For far too long, we moderns have relied on our analytical/logical brain to make important life decisions. It is my belief that our imaginative/creative brain holds the key to better, smarter and more soulful decisions. This is because the right side of the brain, which loves creativity—taps into your intuitive nature. Take your career for instance. How could following your intuition make you more successful? Because you will be following your true internal compass—one that leads you to the best career and a more fulfilled life. The word intuition means in to you in Latin. Florence Scovel, a theologian, once said, Intuition is the spiritual faculty that doesnt explain; it seemingly points the way. Its also been said that intuition is your divine Spirit talking to you. If we stop for a moment and acknowledge this, we realize the incredible perspective we have. Unfortunately, this is a perspective we often choose to ignore because it is an undeveloped skill. Using your intuition when making important decisions allows you to move along your career path easily and effortlessly. You dont have to struggle and worry, because things fall naturally into place when you follow your inner nature. Developing your intuitive guidance (your inner voice) is essential to smart decision-making and career choices, and includes balancing your cognitive (thinking) abilities with your affective (feeling) abilities.

Synthesize information from your head and your heart, and bring them into your consciousness. You only have to learn how to develop these powers and I promise that it will become second nature to you. The first step is obviously to become aware that you contain this amazing power. But you must consciously choose to use it!

Next, you have to realize that when dealing with matters of work, there can be some discrepancies between what the mind thinks and what the heart feels. When we think about work, we focus on what we should do so that we can pay the bills, etc., which only takes into account the practical side. When we feel about work, we focus on what we want to do and consider the impractical, such as moving to a foreign country. We very rarely take the time to see how the two sides can meet and form a whole new possibility. When making a major life decision, such as, What should I do as my lifes work? it is pretty safe to say that our equilibrium is all out of whack. And we tend to do one of two things: We either throw out all rational behavior altogether or block any and all emotions from our consciousness. We need to learn to align these two extremes, balance them, and make decisions from a true state of knowing, which is our intuition. You can learn to take these two seemingly opposing faculties and fuse them to have singleness of purpose and direction.

The best way to do this is to be clear on what you are looking for from your career, so that you can then allow your intuitive nature to take over. The key is to believe that your higher self sees what is best for you. Indeed, Spirit is trying to send you messages, but you must learn to open up and receive the information in order for it to make a difference in your life. Once you have learned to have faith in this process, your heart and mind will function together for greater harmony than you ever dreamed possible.

By following your intuition, you become empowered. When you are empowered, you trust that you know the right thing to dodespite what other people might say. You look within yourself for direction. Dis-empowered people look for answers outside of themselves. They turn to others to find the answers to their life, and thus become confused and often misguided. Confused people are easy to spot—they tend to change their minds almost on a daily basis. It stands to reason that if you are dis-empowered and confused, you will not be making decisions with clarity and focus. If you are like most people, you prefer one faculty (thinking or feeling) over the other. People tend to use the one they are most comfortable with, but sometimes it is necessary to look at the situation through your weaker one.

You are Head Strong if you typically: Over-analyze people, things, and situations Consider the practical side of the issue Rationalize your behavior to yourself and to others Consider yourself first in situations Prefer thinking over feeling Ignore feelings contrary to your thinking when making decisions Hide your emotions Like to plan ahead Like to be in control Use the word NO a lot

You are Heart Strong if you typically: Are sensitive and emotional Consider the impractical side of the issue Feel things in the pit of your stomach Consider others first in situations Prefer feeling over thinking Ignore thoughts contrary to your feelings when making decisions Show your emotions Like to go with the flow Like to make others feel good Use the word YES a lot Both are ways of sensing, but in order to be a more effective decision-maker, you need to use them in conjunction. On occasion, it may be more appropriate to listen with your heart, as it will provide the direction that you need to go. Other times, you may find that tapping into your head can save you from making miss-takes in your career. The key is to pick up on coincidences, signs, and other external messages by filtering them through both faculties to get the most accurate reading. The real secret to intuitive guidance is to let your inner soul be your guide.

Michelle L. Casto, M.Ed. is a whole life coach, speaker, and author. She has written three self-help books and a dozen workbooks on life empowerment topics. Her coaching practice is Brightlight Coaching. She helps people come up with bright ideas for their life and empowers them to freely shine their bright light to the world. Contact her for a complimentary coaching session: coach@brightlightcoach.com or Visit virtually: www.getsmartseries.com www.brightlightcoach.com Sign up for her free monthly ezine, Get Smart! Live Smart by sending an email to: Getsmarter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

About the Author

Michelle Casto is a Whole Life Coach, Speaker, and Author of the Get Smart! LearningBook Series: Get Smart! About Modern Romantic Relationships and Get Smart! about Modern Career Development She holds a Master of Education degree and is a certified career development and customer service instructor. Her coaching practice is Brightlight Coaching, she empowers people to freely shine their bright light to the world. Free 30 minute coaching consultation: coach@brightlightcoach.com Visit virtually: www.getsmartseries.com and www.brightlightcoach.com

Please feel free to distribute and reprint, including the bio line.

Intuition is an EQ competency, that is it’s considered something necessary to successful living, and something to be respected and valued. In recent years it has emerged from obscurity, even suspicion. What exactly is intuition?
Main Entry: intuition
1 : quick and ready insight
2 a : immediate apprehension or cognition
b : knowledge or conviction gained by intuition
c : the power or faculty of attaining to direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought and inference(www.m-w.com)
According to Intuition magazine online, intuition is increasingly recognized as a natural mental faculty, a key element in the creative process, a means of discovery, problem solving, and decision making. Once considered the province of a gifted few, it is now recognized as an innate capacity available to everyone–not a rare, accidental talent, but a natural skill anyone can cultivate. Remember those math problems you got the correct answer for, but you didnt get full credit because you couldnt show your work? Intuition, Intuition magazine says, is a key ingredient in what we call genius, and it is also an important tool when applied to everyday life.

That having been said, from where does this almost mystical ability come?

In their amazing book, “A General Theory of Love”, authors Lewis, Amini and Lannon, all doctors, agree that all of us acquire wonderfully complicated knowledge that we cannot describe, explain, or recognize.

