of deeds planted in the past develop in future generations. When we face the truth, we can change our fate.

To achieve a great change in your fate, here are two of my favorite affirmations to use every day until your soul becomes stronger:

AFFIRMATIONS 

 I 
Am 
Cool 
Calm 
Collected 
And Totally in Control 

and/or

I 
Am 
Young
Strong
Healthy
Vigorous
And Very Attractive

Repeat them in the morning, at least three times, before leaving for work in the front of your favorite mirror, at your workplace, or at times when you need them. 

The events of the past, especially childhood, do not vanish without a trace. Parents are encouraged to cherish their children and treat them with great love and respect. In talking with people, we discover long-forgotten traumas of childhood covered with layers of time are still within. The unparalleled significance of those early traumas can be seen in oncology cases later. 

Look into the depth of your memory, for you may find answers to what caused diseases and problems appearing later in life. 

In such situations, I recommend sitting alone for an evening with one's memories, a pen and a blank sheet of paper in front of a candle, a big ashtray and matches. Write down on the paper all that haunts you, read it only once, and burn it with a pure heart. Picture in your imagination that, by burying the ashes of the reminiscences oppressing your soul, you are reborn, cleansed from all causes that led you to your current life situation. Try it, and you will feel an inner relief. Your visualized victory over yourself will soon be fruitful in the victory over your ailment. 

Fundamental power and the path toward healing are within us and only we create the pathways for healing. Those who support us are only guides to our health.

Remember, "If you don't ask, nothing happens." And it is true, "God helps those who allow Him to help them." 

Now go on with confidence. Best of luck in your search for the truth of your Destiny!! 

BUY HER BOOK: Create Your Own destiny!

"Tis the Season" by Wendy Weiss

 Wendy Weiss

The holidays loom. Office parties, family celebrations, religious celebrations, celebrations with friends. Meetings are cancelled. Decisions are postponed. Too much to do, no time to do it. The sales process turns to sludge.

The holidays can be a frustrating time for sales professionals. Telephone prospecting calls end with no appointment the prospect instead saying, "call me in the New Year." Proposals languish. Decisions are on hold.

During that time from Thanksgiving through the end of the year, how do you keep from losing your momentum and how do you keep the sales process moving forward? If you are not able to keep the process moving, January can feel almost like starting over. Instead of leaping into the New Year with prospect meetings and starting new customer projects you are busy following up with all of the prospects who said, "call me in the New Year." Here are two steps that you can use to keep your sales process flowing, not only over the holidays, but also year round.

1. When prospecting by telephone for new appointments do not tamely accept the standard response, "call me in the New Year." Instead, suggest to your prospect that you schedule a meeting in the New Year and promise to call to confirm that meeting. (In the "old days" prospects would frequently say they didn't have their New Year calendar. In these days of palm pilots and contact management software that doesn't fly. After all, January is only next month!) At least 50% of your prospects will go ahead and schedule the meeting leaving you with 50% less follow up calls to make in January.

This is what you say:

"Let's pencil in a date and time for January. It's not carved in stone, I'll call you to confirm and if it doesn't work out we can always reschedule. Is early January good or is later in the month better?"

This way you'll have a series of prospect meetings already lined up for January!

2. When a prospect asks you to submit a proposal, then and there set up a meeting time with your prospect to go over that proposal. Ask your prospect when they want the proposal. When they give you a date or time frame say:

"Let's set up a time for me to come by and go over the proposal. Is (fill in date) good or is (fill in date) better?"

It does not matter if your prospect wants to meet in December or in January. The point is that you have kept the process moving forward, you have an appointment to discuss the proposal and you do not have to spend time in January making calls to follow up to schedule the meeting or get a response on that proposal.

And remember, on the appointed day, make sure to bring two copies of the proposal, both signed and ready for your prospect's signature.

Happy prospecting, happy closing, happy holidays!

BUY HER BOOK: Cold Calling for Women Opening Doors & Closing Sales

Support From Within by D.L. Bolk

A few years ago I lost the best office assistant I ever had. He moved on to kindergarten. Prior to his departure, my nephew, Daniel, provided me with one of the most valuable things a writer can receive.  Support.

He would often tell me I was the best writer in the world (of course this was quickly followed by - - he was the second best). He would send me little memos, on construction paper, words of wisdom that he would have to translate because I never mastered scribble. He would share thoughts that struck him during the day, bits of advice he felt I should share with my 'Petite Group'. 

The first day of school he stepped on the bus and I yelled, "Have a good day at school."
He returned with, "Have a good day writing." Then he turned to another little boy. "My aunt is a writer," he said, pride and support ringing in his voice.

Déjà vu. Fifteen years ago I was knee deep in OD green, uniforms and combat boots. My son was in kindergarten. It was parents' day at school and my son wanted me there. 
I was running late and didn't have time to change from my uniform into civilian attire. I was proud to be a member of the military, but I wasn't sure how my son felt about it. None of his friends' moms were in the service. I dreaded walking into his classroom looking like an escapee from a Rambo movie. I dreaded disappointing him more. 

When I entered his classroom he jumped up from his desk and yelled, "That's my mom. She's a soldier."

The pride I heard in his voice that day is a memory that I will carry in my heart forever. I realized then the importance of support. I also realized where it has to start. It has to come from within. Because what I didn't realized - - until that day - - was that by nurturing my belief in myself, I had gained my son's support.

It's nice when support comes from others, but that doesn't always happen. When it doesn't, that 'self-support' has to kick in. You have to be your own biggest fan.

Not everyone will realize how important writing is to you. There are some who will view it as a hobby. Not deserving of the time it demands of you. Nowhere near as important as getting the laundry done, fixing dinner, or getting that report out.

We all have demands on our lives that warrant our time. But if you believe in yourself, support yourself, you'll find the time to do it all.

Easy?    No.
Possible?   Yes.

Although we no longer share office space, Daniel is still one of my biggest supporters. I'll admit there is a possibility that I'm not the best writer in the world. But I'm the best writer in Daniel's world and in mine.

I support my belief in myself by writing every day. I have faith in myself. I don't waste valuable time letting doubt grab me. A rejection slip doesn't mean I'm a failure, it means I've learned another lesson, taken one more step on the long road to publication.

Support yourself, have faith in yourself. Because without that faith - - that 'self-support', you'll never be the best writer in anybody's world.

As a matter of fact, you might never be a writer at all.

BUY HER BOOK: When Heroes Fall