For the last 40 years, Earth Day has been celebrated around the world to call attention to some of our most pressing environmental and social problems, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and dwindling natural resources. This year, the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet (www.NourishingthePlanet.org) highlights 15 agricultural innovations that are already working on the ground to address some of those problems.
“Agriculture provides food for all of us and income for more than 1 billion people around the world,” said Danielle Nierenberg, director of Worldwatch’s Nourishing the Planet project. “Relatively simple innovations to reduce the amount of food we waste, or to help the urban poor become more self-sufficient, can help agriculture feed the world without destroying the planet. The progress we have witnessed in these areas over the last year is definitely encouraging.”

The 15 innovations are used by farmers, scientists, activists, politicians, and businesses and promote a healthier environment and a more food-secure future.

1. Guaranteeing the Right to Food. Some 1 billion people worldwide experience chronic hunger, and 98 percent of these people live in developing countries. To combat hunger in rural or remote communities, the Brazilian government operates the Food Acquisition Program, which funds local organizations, including community kitchens, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and schools, to buy and distribute fruits, vegetables, and animal products from smallholder farmers in their region.

2. Harnessing the Nutritional and Economic Potential of Vegetables. Micronutrient deficiencies, including lack of vitamin A, iodine, and iron, affect 1 billion people worldwide and stem partly from a lack of variety in people’s diets. Slow Food International works to broaden diets, and preserve biodiversity, by helping farmers grow local and indigenous varieties of fruits and vegetables, organizing cooking workshops, and helping producers get access to traditional seeds.

3. Reducing Food Waste. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that roughly a third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, which amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year. In New York City, City Harvest collects nearly 28 million pounds of excess food each year from restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms and delivers it to some 600 local food programs.

4. Feeding Cities. Poor urban households spend from 60 to 80 percent of their income on food, putting them at risk of hunger or malnutrition when food prices rise or their incomes fall. The French non-governmental organization Solidarités has provided women in Kibera, an urban slum in Nairobi, Kenya, with training, seeds, and sacks to grow vegetables in “vertical farms,” a space-efficient way to increase food security in cities.

5. Getting More Crop per Drop. Millions of farmers, including the majority of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, depend on rainfall to water their crops—-which climate scientists predict will decline in coming decades. The company International Development Enterprises sells simple and inexpensive irrigation systems to farmers in Zambia, India, and other countries. Their systems include a treadle pump that draws water from underground without the use of fossil fuels, and a drip irrigation kit that costs just US$5 can efficiently water 20 square meters.

6. Using Farmers’ Knowledge in Research and Development. Many agricultural research and development programs exclude smallholder farmers. But in Kenya, the Muyafwa Development Program, with help from the U.S.-based nonprofit World Neighbors, involves local farmers in comparing a newly introduced sweet potato variety with the existing indigenous one—-ensuring detailed and accurate feedback on the productivity, taste, storability, and hardiness of each variety.

7. Improving Soil Fertility. Each year, more than 29 million acres, or enough land to grow 20 million tons of grain, turn into deserts. To combat desertification and land degradation, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics is training farmers in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to apply small and targeted quantities of fertilizer to crops at planting time or soon after. This has increased yields of the staple crops sorghum and millet by between 44 and 120 percent.

8. Safeguarding Local Food Biodiversity. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a quarter of the world’s known plant species—-some 60,000 to 100,000 species—-are threatened with extinction, while soy, wheat, and maize become more and more prevalent in people’s everyday diets. In Norway, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault protects thousands of seed varieties that farmers in developing countries can use to help re-harvest crops that have been affected by disease, climate, or conflict.

9. Coping with Climate Change and Building Resilience. Global climate change will negatively affect agriculture by reducing soil fertility and decreasing crop yields. In preparation for these impacts, and in response to the land degradation that has already occurred, farmers in Niger have planted nearly 5 million hectares of trees that conserve water, prevent soil erosion, and sequester carbon, making their farms more productive and drought-resistant without the use of chemicals.

10. Harnessing the Knowledge and Skills of Women Farmers. Women farmers face a variety of obstacles, including a lack of access to information technology, agricultural training, financial services, and support networks like co-operatives or trade unions. The Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a female trade union in India that began in 1992, helps poor, self-employed women achieve full employment and self-reliance by linking them to markets, banks, co-operatives, and self-help groups.

11. Investing in Africa’s Land. Governments and private investors are acquiring large swathes of agricultural land around the world at very low or no cost, particularly in Africa and Asia—-often displacing indigenous peoples. In Ethiopia’s Rift Valley, African farmers and foreign investing companies have reached a compromise: farmers grow green beans for the Dutch market during the European winter months, but cultivate corn and other crops for local consumption during the remaining months.

12. Charting a New Path to Eliminating Hunger. Reactive measures to famines and natural disasters, including sending shipments of vitamin-fortified, pre-packaged food, too often replace preventative measures like investing in sustainable agricultural systems or building infrastructure to transport food to remote communities in developing countries. The UN World Food Programme has developed the Purchase for Progress program, which buys fresh produce directly from local farmers and distributes it as food aid both within the farmers’ country and abroad.

13. Improving Food Production from Livestock. The FAO estimates that 21 percent of the world’s livestock breeds are at risk of extinction. But in India, farmers in the state of Andhra Pradesh are improving the quality of their feed by using grass, sorghum, stover, and brans to produce more milk from fewer animals, demonstrating that animal husbandry can provide an income without harming the environment.

14. Going beyond Production. Although scarcity and famine dominate the discussion of food security in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, many countries are unequipped to deal with the crop surpluses that lead to low commodity prices and food waste. In Uganda, the organization TechnoServe has helped to improve market conditions for banana farmers by forming business groups through which they can buy inputs, receive technical advice, and sell their crops collectively.