They cite researchers Knowlton, Mangels and Squire, who devised an interesting experiment they gave subjects the task of predicting the weather in a simple computer model. They designed the experiment so that as unhelpful as the cues looked, they did relate lawfully to the outcomes, but the relationship between cues and effects was deliberately such a complex and probabilistic function that even the smartest person couldnt figure it out. It was way too difficult for logic to unravel; that is, subjects would have to approach this task without the use of the neocortex.

The researchers were right. No one figured it out, but that didnt stop them from getting better at the system they couldnt understand or describe! After just 50 trials, the average subject was right 70% of the time, which means, of course, that some were doing far better than that. What they were doing was gradually developing a feel for the situation and intuitively grasping the essence of what was going on.

We tend to believe that success can only come from understanding (via the neocortex), but in reality our marvelous brains, when presented with repetitive experiences, are able to extract unconsciously the rules that underlie them. Such knowledge, say Lewis, Amini, and Lannon, develops with languorous ease and inevitability, stubbornly inexpressibly, never destined for translation into words. Words being a neocortical ability.

Things we cant describe, but we “know,” come from our implicit memory. Our implicit memory ensures that camouflaged learning permeates out lives. Spoken language, for instance, is a confusing assortment of phonological and grammatical rules that we couldnt possibly describe, yet we all learn to speak our native tongue. In fact, children are able to learn it without any formal instruction at all. Similarly, in learning foreign languages, its generally considered that immersion is the best way to attain fluency spending your days with native speakers and just absorbing it. Consider the extent to which we intuit. In his book, “Language Instinct,” Steven Pinker observes that we all know that thole, plast and flitch are not English words but they could be, whereas vlas, ptak, and nyip cannot be English. Why? Well, just because, but wouldnt you agree?

The advantages of intuition? Its much quicker and also surer to use your intuition. You have a greater grasp on reality, as it were, when you dont confuse things by bringing in the neocortex. “Reason,” said Pascal, is the slow and tortuous method by which those who do not know the truth discover it.

There is guidance available to us at all times, says Penny Peirce, just belowI> the surface of our logic, just after we stop pushing and striving, just before we jump to conclusions. By cultivating the ability to pause and be comfortable with silence, and then by focusing steadily and listening for the first sounds or feelings, for the first impressions, you can help your intuition wake up suddenly and enthusiastically, as if from a long winters nap.

How do you develop your intuition? One way is to learn to still your self-talk, what I refer to as the Talking Head that constant yammering that goes on inside your head. Get centered. Quiet your thinking mind. Slow down and focus on one thing at a time. Listen. Practice.

Although intuition is a natural resource, says Nancy Rosanoff, an intuition trainer, it functions best when developed and exercised. Like a muscle, intuition becomes strong, reliable, and precise when trained and put to use.”

So whats the buzz about intuition? Its coming into its own. Its getting legitimate. Corporations are even hiring intuitionists to make decisions. I say its about time, because its a much surer way to make a decision than are logic and reason; an important decision that is. How much data would be too much to know about the woman youre going to be leaving your baby with all day? About the man youre considering marrying? At some point the data ends, and you make a decision based on your feelings. Do you doubt this? Oliver Wendell Holmes, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, said that 90% of the decisions at his level were emotional. He just rationalized them afterwards. As we all have done.

In small matters, use the head, said Freud, and in large matters, the heart. And that’s intuition!

Susan Dunn is a personal and professional development coach specializing in emotional intelligence. You can visit her on the web at http://www.susandunn.cc.

Tags: Tuition Research

Accurate predictions of the future are rare. Many examples exist where misguided intuition of the brightest and most qualified individuals prevented them from foreseeing the future. Consider examples from the arts (see part I), business (see part II), and science (see part III).

Misguided intuition in the arts
D. W. Griffith is regarded by many as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. More than anyone of the silent era, he recognized the potential of movies as an expressive medium. During that time, his achievements were momentous. In 1915 he finished the feature “Birth of a Nation,” regarded as the first masterpiece of cinema. In 1919 he finished the movie “Intolerance” (1919), which marked a new standard in filmmaking. His next two movies, “Broken Blossoms” (1919) and “Way Down East” (1920), sealed his reputation as America’s preeminent director. According to James Agee, “To watch his work is like being a witness to the beginning of melody, or the first conscious use of the lever or the wheel; the emergence, coordination, and first eloquence of language; the birth of an art: and to realize that this is all the work of one man.” The great silent movie actor Lillian Gish called him “the father of film” and Charlie Chaplin called him “the teacher of us all.” During the same time, D. W. Griffith also exhibited superb business instincts by founding the United Artist production company together with Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, and Mary Pickford, the three greatest performers of the day.

However, from the mid to late 1920s things began to change. His intuitive powers started to wane. In 1924, at the age of 49, Griffith wrote in an article published by the Saturday Evening Post, “We do not want now and we shall never want the human voice with our films.” Only three years later, in 1927 the first talking movie, “The Jazz Singer” with Al Jolson was released. The reaction of the public to the movie was astounding. The picture was a sellout, one of the big box office hits of all time. In October 1930, the Fortune magazine wrote, “The advent of American talking movies is beyond comparison the fastest and most amazing revolution the whole history of industrial revolutions.” Griffith’s failed prediction was only an early sign of his now chronic misguided intuition. From the late 1920s, Griffith’s movies were slowly sinking into oblivion. In the glitter of the Jazz Age, his filmmaking was considered hopelessly old-fashioned. His last picture, “The Struggle,” was made in 1931 and played in theaters for merely a week before being withdrawn. On July 23, 1948, Griffith died in a small Los Angeles hotel virtually forgotten by the industry he helped build.

What was the cause of Griffith’s transition from great intuition to misguided intuition? One of the most common causes of misguided intuition, and therefore, the limited success of experts in predicting the future, is the “situation bias.” Experts, like all humans, tend to imagine future technologies as an extension of current technologies. The bias grows stronger when the individual has a vested interest in the current technology and is concerned that the new technology will diminish the popularity of his or her prized, older technology. Griffith was a master of the silent movie. His skill in eliciting powerful reactions from the audience without resorting to spoken dialogue was legendary. This unique skill was the reason for his downfall. It distorted his intuition and prevented him from foreseeing the potential of the human voice in movies.