15. Moving Ecoagriculture into the Mainstream. Agricultural practices that emphasize increased production have contributed to the degradation of land, soil, wildlife, and local ecosystems, and ultimately hurt the livelihoods of the farmers who depend on these natural resources. Ranchers and farmers in Dimbangombe, in western Zimbabwe, have committed 20,000 acres of degraded grassland to be communally owned, grazed, and maintained, with the aim of restoring the area’s plants and wildlife while sustainably raising livestock on the land.

These and other efforts to make agriculture a healthy and stable source of income and nourishment will need to continue to be scaled up in the coming years and be passed on to the next generation to ensure that the march toward sustainability continues.

About the Worldwatch Institute: Worldwatch is an independent research organization based in Washington, D.C. that works on energy, resource, and environmental issues. The Institute’s State of the World report is published annually in more than 18 languages. For more information, visit www.worldwatch.org.

What is the No. 1 regret of hospice patients in their dying days?

“They wished they would have lived life the way they wanted to, not the way others wanted them to,” says Kathie Truitt, author of The Hillbilly Debutante Café (www.hillbillydebutante.blogspot.com), quoting an article by former palliative care worker Bronnie Ware.

Truitt changed her life by necessity after a devastating series of events led to the loss of her home and career. Like many Americans who lost it all in the recent recession, Truitt decided to go about things differently the second time around.

“I got rid of the socialite sweater sets, the business suits and pumps, which were not me, and went to what is me – vintage dresses and cowboy boots,” she says. “I live in the Washington, D.C., area because I have too. But I don’t have to conform to how other people look, dress and behave here. I surround myself with the things I like; I have a country-style house, I drive a pickup, and, once a month, I take a ride out to one of the places featured in Southern Living magazine.”

You don’t have to have a lot of money to live a life truer to your spirit. Truitt offers some suggestions:

• Make location a state of mind. Does your heart yearn to be somewhere else? You’re in Kansas, but you long to live on the beach, or you’re in the city but you’re a country person, like Truitt. If you can’t follow your heart, bring that place to you. If you love all things Paris, for instance, decorate a room or your whole home Parisian style. Instead of going to the grocery store once a week, find a market and stop in every day for fresh food, the way the French do. Ride a bicycle; put a picture of the Eiffel Tower on your desk at work; eat lunch al fresco. Take a French class and maybe you’ll meet some like-minded friends.

• Turn your passion into a career. You don’t have to give up your day job to pursue a career doing what gratifies and satisfies you. If you love playing music, set aside time to practice and write songs. Pursue opportunities to play at local events; create video recordings and upload them to YouTube (it worked for Justin Bieber!); offer to perform at your place of worship. Whether you dream of writing a novel, designing jewelry or being a race car driver, working at it even part-time will help you feel fulfilled.

• Take the plunge and start your own business. In 2011, entrepreneurs started 543,000 new businesses each month, on average, among the highest startup rates in 16 years, according to the most recent Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. With all the tax breaks and incentives being offered to small businesses now, it’s a good time to open that restaurant you always wanted, or launch that graphics design studio. You’ll never know until you try!

As for Truitt, she would love to be back home in El Dorado Springs, Mo. Since she can’t be there, she wrote a novel set in the small, southern town, which is struggling financially. She hopes to fan interest in tourists visiting the town to meet the business owners described in her book, and see the sights. To that end, she’s also organizing an Antique & Book Festival there on April 14, preceded by a Hillbilly Debutante ball – featuring vintage prom dresses and plaid tuxes – the night before.

“There are many ways to live your dreams,” Truitt says. “You’re limited only by your imagination. I don’t want to be that person looking back on my life and regretting that I lived it by someone else’s rules.”

Kathie Truitt is a former radio personality and speaker in the South, where she was crowned Mrs. Missouri America. She’s the author of False Victim, a memoir about the nightmare of events that forced her from her home. She sells vintage-style clothing, accessories and jewelry at www.hillbillydebutante.blogspot.com.

By Managing those Pesky Interruptions!

Did you know … most of us experience on average one interruption every 8 minutes? That’s approximately 6 interruptions each working hour. That means that in an 8-hour workday, we can have between 50-60 interruptions. Did you also know that the average interruption is about 5 minutes in duration? Think about it, 50 – 5 minute interruptions each day adds up to 250 minutes! That means that in an 8 hour workday, 4 hours are spent addressing interruptions (unplanned events). No wonder we sometimes feel as though we have not accomplish anything.

Interruptions can be either acceptable (important) or unacceptable (of little or no importance). Acceptable interruptions are those that add value to our day, and unacceptable ones are those that have little or no value. Some interruptions are within your control (family, friends, phone calls, emails) and others need to be addressed when they occur (superiors, customers). Only you can determine what you consider to be an acceptable interruption.

In addition to unexpected phone calls I consider a messy desk an interruption as it takes more time to find things when I am disorganized. Flashes of Inspiration are also big interruptions to my goals. I use to stop what I was doing and start a completely new project Now when I get an idea, I write it down in my idea journal to look at later rather than stop what I am currently working on – it often takes away momentum you have for a project at hand and can take that much more energy to get back to the place you were.

What are some of yours?

What takes away from achieving higher levels of productivity are those unacceptable interruptions, those things we think we have little or no control over. Surprisingly, we have more control than we think. Here is a tried and true system to manage those interruptions, both acceptable and unacceptable.

~ Write down all the interruptions you have in a day… see what category they fall into and work on ways to avoid or manage them. Look for patterns to those interruptions. This way you can decide if these are interruptions you can control or not.

~ Establish your own priorities.

~ Schedule those known interruptions such as emails, phone calls, setting aside time each day to check email and return phone calls.

“Each of us has the same 24 hours each day to do with what we will..”

~ Determine real emergencies vs. those things that can wait. Someone else’s emergency may not be an emergency for you.

~ Prioritize your own goals and plans for the day.

~ Block out your peak time – the time of day when you are most productive and do not allow anything to come between you and your plans.

~ Weigh the value of each interruption against the value of your own plans.

~ Decide not to accept interruptions just because they occur.

~ Set aside time each day for unplanned interruptions.

~ To further minimize interruptions, tell your circle the best time of day to call you in order to get your attention.

Planning is the key to successfully managing interruptions. You will be amazed at what a few minutes of planning a day will do to add to greater productivity and a sense of real accomplishment. Remember, each of us has the same 24 hours each day to do with what we will. How will you make the most of your 24?

Why Now Is the Natural Time to Learn the “ABCs” of Spiritual Healing

Spring is in the air and with it comes an innate need to clean and declutter your emotional and spiritual world. Intuitive psychologist and author Susan Apollon shows you how to find inner peace and let the sun shine in.

It happens every spring. As sunlight reawakens tiny buds and fresh breezes dust the fields with lilacs, a strange compulsion kicks us out of our winter stupor. We actually want to clean. Floors suddenly seem grimy and corners cobwebby. The cluttered basement starts to really bug us. Even that previously insurmountable task—window washing—sounds like a good way to spend a Saturday. Intuitive psychologist Susan Apollon says our annual spring cleaning frenzy is more than mere tradition: It’s the manifestation of a primal urge for renewal on a deeper level.

“We have a deep need to mimic the earth’s own rebirthing cycle by cleaning floors, decluttering closets, and airing out rooms,” says Apollon, author of Touched by the Extraordinary, Book Two: Healing Stories of Love, Loss & Hope. “And while a pristine, life-affirming home is a nice by-product of this urge, you shouldn’t stop there. No matter how organized and spotless your physical world may be, it won’t matter if your soul is cluttered with emotional debris.”

In other words, it’s time to embrace “spring cleaning” for your spirit. Apollon says spiritual cleansing and healing can and should be done all year long. But when you’re in a “decluttering” sort of mood already, it just feels easier and more natural to focus on trashing those spiritual bad habits and on making room for new ones that will lead to healing and joy on every level.

What exactly is spiritual healing? Apollon says it’s about balancing our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and actions. It’s about becoming whole. Healing takes place when we reclaim our power, wisdom, or spirit, which we often bury during the process of life, and when we reconnect with our soul or higher self, as well as with the Universe or God.

On a more practical level, it means learning to live in such a way that you don’t spend all your time fretting about the future, worrying about your kids, or obsessing over health issues. And it means coming to a place where you refuse to settle for a job, a relationship, a lifestyle—a life—that doesn’t fulfill you.

“We are healing spiritually when we accept and align all the parts of ourselves in a way that allows us to genuinely feel we are being true to ourselves, or whole, or complete,” Apollon says. “We get to feel an authentic connection with our higher self and lower self, which also enables us to feel more at peace, as well as more confident in our worth and wisdom. It is knowing that we are so much more powerful than we ever believed; it is knowing that we are connected with something much greater than ourselves.”

Understanding the Law of Attraction

Spiritual healing happens when we work with the Law of Attraction, which is basically an understanding that energy attracts like energy. Apollon explains it this way: Given that everything is energy and vibrates, and given the Law of Attraction, wherever we are vibrationally, we attract to us experiences of a similar level of vibration. What we choose to focus on (thoughts, images, beliefs) causes us to vibrate at a particular level, resulting in either good or not good feelings. Focusing on thoughts or images that cause us to feel relatively good or better will enable us to be at a higher level energetically and, consequently, will draw to us a higher level of vibrational experience.

In other words, when you worry about your job, your grades, your children, your health—and that is what you do most of the time—your dominant energetic level is quite low. Being in this state causes you to experience events and situations which are of equally low vibrations.

“Everything we desire is available to us, if we can just get out of our own way,” asserts Apollon. “We put our own stumbling blocks in our own path, by way of our attachment to our negative or low energy thoughts, images, concerns, unresolved issues, our inability to forgive and release old feelings of anger, judgment, and pain, etc. Suggestions such as lighten up, let go and surrender, detach and move on all represent appropriate ways to energetically shift to a better place.”

The trick, of course, is to become conscious and aware of how we are feeling in order to allow ourselves to do the work of cleaning up (or out) our spiritual closets and bringing in what feels energetically better. This allows us to attract to us wonderful things and experiences that we want—our hopes and dreams—rather than those things and experiences we don’t want.

To do this we need to be really clear about our intentions, says Apollon. We need to decide what it is that we intend to do or make happen in our lives that will make us feel good or better (happy, satisfied, joyful, peaceful). Once we have our intentions in mind, we can give them power and help to create them by giving ourselves permission to really focus on them.

As a psychologist and an author, Susan Apollon empowers and heals the body, mind, and soul; as an educator, she informs; as a speaker, she inspires and touches the heart.

For more than twenty-five years, Susan has been in private practice in Yardley, PA, evaluating and counseling adults, families, and children who are dealing with difficult life situations similar to what she has personally experienced, researched, and written about, including cancer, other health issues, trauma, and grief.

For more information, please visit www.HealingStoriesOfLoveLossAndHope.com or www.TouchedByTheExtraordinary.com.

Read Practice Your ABC’s (PART TWO) to learn more.

with Those Who Are “Different”?

If today’s kids don’t learn how to meaningfully engage with those from other cultural backgrounds, they’re going to struggle in tomorrow’s global work world. Janet Penn, executive director of Youth LEAD, reveals some steps parents can take to make cross-cultural understanding second nature to their kids—and themselves.

We live in a rapidly globalizing world. That means the ability to meaningfully engage with people from other cultures—once seen as a “nice to have” that revealed your level of sophistication and, perhaps, political correctness—is becoming a “must-have” almost overnight. Chances are, your kids go to school with and will one day work with people from a dizzying array of races, beliefs, and backgrounds. If they can connect across these cultural differences, they’ll be far more likely to lead successful lives, says Janet Penn.

“Feeling comfortable with those who are different—and more to the point, being able to have tough conversations about these differences—has become a critical life skill,” says Penn, executive director of Youth LEAD. “You can’t collaborate and innovate if you can’t get beyond surface relationships. You must be able to “agree to disagree” while still respecting the other person and learning something new. These are tough skills that are typically not taught in school.”