How is this example related to misguided intuition in market research? The situation bias is especially strong in manual interpretation of qualitative data. During such interpretation, the analyst shows a strong tendency to look for the familiar. Pat Bentley from Apple emphasizes this point: “When you analyze the respondents’ answers manually you look for repeats, things that sound important either because you heard them before or you’re looking for them yourself; therefore, they make sense to you.”

Do you want to observe your own situational bias? Go to http://www.computerintuition.com/Question1.htm and follow the instructions.

About the Author

Mike T. Davis, Ph.D., SCI, Rochester NY
We are the inventors of Computer Intuition?, a psycholinguistics based program that analyzes the language that people use. The program calculates the psychological intensity, or psytensity, of every idea found in the input, and “converts what people say into what people do”?. SCI’s clients include many Fortune 500 and smaller companies.

Please feel free to distribute and reprint, including the bio line.

Intuition is an EQ competency, that is it’s considered something necessary to successful living, and something to be respected and valued. In recent years it has emerged from obscurity, even suspicion. What exactly is intuition?
Main Entry: intuition
1 : quick and ready insight
2 a : immediate apprehension or cognition
b : knowledge or conviction gained by intuition
c : the power or faculty of attaining to direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought and inference(www.m-w.com)
According to Intuition magazine online, intuition is increasingly recognized as a natural mental faculty, a key element in the creative process, a means of discovery, problem solving, and decision making. Once considered the province of a gifted few, it is now recognized as an innate capacity available to everyone–not a rare, accidental talent, but a natural skill anyone can cultivate. Remember those math problems you got the correct answer for, but you didnt get full credit because you couldnt show your work? Intuition, Intuition magazine says, is a key ingredient in what we call genius, and it is also an important tool when applied to everyday life.

That having been said, from where does this almost mystical ability come?

In their amazing book, “A General Theory of Love”, authors Lewis, Amini and Lannon, all doctors, agree that all of us acquire wonderfully complicated knowledge that we cannot describe, explain, or recognize.

They cite researchers Knowlton, Mangels and Squire, who devised an interesting experiment they gave subjects the task of predicting the weather in a simple computer model. They designed the experiment so that as unhelpful as the cues looked, they did relate lawfully to the outcomes, but the relationship between cues and effects was deliberately such a complex and probabilistic function that even the smartest person couldnt figure it out. It was way too difficult for logic to unravel; that is, subjects would have to approach this task without the use of the neocortex.

The researchers were right. No one figured it out, but that didnt stop them from getting better at the system they couldnt understand or describe! After just 50 trials, the average subject was right 70% of the time, which means, of course, that some were doing far better than that. What they were doing was gradually developing a feel for the situation and intuitively grasping the essence of what was going on.

We tend to believe that success can only come from understanding (via the neocortex), but in reality our marvelous brains, when presented with repetitive experiences, are able to extract unconsciously the rules that underlie them. Such knowledge, say Lewis, Amini, and Lannon, develops with languorous ease and inevitability, stubbornly inexpressibly, never destined for translation into words. Words being a neocortical ability.

Things we cant describe, but we “know,” come from our implicit memory. Our implicit memory ensures that camouflaged learning permeates out lives. Spoken language, for instance, is a confusing assortment of phonological and grammatical rules that we couldnt possibly describe, yet we all learn to speak our native tongue. In fact, children are able to learn it without any formal instruction at all. Similarly, in learning foreign languages, its generally considered that immersion is the best way to attain fluency spending your days with native speakers and just absorbing it. Consider the extent to which we intuit. In his book, “Language Instinct,” Steven Pinker observes that we all know that thole, plast and flitch are not English words but they could be, whereas vlas, ptak, and nyip cannot be English. Why? Well, just because, but wouldnt you agree?

The advantages of intuition? Its much quicker and also surer to use your intuition. You have a greater grasp on reality, as it were, when you dont confuse things by bringing in the neocortex. “Reason,” said Pascal, is the slow and tortuous method by which those who do not know the truth discover it.

There is guidance available to us at all times, says Penny Peirce, just belowI> the surface of our logic, just after we stop pushing and striving, just before we jump to conclusions. By cultivating the ability to pause and be comfortable with silence, and then by focusing steadily and listening for the first sounds or feelings, for the first impressions, you can help your intuition wake up suddenly and enthusiastically, as if from a long winters nap.

How do you develop your intuition? One way is to learn to still your self-talk, what I refer to as the Talking Head that constant yammering that goes on inside your head. Get centered. Quiet your thinking mind. Slow down and focus on one thing at a time. Listen. Practice.

Although intuition is a natural resource, says Nancy Rosanoff, an intuition trainer, it functions best when developed and exercised. Like a muscle, intuition becomes strong, reliable, and precise when trained and put to use.”

So whats the buzz about intuition? Its coming into its own. Its getting legitimate. Corporations are even hiring intuitionists to make decisions. I say its about time, because its a much surer way to make a decision than are logic and reason; an important decision that is. How much data would be too much to know about the woman youre going to be leaving your baby with all day? About the man youre considering marrying? At some point the data ends, and you make a decision based on your feelings. Do you doubt this? Oliver Wendell Holmes, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, said that 90% of the decisions at his level were emotional. He just rationalized them afterwards. As we all have done.

In small matters, use the head, said Freud, and in large matters, the heart. And that’s intuition!

Susan Dunn is a personal and professional development coach specializing in emotional intelligence. You can visit her on the web at http://www.susandunn.cc.

Tags: Tuition Research

Grants are funds given to tax-exempt nonprofit organizations or local governments by foundations, corporations, governments, small business and individuals. Most grants are made to fund a specific project and require some level of reporting. The process involves an applicant submitting a proposal to a potential funder, either on the applicant’s own initiative or in response to a Request for Proposals from the funder. Other grants can be given to individuals, such as victims of natural disasters or individuals who seek to open a small business.

1. Educational Grants

There are conditions that apply to grants, of course. You didn’t think you were going to get something for nothing did you? First of all, you must prove that you are in financial need. Grants are awarded only to those students that have demonstrated their family income level is below a certain level. There are also grants offered by corporations to benefit certain minorities and disadvantaged groups of individuals.

2. Apply Early Also, Apply Often

It never hurts to apply for an educational grant. Who knows, you just might get it! Of coruse, you can’t just phone a school up and apply, you will be required to fill out several complex application forms. Some grant applications also require a written essay.

3. Grant Application Forms

Most of the time, you can find application forms posted online so there is no need for you to visit the institutions yourself in person. This form is more commonly known as FAFSA form or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. You just have to fill up the FAFSA form and this form is consequently evaluated by the government. With education becoming more and more expensive, it makes the most sense for you to try and lower the costs as much as possible.

About the Author:

For more great education grant related articles and resources check out http://123grants.info

(ARA) - The rising cost of tuition has put many families in a bind. A survey conducted by the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges found that tuition at public institutions increased in 37 of the states that responded. In Arizona, California and New York all surveyed schools reported in-state tuition increases of at least 20 percent. Tuition at the State University of New York has increased by 30 percent and at the University of California by as much as 40 percent over last falls levels.

While all parents want the best education for their children, financial constraints can be a burden on the long-term investment in their childs education. However, with diligent planning, families can work together to develop solutions to this problem and be able to afford the best education for their children. Ray Loewe, college planning expert and advisory board member for the GE Center for Financial Learning, offers the following tips on college planning and ways to make the transition back to school more affordable.

* While tuition costs are on the rise, interest rates for paying back college loans will drop to an all-time low. Its good news to those already paying off loans or who will start paying in the near future. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, someone with $25,000 in debt could save about $5,000 in 20 years if he or she consolidates at this rate.

* Students should try and find a part-time job. Jobs offered on a college campus are ideal because employers know from the outset that theyre hiring college students with their irregular schedules, tests and exams. They know that education is a priority and are usually more forgiving as a result.

* Many parents think that Saving for College will just disqualify a student from getting financial aid. The actual fact is that income most often keeps students from qualifying for financial aid, not their assets. At the same time saving for education is an investment.

* There are four types of financial aid: scholarships, grants, loans and work-study employment. Colleges are not created equal regarding financial aid. Become familiar with your colleges financial aid packages.

* Apply for a loan. Loans are financial aid available to both parents and students. They are subsidized by the federal or state government, financial institutions or the college and may have lower interest rates than regular loans. Generally, you do not start paying back these loans until after college graduation.

There are many ways to prevent future financial hardships that can arise from paying for education, but having a plan is crucial. Web sites such as the GE Center for Financial Learning (www.financiallearning.com) can help you and your family take action to ensure an easy and trouble-free return to school each semester.

Courtesy of ARA Content

Courtesy of ARA Content

Tags: Tuition Research

Intuition was a wonderful gift. It was also an awful curse. By instantly recognizing patterns, intuition was nature’s vital tool for survival. Life ceaselessly faced a train of unlimited choices and, often, baffling problems. These demanded instant decisions. An animal could not remain undecided, whether to drink water, or to eat grass. Should it be aggressive and fight, run away, or relax and accept the situation? It was intuition, which interpreted events to trigger emotions. Anger made them aggressive. Fear made them retreat. And familiarity supported relaxation. Each emotion eliminated groups of thoughts. If fighting was the option, amicable thoughts did not fit. If the decision was to cut and run, it was useless to marshal one’s militant strengths. The intuitive process eliminated mental activity, which did not fit the chosen course of action. Sadly, this elimination process was also the biggest weakness of the system.

Each emotion set off a focused drive seeking solutions. Anger, fear, or friendliness triggered competing drives. Intuition focused each drive by eliminating views that did not fit its compulsive focus. Anger eliminated amicable memories. Fear lost sight of fighting strengths. As any situation evolved, the emotional strengths of these partisan drives varied. Opposing emotions competed for control. Intuition acted in the emotional center, the limbic system, to select the most powerful emotion, which then ruled. If it was anger, it pulled the trigger. When the choice was made, the process inhibited competing drives, with contrary feelings. Opposing views were largely lost to consciousness.

Across species, fear dictated an escape drive, which sought safety. A deer bounded away. A bird took flight. A fish swam off. While the activities of running, flying and swimming differed, it was the drive, which achieved the objective of escaping. Each drive evaluated experience and the environment. Escape was hardly possible by heading into the predator. Getting away demanded evaluation of many escape routes, including slipping into a safe sanctuary, inaccessible to the predator. Like the underside of a rock. Drives involved a search of multiple contexts to uncover the right answer. While intuitive drives usually delivered the answer instantly, some drives failed to uncover solutions.

Modern life offered few speedy answers. Senior positions had added problems. The higher the position, more the solutions needed for the myriad problems faced by a venture. Intuition, driven by emotions, was the creative force, which delivered answers. Hidden from view, drives constantly sought solutions. While one problem was consciously evaluated, subconscious drives continued search processes to solve other issues. Since, anger, fear or jealousy powered such searches, they often sought to achieve conflicting objectives. These hidden emotions troubled the mind, creating distressing internal conflicts. Sadly, this was the negative face of intuition, standing in the way of achieving peace of mind.

Conflicting viewpoints surged in the subconscious. How could they be integrated? In a harsh and unforgiving world, how could a multitude of clashing drives be graciously focused? How could the mind be stilled? Across the ages, many solutions were offered to focus the mind and still conflicts. Meditation, chanting and breathing routines were found to be beneficial. But, those practices treated the symptom, not the problem. The long term solution was to quiet the internal battles of these competing drives. All knowledge and experience lived within. These same drives were powerful search processes, which could delve deep, to deliver answers. Unique new insights and solutions waited to be discovered.

Drives provided windows into the mind. It was a drive, which assisted in the preparation of a simple shopping list. It searched memory and current context to deliver, line by line, a list of all the items you needed to buy. By contextually searching the mind, drives could be made to play a valuable, creative role. When particularly burdened by a problem, drives could draw out a list of one’s deepest concerns. With its sort facility, a spreadsheet could be used to list and comprehend the turmoils of the mind. The routine could begin by listing, line by line, different aspects of a problem, as it came to mind. Each, a short entry in a single cell of the spread sheet. It may have just begun with, say, “Feel awful” and gone on down. That was the first thought. Many conflicting emotions surged in the background. Each line would sum up a single feeling and its concern. It could be “Negative departmental report” Or, it could be just a hunch. “David will support me.” The worst fears were noted down. “Mortgage payments.” And the common sense thoughts. “This too will pass.”