Left to our own devices, most of us make one of three choices, Penn says. One, we talk only with like-minded people. Two, we argue; we try to convince a person with a different point of view that he or she is wrong. Three, we simply don’t talk about the elephant in the room—it’s too hot to touch. There is another choice but it requires a dedicated effort and the opportunity to practice the appropriate skills—and that’s where most people fall short.

“Most of us have paid lip service to the benefits of cross-cultural understanding and the notion that ‘diversity is desirable,’” reflects Penn. “But this feel-good sentiment does little to effect real change in behavior. What kids need is exposure and practice—exposure to people from other cultures and practice in talking about sensitive issues without getting upset or combative. It’s the only way to get comfortable with having meaningful interactions with those who are different.”

Youth LEAD provides both the exposure and the practice. This non-profit organization based in Sharon, Massachusetts, engages a diverse group of area high school students to inspire them to reflect upon their cultural values and beliefs, connect with others across differences, and act together to address local and global challenges. These young people—teens from diverse religious, ethnic, and racial backgrounds—form rich friendships while learning valuable skills on civil dialogue, leadership, cooperation, and more.

Indeed, Youth LEAD’s approach is so successful that it is being featured in a major new web initiative by Harvard’s Pluralism Project (www.pluralism.org/interfaith/practices). America’s Interfaith Infrastructure Study, a pilot initiative of The Pluralism Project, documents the growth of interfaith initiatives across the U.S. and considers the implications of our multi-religious reality for citizenship and leadership today and in the future.

Clearly, cross-cultural understanding is a hot topic. So how can we as parents foster it in our own kids? Penn says it’s really about seizing “teachable moments” as they arise and also about creating more of those opportunities for our kids. For example:

• First, strive to get out of your own “comfort zone.” When kids see that you socialize only with others just like you, they will question your credibility. You don’t have to go to absurd lengths to create your own rainbow coalition of friends—that will seem fake and contrived—but kids need to see that you’re open minded and not “rigid.” Still, there’s nothing wrong with expanding your social circle a little. As your child learns, you’ll learn also. This is a journey you undertake together.

“Be curious!” says Penn. “Reach out and introduce yourself to someone new. Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to mispronounce their name! You might make an effort to befriend the Muslim parent of your child’s classmate or the Jewish parent of his soccer teammate. Let the relationship unfold naturally and definitely accept any invitations, especially those that include the kids.”

• Don’t avoid controversial topics. When a subject that makes you uncomfortable comes up in conversation, especially with someone who holds a different viewpoint, don’t do the subject-change tango. Instead, model the “healthy” way to disagree. Here are just a few techniques Youth LEAD uses in its dialogue training classes:

*Use “I” statements to personalize thoughts and feelings. Let’s say, for example, that you get pulled into a discussion with someone who adamantly opposes homosexuals serving in the military: “I have a brother who’s gay. I find it upsetting when I hear inflammatory statements about gay people joining the military. I have great respect for anyone who puts his or her life on the line for our country.” Using “I” statements prevents the conversation from becoming accusatory.

*Ask the right questions. This will help you get to the heart of others’ core principles and beliefs. If we can learn to ask questions out of genuine interest in another person, it can turn a conversation in a new direction. For example, you might ask, “Do you have a personal connection to this topic?” Or, “What about your life experience has influenced your beliefs?”

*Remain silent long enough to listen. In order to benefit from the questions mentioned above, you have to listen deeply to the other person’s answers. Remain silent. Listen rather than thinking about the next thing you’re going to say. When you are a better listener, you can ask better questions. Eventually the other person comes to see that you do care about what they have to say. You might not be able to reach a complete agreement, but you can reach mutual respect.

“These tips work with all sorts of controversial issues, not just in ‘diversity’ situations,” says Penn. “Use them whenever you have any sort of disagreement with anyone, about any subject.”

• Watch the news with your children. When you see a story that centers on a cultural issue, discuss it. Ask kids what they know about Islam or Passover or the African American community. Engage them in discussions. Being active observers of the news is a good way to gauge kids’ attitudes and those of their friends and to share your own.

“This is no substitute for face-to-face interaction with people from other cultures, of course, but it is a good starting point,” reflects Penn. “We tend to live in our own insulated little bubbles, and the news serves as our window on the larger world. Knowing what the issues are opens the door to conversations that can result in deeper understanding and acceptance of other cultures.”

• If you witness an episode of cultural or racial insensitivity, take a stand. Don’t stand quietly by and listen to a disparaging remark aimed at a woman wearing a hijab, for instance. You might gently say to the perpetrator, “Imagine how it would feel if the shoe were on the other foot. Perhaps you don’t know how hurtful your words can be.” This is the right thing to do and it’s especially valuable if kids are present.

“If you don’t feel safe confronting a rude or even hostile person, you can certainly offer a kind word to the recipient of the remark,” says Penn. “If it seems relevant, turn the event into a learning experience. ‘I’m sorry that man was so insensitive. I can see that your feelings are hurt and I want you to know that not everyone in our city has that kind of attitude. Can you tell me a little about your faith?’”

• Seek out opportunities to take kids on a “faith” field trip. Attending a worship service of a faith different from your own can be a tremendously educational and enriching experience. Of course, it’s not always advisable to “drop in” at a place of worship if you don’t know anyone. However, if you have a personal relationship with someone from a different tradition, you might ask if you and your family can be their guest. That way you can learn about what’s going on and be comfortable walking in the door.

“My own organization has a new program called ‘Sacred Networks,’” says Penn. “Youth LEADers are creating a database of people who are willing to invite others to their Seder, Easter dinner, or Halaqa and then matching them with families who would like the experience.”