Writing a list was a calming process. The questioning drive helped still the mind. Differing viewpoints were noted down. These views would arrive in conspicuous sequence. Each entry brought one viewpoint into consciousness - into the general view of isolated and competing drives. Sensible viewpoints would normally have been eliminated from view by angry emotions. Typically, about 60 odd entries would empty the mind of every related thought. Entering opposing viewpoints usually brought balance. The inquiry process stilled background turmoil. The most critical part of this process came next.

A label was entered for each line in an adjacent cell on the spreadsheet. “Fear,” “Opportunity”, or even “Unlikely” could be the labels. With every aspect already considered, it was easier to label an entry. Each label fitted a few more entries. The picture slowly cleared. Underground fears surfaced. Solutions emerged. The closing of one door usually opened another. Those 60 entries would fit a dozen or so categories. A “sort” of the labels column would arrange similar ones together, in alphabetic order. Listing similarly labeled ideas together would bring clarity. They became groups of consistent, allied thoughts. The sorted spreadsheet list integrated the mind.

Isolated drives were forced into the open and a balanced view emerged. Viewed together, “Unlikely” put a label on needless worries. The less likely outcomes could be ignored. The inevitable ones had to be accepted. That left you with the actions you could take. “Opportunities” formed the basis for a future plan. The rest of the list just climbed off your chest. Another threatening issue would have been acknowledged, accepted and foreseen. The spreadsheet evaluation balanced the mind and stilled hidden anxieties and conflicts. Lifted burdens. Anger and fear, love and altruism cooperated to search for solutions which met all the concerns of the mind. With the power of intuition, an integrated mind became the most creative force in the world.

About the Author

Abraham Thomas is the author of The Intuitive Algorithm, a book, which suggests that intuition is a pattern recognition algorithm. The ebook version is available at www.intuition.co.in. The book may be purchased only in India. The website, provides a free movie and a walk through to explain the ideas.

How many times have you been faced with a decision to make and all of a sudden you get this feeling of instinctively knowing what you must do? Something inside you is telling you the difference between what you should do and what you are meant to do. Many people interpret this as a hunch, a gut feeling or having an inkling.

How many times have you been faced with a decision to make and all of a sudden you get this feeling of instinctively knowing what you must do? Something inside you is telling you the difference between what you should do and what you are meant to do. Many people interpret this as a hunch, a gut feeling or having an inkling.

It’s actually called your intuition.

The latin meaning of intuition is ‘in to you’. Makes sense doesn’t it. What a wonderful resource you each have at your fingertips and it can be utilized without formal training. All you need to do is become aware of this amazing power within you and start using it.

Intuitive messages come in a range of ways such as hearing actual words, visualizing a clear and distinct picture, in dream format, a deep inner knowing or a quiet, subtle nudge. It’s important that you become familiar with how your inner self communicates with you and how this message will bring with it a sense of calm confidence.

Here’s some tips to help you get in touch with your own intuition.

Practice

Take a few minutes each day to experience inner silence. Calm your mind and clear your thoughts so that the information from your soul can surface.

Be Open to This Power

Get past the ego that thinks you have everything figured out and be open to new possibilities. Your true path may not be the one that you are currently working on.

Get Creative

Creativity provides a forum for expression and a great venue for helping your intuition get past all the day to day stuff in life.

Ask Yourself Some Questions

When you ask yourself, ‘What’s the next step?”, you will instinctively know what you need to do. This is the time when you must begin to learn to trust yourself.

Remember, intuition is not something you can force, it simply must be allowed to surface. Give it time to work on challenges you may face, be open to the possibilities and you will be rewarded with an instant awareness and perhaps an “Aha” or two.

Intuition is never attached to results. There’s no rush, no confusion. Just a feeling of empowerment. Your own intuition will support your personal growth and help you through lifes transitions. Begin by putting it to work in small ways and eventually your sixth sense will enhance your life like your other five senses are able to do.

Let me challenge you to put yourself out there for the next twenty-four hours and make a list of all the times you have listened to your own intuition. Some of you may find that it speaks to you many times and others not at all.

That’s ok.

Sometimes it takes time and commitment to develop this skill but I guarantee you will find a huge difference in your life once you begin trusting this wonderful power within you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tags: Tuition Research

Lorna Ramsay and her husband, David, live in Scotland and run the TOP-SET Incident Investigation System ( http://www.TOP-SET.com ). They teach how to investigate industrial accidents all over the world, for high-hazard industries as well as the emergency services and the medical sector.

They and the TOP-SET team also go into the field to investigate for clients all over the world, and teach engineers who work in nuclear plants, the oil and gas, explosives and other high hazard industries, how to stay safe by using their intuition.

The most rewarding outcome of their work is the companies find that being humanitarian affects their bottom line. What they learn through TOP-SET saves lives, increases business performance, enhances the companys reputation, increases profitability, complies with regulation, and prevents and predicts similar occurrences. And it also affects employee morale and attitude.

When an employer sends his or her managers to our seminars, says Lorna, they know the company cares about them. What we teach and were educators, not trainers spills over in other areas of the workplace. TOP-SET is a thinking system. We teach our clients to investigate, i.e., to think their way through what is really a complex problem. Were problem-solvers. And once you can analyze what happened, and learn from it, you can prevent and eventually predict.

HOW DO THEY TEACH INTUITION?

Go back to when you were in an unfamiliar situation, says Lorna. Think of how a dog or child behaves. When my dog runs down to the beach in the morning and sees a rubbish bag, shell sniff, circle it, even bare her teeth until shes sure its safe. Well thats what these engineers need to learn how to do, to ’sense’ when something has changed.

When youre working in a high-hazard industry, she says, if you go into a work situation, and theres something coming at you that makes you feel funny - an almost imperceptible smell, a feeling, in an explosive factory it could be a change in humidity - just some change that you sense, rather than see, dont ignore it. If you get a gut feeling something isnt right, pay attention to that, act on that. Intuition can be honed by just practicing and noticing.

CHANGE PROFICIENCY

We help companies move forward and innovate in a time of perpetual change; TOP-SET is specifically a thinking system, a key to investigating accidents, to solving that particular type of problem. But the companies often ask us to assist them in thinking their way through other issues, to help them create, and to innovate. Lorna says.

Weve found when a company is honestly investigating an incident, and the regulatory bodies are aware of that, then theyre less likely to prosecute. The most important thing, though, is that employees feel valued and cared about when such attention is paid to their safety. And it works. Its now safer to be on an oil rig than in your own home.

A practical application for emotional intelligence with many positive outcomes.

Susan Dunn, http://www.susandunn.cc , The EQ Coach. To learn more about Top-set/Incident Investigation System, go here: http://www.top-set.com . For free incident/accident investigation advice, go here: http://www.top-set.com/freesadvice.shtml

Intuition is the divine ability to connect with our inner self. It is the part of us that knows the answers to questions before they are even asked. However in our society, we seem to have decided that it is far better to be reasonable and logical. Have we not yet learned that the two should be in loving relationship to one another and not in competition? By joining the forces of logic and intuition, one can even enhance their safety from one of the most damaging criminal acts-sexual assault.

Sexual assault is non-consensual sexual contact. Women, men and children of all ages can be victimized by sexual assault. A rapist may be a stranger, acquaintance, or relative. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics reported that roughly 18% or 17.7 million women had experienced rape or attempted rape at some point in their lifetime.

Most people are more at risk of being assaulted by people who know them. Between 70-80% of all sexual assaults occur at the hands of someone that the victim knows. By nurturing our intuition with awareness we can help others and ourselves to enhance their safety:

Be aware that that it can happen to you or someone you love. Ignoring the reality may further increase the risk.

Be aware that someone may attempt to disrupt your intuitive flow by asking you a question or providing you with information. Often strangers will ask a question like Excuse me, do you know what time it is? “How do I get to route 301 from here? or say something like It sure is hot out here! Your purse is open. Your ride is here. When you allow yourself to begin thinking only, you are not connected to the discomfort of being in the presence of someone you do not know. Maintain a balance of intuition and reasoning.

Be aware of the discomfort that comes with being alone with a person that you do not know well. In the absence of intuition, we tell ourselves that nothing will happen or that we are being silly. Our inner self is right when it informs us that it may take quite awhile before we should feel comfortable enough to trust another person enough to be alone with them.

Be aware that it is dangerous to leave your beverages unattended if you are in the company of persons you do not know and trust well whether male or female.

Trust the voice of your core if you are getting a message that someone is being too controlling. Be aware that it is not safe to be in a position that causes you to be dependent upon another person. Carry a well-charged cell phone and always know whom you can call in a jam.

When communicating your limits and boundaries speak from the core. Speak clearly in short concise statements. Polite statements may be ignored. Make it clear that your decision is not up for discussion.

Be aware that many victims will never share their painful secret with those who might expect that they would. Reassure the people in your life care about that they can come to you if the unfortunate happens and someone assaults them. Children and other loved ones should be assured that you will not blame them and they will not be in trouble if they share secrets with you. Take the time to educate yourself about sexual assault and the effects on the victims, you may need it sooner than you realize.

Be aware that many victims will never share their painful secret with those who might expect that they would. Right now is the time to talk to your loved ones who will be attending college. Maintain ongoing communication with young men as well as young women about safe behavior. Encourage young men to educate themselves about consent and remind them to follow their intuition and not be lured into supporting jokes or situations in which someone may be assaulted.

These points of awareness may help to reduce your risk of sexual assault but may not entirely prevent this violent crime from occurring. It is important to keep in mind that the offender is always to blame and that sexual assault is never the fault of the survivor. No one asks or deserves to be sexually assaulted. If the unfortunate does happen, be aware that help is available.

Sexual assault is non-consensual sexual contact. Women, men and children of all ages can be victimized by sexual assault. A rapist may be a stranger, acquaintance, or relative. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics reported that roughly 18% or 17.7 million women had experienced rape or attempted rape at some point in their lifetime.

Most people are more at risk of being assaulted by people who know them. Between 70-80% of all sexual assaults occur at the hands of someone that the victim knows. By nurturing our intuition with awareness we can help others and ourselves to enhance their safety:

Be aware that that it can happen to you or someone you love. Ignoring the reality may further increase the risk.

Be aware that someone may attempt to disrupt your intuitive flow by asking you a question or providing you with information. Often strangers will ask a question like Excuse me, do you know what time it is? “How do I get to route 301 from here? or say something like It sure is hot out here! Your purse is open. Your ride is here. When you allow yourself to begin thinking only, you are not connected to the discomfort of being in the presence of someone you do not know. Maintain a balance of intuition and reasoning.

Be aware of the discomfort that comes with being alone with a person that you do not know well. In the absence of intuition, we tell ourselves that nothing will happen or that we are being silly. Our inner self is right when it informs us that it may take quite awhile before we should feel comfortable enough to trust another person enough to be alone with them.

Be aware that it is dangerous to leave your beverages unattended if you are in the company of persons you do not know and trust well whether male or female.

Trust the voice of your core if you are getting a message that someone is being too controlling. Be aware that it is not safe to be in a position that causes you to be dependent upon another person. Carry a well-charged cell phone and always know whom you can call in a jam.

When communicating your limits and boundaries speak from the core. Speak clearly in short concise statements. Polite statements may be ignored. Make it clear that your decision is not up for discussion.

Be aware that many victims will never share their painful secret with those who might expect that they would. Reassure the people in your life care about that they can come to you if the unfortunate happens and someone assaults them. Children and other loved ones should be assured that you will not blame them and they will not be in trouble if they share secrets with you. Take the time to educate yourself about sexual assault and the effects on the victims, you may need it sooner than you realize.

Be aware that many victims will never share their painful secret with those who might expect that they would. Right now is the time to talk to your loved ones who will be attending college. Maintain ongoing communication with young men as well as young women about safe behavior. Encourage young men to educate themselves about consent and remind them to follow their intuition and not be lured into supporting jokes or situations in which someone may be assaulted.