• If finances allow, make plans to visit another country on vacation. This can be an amazing learning experience for you and your kids, and traveling abroad can be surprisingly affordable if you do your research. However, if you determine this kind of adventure is out of your price range, visiting an ethnic section of a nearby city can be a good substitute. Try out restaurants, shops, street festivals, etc. The idea is to immerse kids in culturally diverse environments. There may even be an opportunity to turn this into a school project, perhaps for extra credit.

“You want to get kids comfortable with the reality that there are many different ways to live and that all have their own unique beauty,” says Penn. “As they explore the sights and sounds and flavors of a different culture, they will find that people are alike in so many ways—they all respond to a smile, a friendly greeting, and a kind word.”

• Host a foreign exchange student. This is another good way to expose kids to the customs, traditions, languages, and culture of another country. Having someone in your home 24/7 almost necessitates a certain “depth” to your relationship—after all, this is a person you and your kids will laugh with, learn with, and hopefully hold meaningful conversations with. Lifelong friendships can grow from these experiences.

• Encourage kids to join organizations that bring different cultures together to interact and learn from each other. Youth LEAD is just one of many organizations that bring young people from different cultures together for mutual education and meaningful interaction. As mentioned earlier, Harvard’s Pluralism Project identified interfaith groups in cities across America, and there are many youth leadership programs that foster understanding across differences.

“Look to see what your community has to offer,” urges Penn. “I would urge you to look for an organization that moves beyond educational and social purposes. What’s great about Youth LEAD is that our teens learn the skills they need to truly connect across differences—and then they translate those skills into action. As the name suggests, they really do take the lead in the projects they work on. While they do have adult guidance, they do the hard work themselves—and that makes the difference because it reflects how the real world operates.

• Scan newspapers and community calendars for cultural and multicultural events. You might be surprised at what’s out there. Many communities, non-profit organizations, worship centers, and schools host events that are free or open to families at a very low cost. Whether it’s a Japanese cherry blossom festival, a speaking presentation by an African dignitary, an Islamic art exhibit, or an interfaith gathering, you’ll likely find an event that your entire family can enjoy.

“Youth LEADers periodically host events aimed at bringing people from different faiths together and find that they are well attended and extremely popular,” notes Penn. “For example, we hosted a Sharing Sacred Seasons community event to commemorate the intersection of Ramadan, the Jewish High Holidays, and the Hindu holiday of Navratri. Hundreds of people came, and it was a powerful experience for everyone.”

You’ll notice that some of Penn’s suggestions are fun and easy. Others require a bit more effort and commitment. But all of them open up a whole new world to kids and, yes, their parents too.

“It’s human nature to get stuck in a comfortable rut,” says Penn. “Change takes effort and sometimes it means confronting our own prejudices and assumptions. Yet, taking action to expose kids to a broader worldview is always worth doing, not only for them but for us as well. What many parents find surprising when they take this journey is not how well their kids respond, but how much richer and more interesting their own lives become.”

About Youth LEAD: Youth LEAD, Inc., (YL) was founded in 2004 to inspire and motivate youth to reflect upon their values and beliefs, connect with others across differences, and act together to address local and global challenges. YL’s Leadership Program trains high school students to reach across religious, ethnic, and racial divides to increase understanding and to turn fear of differences into hope and positive action.

For more information, visit our website at www.youthleadonline.org or call 781.784.0651.

The curse for many of us modern-day movers and shakers is that we never seem to have enough time to do everything that needs doing. There simply aren’t enough hours in the work day (or even the work week!) to accomplish everything on our to-do lists. Worse yet, when we finally do get on a productivity roll, there always seems to be a distraction (or two, or three) waiting in the wings to throw us off course. But the reality, says Jason Womack, is that we could actually accomplish a lot more each day if we would just learn to recognize and acknowledge when we’re done with what we’re doing.

“One of the biggest time wasters we all face is spending too much time on those things that don’t require it,” says Womack, a workplace performance expert, executive coach, and author of the new book Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More. “When we do so, we lose the time we actually should be spending on more difficult or time-intensive tasks. But when you learn to recognize when you’re done with a task, you’ll have valuable minutes and maybe even hours added back into your day.”

Womack’s book is packed with strategies, tactics, tools, and processes to help readers consistently and incrementally improve their performance at work. It teaches the fundamentals of workflow and human performance and spells out how to get more done, on time, with fewer resources, and with less stress. But more than that, it provides brilliant insights into why we tend to do what we’ve always done—and how we can break out of the patterns that hold us back.

“It often seems that we put off the most important things on our to-do lists until we feel like we have the ‘time’ to work on them,” notes Womack. “When you learn to recognize when you’re done with projects, big and small, you’ll immediately find that you have a lot more time than you thought you did. Time you can use to focus on those things that truly matter.”

Read on to learn more from Womack about how to know when you’re done:

Stop majoring in the minors. Many of us spend a lot of time on those projects and tasks that are easy for us. Then, we convince ourselves that we “just didn’t have enough time” to get to the harder stuff. But when it comes to knowing when you’re done and freeing up time during your day, completing these easy tasks quickly and efficiently is essential.

“Before you start your work day, think about what your high leverage activities are and what your low leverage activities are,” says Womack. “For the low leverage activities, force yourself to move through them as quickly as possible. With these tasks—for example, writing an email to a colleague—perfection isn’t necessary, and there’s no need to waste time wringing your hands over every word. When you can accomplish these minor tasks more efficiently, you’ll have the time you need to do those major tasks justice.”

Don’t overwrite emails. Much of your time—probably too much—each day gets eaten up by email. Make a conscious effort to keep your emails as short and sweet as possible. “Get to the point quickly and use action verbs in subject lines so that both you and the recipient know what needs to happen before the email is even opened,” advises Womack. “And while long emails waste the time it takes you to write them, keep in mind that the person receiving the email doesn’t want to have to spend so much time reading it either. Chances are your boss doesn’t want or need a three-paragraph rundown of how your client meeting went. He just wants to know if the client is happy and continuing business with you.”