These points of awareness may help to reduce your risk of sexual assault but may not entirely prevent this violent crime from occurring. It is important to keep in mind that the offender is always to blame and that sexual assault is never the fault of the survivor. No one asks or deserves to be sexually assaulted. If the unfortunate does happen, be aware that help is available.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tags: Tuition Research

14 new insights reveal how intuition controls the mind

1. The dilemma of control. We did not choose to be born. Not only were we pitched into this strange world without our permission, it has also now been confirmed that we lack even sufficient control over our own actions. To all outward appearances, human beings perceive the world, recognize objects and events, direct attention and even control their bodies. Outwardly, we also have a free will. But, in reality, we were scarcely in charge. Science described the activities of a region called the limbic system, buried deep within the brain. Being a more primitive part of the brain, this region was reported to be the seat of emotions.
2. The limbic system controls. Electrical stimulation of neurons in this region caused you to feel anger, fear, or shame. More often than not, the wide range of feelings and emotions, generated by this region, controlled our actions. Did your wishes, or the limbic system finally decide your actions? This was easily verified. Whenever you wished, could you raise your hand high? Sadly, no. While the hand obeyed your wish while sitting alone in a room, it would be frozen in place in, say, a theatre. Fear of public opinion decided the issue. It was the limbic system, which decided that it was not appropriate. It was the same when you first wished to jump off the high diving board. Fear of falling decided NO! The limbic system made you rigid. There were so many situations, when emotions ruled, while your wishes waited in the wings.
3. The mind and maths. Scientists reported that such responses of the mind occurred within a bare 20 milliseconds. The nervous system processed all available information and commanded the muscles to be frozen in just that span of time. It was a system, which contained over a hundred billion neurons. They processed the information from input to output in just half a second. How was this information processed? For most scientists, neural interactions were computations. Maths, or logic based. But, while the mind was multi-dimensioned, calculations were limited to domain specific problems. Apples could not be added to pears. No formula could compute the loss of a loved one and feel the pain. The mind could deal with diverse dimensions. It could recognize beauty, shame, or affection. It was obvious that the elegance of the mind could not be explained by calculations, or by convoluted reasoning chains. There was a flaw in the maths approach. There was an alternative. Instead of calculating, the nerve cells could be recognizing patterns.
4. Many nerve cells recognize patterns. A vast army of nerve cells recognized signals in the environment. Chemoreceptors in the nose and tongue reported on molecules which provided information on smell and taste. Other receptors were massed together to form sense organs such as the eye and the ear. There were receptors which reported on pressure, touch, pulling and stretching. Every sensation was recognized by specialized mechanisms and converted into nerve impulses. Feelings, those mysterious elements which maddened or enraptured humans, were also patterns of recognized nerve impulses. The fMRI brain scans have reported the firing of feeling impulses in the limbic regions. Patterns of hate and anguish, laughter and disgust. Function specific recognition was the key message for millions of cells.
5. The pattern recognition problem. Could pattern recognition be the basic neural process? Unfortunately, the recognition of patterns was too formidable a task for it to be simulated on computers. The diagnosis of diseases was a typical pattern recognition problem. The obstacle was that many shared symptoms were presented by a multitude of diseases. Pain, or fever were present for many diseases. Each symptom pointed to several diseases. In the customary search, the first selected disease with the first presented symptom could lack the second symptom. So there were back and forth searches, which followed an exponentially expanding trajectory as the database increased in size. That made the process absurdly long drawn theoretically, even years of search, when searching extensive databases. In the light of such an impregnable problem, science did not evaluate pattern recognition as a practical process for the nervous system.
6. Algorithms and Intuition. As against such difficulties, an unusual new book, The Intuitive Algorithm, explains a process, which could instantly recognize patterns. Algorithms, were automatic procedures, which did most things in computers. They were mechanical tools, like gear boxes. You gained a predicted output for a specific input. Algorithms looked as far removed from intuition as a jack hammer from a baby. Because, intuition was a fabled gift, which enabled Einstein to discover relativity, or Mozart to compose beautiful music. But, the Intuitive Algorithm (IA) was different. It acted more like an adding machine, which could smile. The novel capability of IA opened a new world of possibilities in understanding the mind.
7. Instant pattern recognition. IA was unique. In a feat never achieved by computers before, IA could almost instantly diagnose diseases. IA used elimination to narrow down possibilities to reach the correct answer. In essence, IA did not calculate, but used elimination to recognize patterns. IA acted with the speed of a simple recalculation on a spreadsheet, to recognize a disease, identify a case law or diagnose the problems of a complex machine. It did this holistically and almost instantly, through simple, logical steps. IA proved that holistic, instant, real time pattern recognition was practical. IA provided the first clue to the secret of intuition. The website intuition.co.in and the book explain IA in detail.
8. Mind was holistic. Walter Freeman the famous neurobiologist defined the critical difficulty for science in understanding the mind. The cognitive guys think it’s just impossible to keep throwing everything you’ve got into the computation every time. But, that is exactly what the brain does. Consciousness is about bringing your entire history to bear on your next step, your next breath, your next moment. The mind was holistic. It evaluated all its knowledge for the next activity. However large its database, the logic of IA could yield instant pattern recognition. Since that logic was robust and practical, intuition could also be such an instant pattern recognition process. Intuition could then power the mind to instantly recognize an infinite variety of objects and events. Each living moment, it could evaluate the context of a dynamic multi-sensory world and its own vast memories. But, how could data be stored for such instant access?
9. Nerve cells have memories. The next clue to intuition pointed to the nerve cell as a potent recognition machine. The insight related to the recently announced discovery that nerve cells used a code for the recognition of smells. A combinatorial code. That discovery was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2004. It was a code, which recognized smells. But, you needed to remember a smell to recognize it. That memory had to be stored and recalled. And, the book, The Intuitive Algorithm, explained how a combinatorial code logically demanded a memory for combinations. Each nerve cell could remember millions of combinations and respond to recognized patterns. That major discovery also implied that the coding could grant a galactic memory to the nervous system. The secret of human memory was a puzzle sought round the world by thousands of scientists. Yet, massive memories could reside so obviously in the combinatorial codes of nerve cells.
10. Object Recognition. But, how could recognition be organized within this vast, enigmatic, neural circuit? Many scientists favoured the view of the mind as a single collective network. Friston suggested the example of interacting waves in a pond. A stone dropped into the pond affected the whole. According to them, complex internal computations created the intelligence. As opposed to this, medical texts reported that the mind had a hierarchy of intelligences, which performed independent tasks. Each intelligence was separate like the association region that recognized a pair of scissors using the context of its feel. If you injured this region, you could still feel the scissors with your eyes closed, but you would not recognize it as scissors. You still felt the context, but you would not recognize the object. The IA logic could enable a group of nerve cells to evaluate context and recognize. So, intuition could enable nerve cells in association regions to recognize objects. Medical research reported many such recognition regions.
11. Event recognition. Instant pattern recognition was possible. The mind could be a pattern recognition system, which recognized objects and triggered motor outputs. Beyond mere object recognition, the mind could also recognize events. As against static objects, events were dynamic. There were reported cyclic timing networks in the nervous system, which could use IA to recognize events. Just the way a bank computer recognized a fraudulent activity. An event could be a simple verb, such as walk, or a complex idea, say, the achievement of democracy. The massive memories in nerve cells could enable them to recognize intricate events, like war, or a mathematical theory. Thought was the recognition of events. Recognition of the dynamic present from the context of complex remembered patterns. The concept has also been explained in The Intuitive Algorithm.
12. The mind seamless pattern recognition. The the mind was a recognition machine, which instantly recognized the context of its ever changing environment. The system triggered feelings when particular classes of events were recognized. The process was achieved by inherited nerve cell memories accumulated across millions of years. When the mind recognized events, it triggered anger, or fear. And feelings triggered actions. IA could enable a feeling to move a muscle. Actions were sequences of muscle movements. A drive. Drive sequences could be remembered by nerve cells. Feel anger and pull the trigger. A single feeling could trigger a drive. That was how we were driven. So the circuit closed. Half a second for a 100 billion nerve cells to use context to eliminate irrelevance and deliver motor output. The time between the shadow and the scream. So, from input to output, the mind was a seamless pattern recognition machine.
13. Consciousness. Machines were perceived to be clanking mechanical things. If intuition was a pattern recognition algorithm, the mind could be one such machine. But, the reader could protest that we were different. After all, we could see, recognize and feel. We had a free will. But, pattern recognition could explain that too. Science reported that there was a region, which received sensory perceptions, recalled memories, and recognition images from all regions. This region was also known to be able to direct attention. They called these the prefrontal regions, the seat of consciousness. We identified ourselves with that region. The final seat of wisdom, which willed. This was the seat of a superior intelligence. Unfortunately, in spite of an exercise of will, reality persisted. Will, or a more powerful emotion decided. It was the primitive limbic system, which made the final decision. Emotions needed to be stilled so that consciousness could be free to arrive at calm actions. Thus, stilling emotions became the prime objective of sages, across millenniums.
14. Religion and mysticism. The final insight showed the limitations of intuition. This incredibly powerful recognition machine could creatively connect to memories of millions of years of history and even, the divine. Intuition was an elimination algorithm. It was a subconscious process. Creative and mystic inputs were timid and ethereal. Faith and expectation encouraged them, while doubt, or suspicion eliminated them. Inevitably, such a relentless elimination process often set scientific minds at loggerheads with religion and mystic insights. Because science was, by its very analytic nature, suspicious. So, without access to the whole, the wisdom of science was limited.
These ideas, and more, have been suggested in The Intuitive Algorithm, an unusual new book. These conclusions are yet to be accepted by science. It goes against millions of pages of their favourite theories. But the book has a powerful logic, which will ultimately prevail. In the meanwhile, open minds around the world could benefit from its insights.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