Quit over-staying at meetings and on conference calls. Often meetings and conference calls will take as long as you’ve allotted for them. Set an hour for a meeting and you’re sure to go the full hour. “Pay close attention to how much of your meeting is actually spent focused on the important stuff,” notes Womack. “If you spend 15 to 20 minutes at the beginning or end of the meeting discussing your coworker’s golf game, then next time reduce the amount of time allotted for the meeting. And always know the meeting’s or call’s objectives before you begin. That way you can get to them right away.”

Set your own deadlines and stick to them. It’s very easy to get distracted or sidetracked by things you think you should do or things others think you should do. “Having a self-imposed deadline will help you ignore those distractions,” says Womack. “If a colleague calls you about a non-urgent task, you can let him know you’ve got a 3:00 p.m. deadline that you have to meet. There’s no need for him to know that it’s self-imposed! And then as 3:00 p.m. draws near, start wrapping up that particular task.”

Know when it’s time to ask for help. Have you ever been stumped by a certain project or task? Did you walk away from it for a while and then come back to it hoping you’d suddenly know what to do? Sometimes knowing when you’re done is knowing when you, specifically, can’t take a project any further. “You simply might not have the right expertise to completely finish a certain project,” says Womack. “And that’s okay. Wasting time on something you’re never going to be able to figure out is much worse than asking for help!”

“When you put in place steps to help you know when you’re done, you’ll be surprised and pleased with how much, well, you can get done,” says Womack. “It will truly free up time in your day that you can use to focus on areas where it’s really needed. As a result, you’ll have a more gratifying work day and you’ll be happier overall.”

Jason W. Womack, MEd, MA, provides practical methods to maximize tools, systems, and processes to achieve quality work/life balance. He has worked with leaders and executives for over 16 years in the business and education sectors. His focus is on creating ideas that matter and implementing solutions that are valuable to organizations and the individuals in those organizations.

Author of Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More, Jason shows that working longer hours doesn’t make up for a flawed approach to productivity and performance. Entrepreneurs need to clarify their habits, build mindset-based strategies, and be proactive. Womack’s signature workplace performance techniques offer specific strategies to consistently and incrementally improve performance.

Happy International Woman’s Day to all the Strong Women …

Today I have been contemplating the amazing gifts I have been given. And am grateful. For being a woman. And for having so many women to call my friend.

Because WE Magazine for Women is all about “inspiring women in business and in life,” today I dedicate WE Magazine To all the women in the world, who are an inspiration to me and to others around the globe. Than you for sharing your strength with us!

“I am a woman in process.
I’m just trying like everybody else.
I try to take every conflict, every experience, and learn from it.
Life is never dull.”
Oprah Winfrey

May today not be just another day, but a day of celebration, as you celebrate all the women in your life, remember to celebrate you!

Thank you to each of you who have been there for me as we travel this journey together. Remember that you are never alone as long as you have a woman to call a friend!

Warmest regards,

Heidi 

What Dads Wish They Could Tell Their Daughters

While most dads would rather watch a Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants marathon than talk to their teenage daughters about sex and relationships, Dr. Kenneth Ryan, father of three girls, never runs away from the talk. As a relationship expert, Dr. Ryan seeks to help parents have normal, comfortable conversations about these important life topics. No one feels the pain of a bad boyfriend more than the dad so start talking before she has a boyfriend – before her mind turns to mush.

According to Dr. Ryan, one of the most common mistakes parents tend to make is lecturing instead of conversing. Since parents often feel strongly about the issues, we sometimes try to hammer home our point without really listening and understanding what our daughter is thinking. Ask open ended questions that begin with what,why and tell me.

Another common problem is awkward conversations. Nobody wants awkward conversations, but what can you do? Discussing touchy topics can be less threatening if you talk about a celebrity or a person you both know rather than yourselves. Honesty and humor are essential. Teens can smell BS from a mile away so give it to them straight. She wants and needs the truth. Don’t take yourselves too seriously. A light touch makes conversations more fun and encouraging. She must know, without a doubt, that you are on her side.

The third mistake dads make is assuming their daughters will not listen to them. Unless your relationship has gone seriously toxic, most children really do care what their parents think. However, sometimes it takes them a while to process challenging ideas. We don’t want our daughters to go out and make big mistakes because we didn’t have the courage to tell them the hard truths. Your own mistakes in life do not disqualify you from sharing your wisdom and insight.

To get the conversation started, share one of these concepts with your daughter and ask what she thinks of it. Does she agree or disagree? Why? What examples has she seen in people around her?

1. Lips are your secret weapon – Learning to converse easily with guys is one of the most important skills you can learn. Guys like being with girls who make conversation easy and interesting. Conversation is a skill you can learn just like playing the piano. If you practice, you can get good at it.

2. Fateful Attraction – Attraction cannot be forced or faked but it can be influenced. Physical attraction will fade if you do not have an attraction based on character and personality.

3. Dump the guy Humanely – Men want to know the truth so if it’s not going to work, tell him so he can deal with it and move on. He would rather know where he really stands than get dragged along. Sandwich the bad news between a couple of compliments. Be gentle but direct.

4. You can’t put a condom on your heart – Contrary to popular opinion, your heart is at just as much risk as your reproductive system. Since you can’t put a condom on your heart, safe sex is a myth. A girl’s heart is at much greater risk than the guy’s.

5. Sex is like Duct Tape – Sex is meant to help one couple bond together permanently for life. Each time it is used outside of marriage, it loses some of its stickiness.

6. Guys say “love” to get sex. Girls give sex to get love. Sorry girls, sex won’t buy you genuine love. It is very easy for men to have sex without love or commitment but women violate their own inner voice of sanity and femininity when they have sex without commitment. His self esteem may go up but yours will go down. Perhaps it’s not fair but that’s how it is.

7. Sex causes blindness – Sex helps married people overlook each other’s faults. Unfortunately, it has the same effect on single people, often causing them overlook critical flaws and make a poor choice of who they marry. Does he truly love you or does he love having sex with you? That’s the million dollar question and sex can give both of you fuzzy vision and confusion. “Keep your eyes wide open before marriage and half shut afterward” – Ben Franklin.

8. Intended for pleasure – Sex is part of the superglue of marriage. Surfaces must be clean and dry for good adhesion. Marriage is tough and you need as much going in your favor as possible. If you ruin the magic of sex by treating it like a meaningless toy, you are heading into marriage with one strike against you. Sex is a big deal in marriage and you need the magic.

9. Never buy a swimsuit at a Hardware store – Your shopping instinct easily steers you away from the hardware store when you need a new suit but your man instinct is letting you down if it takes you to bars and clubs with the hope of finding good husband prospects. It’s a needle in a haystack if you are hoping for a quality hubby. Flashy moves and smooth talk won’t mean a thing when your kid is throwing up in the middle of the night.

10. Lifestyles of the Rich, famous and confused – Famous people are no smarter than you when in comes to relationships. In fact, they are more likely to have a warped perspective of reality. They are not necessarily a reliable role model and they won’t tell the interviewer the real problems in their life. Smiling celebrity photos today, divorce tomorrow.

So…Don’t run away from the conversation, get one started.

About Dr. Kenneth Ryan - Dr. Ryan is a relationship expert and author of Finding Your Prince in a Sea of Toads: How to Find a Quality Guy Without Getting Your Heart Shredded. He and his wife have counseled engaged couples about sex for over 10 years. (www.FindingYourPrince.com)

By Brenda White Simmons

I never thought I would get divorced. Who does? Looking back, I know it was the right thing to do, as my ex-husband, our children, and I are all happy where we are today.

Our kids were two and six at the time of the divorce. Although my husband was not happy about the divorce, we managed to be amicable and worked out a custody schedule that allowed us to share custody. I have the boys Monday, Wednesday and every other weekend. Their dad has them Tuesday, Thursday and every other weekend. The schedule was kind of challenging, but now at 12 and 16, it is the only schedule they remember.

When my boys were around nine and five, my brother made the comment: “Brenda’s kids are the most well-behaved, well-adjusted kids in the family!” I was very proud to learn he said that, considering there are 11 total cousins! However, it also begged the question, does he think that divorce is a disease that inevitably messes up all children??

Someone once asked me how I raise my kids. What rules do I have in the house, how I punish them etc? I told them that making rules is easy; the challenge is enforcing them. When my kids were old enough to need disciplining (as soon as they were mobile), I implemented four house rules. Just four. Any misbehavior breaks either one or all four of these rules. If they got into trouble, I took them to the sign on the fridge and made them recite which rule (or rules) they had broken.

Ready? Here are the rules, which I call the Four B’s.

1) Be Respectful

2) Be Responsible

3) Be Honest

4) Be Safe

If they sass back, they broke rule 1 and 2. It is not respectful and they did not make a responsible choice.

If they hit their brother, they broke rules 1, 2, and 4. It is not respectful, responsible, or safe. In addition, if they chose to lie about it, they just broke rule number 4 because they were not honest.

The rules work for every single misbehavior and when a child has to recite the rule, they start to understand what the word truly means. Reciting the rule creates an awareness that they will take into puberty, teen years and adulthood.

It is important to note that when kids are just starting to crawl and walk, focusing on rule number 4, Be Safe, is a good starting point. “Hang onto the railing–be safe!” “Don’t go into the street–be safe.” “Don’t run away from me in the store–be safe!” Once they their language starts to develop and they become more independent and understand things better, begin adding rules 1 through 3.

As for punishments, well, in my house, they do not fit the crime; they fit the child. Now that I have three boys (6, 12, and 16), crimes, and punishments are very diverse. My six year old would not care if I took away his TV, but would have a meltdown if I grounded him from outside play. The 12 year old could not live without his PS3, and the 16 year old would need psychiatric help if I took away his phone.

Here is what I have learned about discipline. You have to understand what will be meaningful and memorable to each child individually. If I grounded my ADHD 12 year old for one week from his PS3, he would learn nothing about his misbehavior. He would find something else to distract him and forget why he was grounded in the first place. His punishments need to be immediate and short term, similar to an elementary age child. My oldest, will darn sure remember at the end of a week without his phone, not just because of his age, but because of his personality. He hates when he disappoints me and therefore and would continue to think I was disappointed until the grounding period was over.

Let the punishment fit the child.

Learning from this, as a Human Resource professional (among other things), I did not implement a “three strikes you’re out” discipline policy. Instead, I encourage all the managers to take each situation on a case-by-case basis. For example, if a veteran employee starts showing up late, you do not fire them after the third time. You sit them down and say, “This isn’t like you. You have always been responsible. What’s going on and how can I help?” However, if another employee of two months calls in sick frequently, has to be sent home for a dress code violation and then shows up late twice, it is probably time to “promote them to customer.”

Communicating with children is much like communicating with adults. Adults do not like to be condescended to, neither do children. Adults do not like to be lied to, neither do children. Adults expect a sense of balance in relationships, so do children. Adults expect forgiveness when they make mistakes, so do children. Adults expect their boss to be fair, children expect their parents to be fair. We may choose different rules and words when dealing with adults and children, but the messages should still be respectful, responsible, and honest.

Try implementing the Four B’s and start letting the punishment fit the child. You might be surprised at the outcome.

Eight Ways to Retrain Your Brain to Notice the Little Things

In the age of information overload, Jason Womack warns that when it comes to what we have time to focus on, we are often forced to sacrifice quality for quantity. He offers advice on how we can start paying closer attention to (and reaping the rewards of) the details.

For many Americans, the 21st century has gone from being the age of information to feeling more like the age of information overload. Between the e-mails, memos, and other miscellaneous information you have to read at work, your friends’ Facebook updates, your Twitter community recommending articles for you to read, and that book that’s been sitting on your nightstand (unopened) for the past month—there’s just no way to take it all in. As a result, we’ve become a nation of skimmers, reading just enough of just the right amount of information to have at least a loose grasp on what’s going on in our work and personal lives.

But the tragedy, says Jason Womack, is that in all of our skimming we miss essential details that could help us improve our productivity, build better relationships, and live more gratifying lives.

“Of course, there are obvious reasons to pay attention to the details,” says Womack, a workplace performance expert, executive coach, and author of the new book Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More (Wiley, February 2012, ISBN: 978-1-118-12198-6, $24.95). “Your momentum is constantly moving you forward, allowing you to better serve your employer and/or clients and just do an all-around better job. Doing so helps you catch mistakes and allows you to connect certain dots that you might not have seen otherwise. You’re not frequently having to interrupt your work flow to put out fires and fix problems, and as a result, you can be more productive overall.

“But I think, most importantly, it helps you build better relationships. When you have an eye for detail—for example, noticing someone’s new watch or remembering that their favorite sports team played the night before—then the people you’re with see that you’re really focused on them. And naturally, that makes them feel special, which makes them think positively of you.

“It also improves your ability to communicate,” he adds. “When you can tell a detail-rich story, it becomes more interesting for the listener. It makes them want to connect with you, and where that desire exists a great relationship can blossom.”

How do you make the rubber meet the road? Well, the good news is that knowing you really want to cultivate this skill is half the battle. You simply need to make a conscious decision every day to pay closer attention. Read on for a few tips to help you become a detail dynamo and get more productive in the process:

Stop multi-tasking. One way to combat information overload and to check more items off your endless to-do list is to multi-task. But while working on a project update memo while on a conference call with a client might allow you to kill two birds with one stone, think about what it prevented you from doing.

“When you multi-task, you can’t give your undivided attention to the things you’re working on,” says Womack. “If you multi-task on a call with a client, chances are you’ll miss something important, maybe a deadline for an upcoming project or at the very least an opportunity to truly connect. Meanwhile, your memo might contain mistakes that you wouldn’t have otherwise made, but worse, you will have missed the opportunity to really think about the project’s progress and what could be done to improve it.”

Carry a camera. No, this isn’t a suggestion that you become a professional photographer. Carrying a camera with you is actually a great way to become more in tune with your environment. “When I have my camera, I’m always looking for the next shot,” explains Womack. “It helps me notice the little things that I might not have noticed if I weren’t looking. My camera is a reminder of the fact that there is more to see, if I’ll stop to see it.”

Set a timer for 15-minute intervals. Womack teaches that our days are actually made up of about 100 15-minute intervals. In fact, 15 minutes is just about the right “chunk” of time for us to be able to stay focused, minimize interruptions, and work effectively. “When you’re first getting started on paying more attention to detail, setting a timer can be a great way to self-monitor yourself,” says Womack. “When you know that timer is ticking down, you’ll be encouraged to really dig in and focus on the task at hand.”

Know when you’re not focused and implement ways to refocus. When you’re working with your timer, write down each instance when you lose focus—even if it’s just to look at a clock to see what time it is. “Writing those moments down will help you figure out what causes you to lose focus,” says Womack. “When you know what can throw you off track, you’ll be able to take action to reduce those distractions. Eventually, you’ll be able to make the most of every minute of your day.”

Practice, practice, practice. You won’t become a master of detail overnight so don’t put too much pressure on yourself. “Essentially, you have to retrain the way you work,” says Womack. “You have to break some bad habits that have developed over the years and replace them with better habits. That won’t be easy, and it will take time. You just have to be diligent about devoting yourself to the details and quickly getting yourself back on track when you slip up.”

Reduce your information stream. One important way to help yourself pay more attention to detail is to simply reduce the amount of stuff vying for your attention. “Get rid of everything you can and reduce what might be coming in,” advises Womack. “Unsubscribe from e-mail newsletters, magazines, book-of-the-month clubs, perhaps even the ad-hoc committees you’ve joined recently. Try the ‘unsubscription’ for three months; at the end of those 12 weeks, you can re-up if you want to!”

Stay in touch. Now, this might sound like one more thing that’s going to clog up your to-do list, but it’s actually a great way to train yourself to keep an eye out for important details. “Probably the ‘secret sauce’ to getting more done is to let people know you’re thinking of them when you DON’T need something from them,” explains Womack. “When I find an article, see a book, watch a movie, etc. that reminds me of someone’s interests, I will pass it on to them. So many times over the years this constant ‘value-add’ initiative has paid off in major ways. It’s a great way to show people you care about them and that you pay attention to what’s going on with them.”

Listen more. There are three different learning styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. And everyone in your network falls into one of these categories. Visual people need to see and draw things—they might say, “I see what you’re saying.” Auditory folks need to hear it and say it—they might say, “I hear what you’re saying.” And kinesthetic people create models, print decks, and draw on flip charts or whiteboards—they might say, “That makes sense to me.” “‘Listen’ carefully to people and they’ll make it easier for you to communicate in a way that THEY best receive information,” notes Womack. “When you know how they work, you can give them the details that are more important to them, which will help you work better and more efficiently together.”

“Because we’re so overloaded with information, we often approach our days focused on getting as much done as possible,” says Womack. “But when that is your big goal, you end up ignoring important details, and the details are where big opportunities are found. When you retrain yourself to live in the details, you can improve everything you do and truly make the most of your relationships.”

# # #

About the Author:

Jason W. Womack, MEd, MA, provides practical methods to maximize tools, systems, and processes to achieve quality work/life balance. He has worked with leaders and executives for over 16 years in the business and education sectors. His focus is on creating ideas that matter and implementing solutions that are valuable to organizations and the individuals in those organizations.

Author of Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More, Jason shows that working longer hours doesn’t make up for a flawed approach to productivity and performance. Entrepreneurs need to clarify their habits, build mindset-based strategies, and be proactive. Womack’s signature workplace performance techniques offer specific strategies to consistently and incrementally improve performance.