At a time when unemployment is high, personal income is flat, and college-level education is a requirement for most well-paying jobs, U.S. public colleges continue to become less affordable for students and families.

According to a recent report on college affordability from The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, state spending for colleges and universities has dropped sharply. The result ? a higher cost for higher education.

Despite serious increases, few states have invested significant financial aid to offset the cost while some have actually decreased student grant aid spending. Today?s families are left to shoulder the worst public, higher education fiscal news in a decade.

However, there is money available for the diligent. Scholarships and grants offered through the private sector are available to help pay increasing tuition cost. Awards, need and merit based, are usually categorized by geographic location, special interest, or major career fields. Since criteria are specific, finding the right award can be tedious- but considering the current economic recession, well worth the effort.

Here?s how to begin a productive grant and scholarship search:

1. Online Search-The Internet has emerged as a key source of scholarship information. The following are a handful of helpful sites.

http://www.wiredscholar.com Wired Scholar has one of the internet?s largest databases of financial aid.

http://www.fastweb.com FastWeb allows you to search 600,000 scholarships worth over $1 billion dollars.

http://www.brokescholar.com The BrokeScholar database matches student profiles with more than 900,000 scholarships worth over $3 billion to find the most relevant and obtainable opportunities. They also feature a personalized deadline calendar.

http://www.collegeboard.com The College Board is a trusted source that offers a search with 2,000 scholarships, internships, and loan programs.

2. Public and School Libraries-While you want to use the Internet for searches; there is a lot of competition. Got to local libraries and check with the reference desk for institutional, and private student aid scholarship directories. Most of the awards listed are duplicated online, but not all. By investing time to thumb through the telephone-directory-sized books you may find one or two the competition will miss.

3. Local Organizations -There is a better chance of winning money from local organizations such as churches, clubs, community groups, and unions since fewer students are likely to apply. Look for local chapters of larger, national organizations that often give money to students living in certain areas.

4. Place of Employment-Employers may also offer grants and scholarships. Inquire at your personnel office. Dependent students should ask their parent or legal guardian to check the availability of awards.

5. Announcements -Keep your eyes open. Take time to read bulletin boards, posters, and articles in newspapers for competition announcements. Some scholarships are episodic and may occur only once.

: Monica Wheeler is a national- award- winning freelance writer, who has helped thousands of parents and students prepare for university admissions. For ?35 Practical Ways to Get Money for College? visit http://www.cashforcollege.bizhosting.com

Tags: Tuition Research

The national average college tuition rate for public universities is $4,694 per year for in state residents. This figure includes both tuition rates and fees for a full time student.

The average college tuition rate at private colleges and universities is around $20,000 per year in tuition and fees.

Many students take advantage of the low tuition rates of two-year public colleges and junior colleges. The average tuition for a two year school is only $2,076 per year.

College Tuition Increase

While it is good to get an idea of the current cost of tuition, it is also important to understand the expected increase in tuition costs. Parents and students who still have several years before entering college should be keenly aware of the projected estimates rather than the current costs so that they can plan accordingly.

Tuition rates increase at about twice the general inflation rate. On average, tuition rates tend to increase about 8% per year. Some academic years see a greater increase than others and many economic factors come into play when a college decides to increase tuition.

For the school year 2005-2006 many colleges dramatically raised tuition rates. An example of such tuition hikes is at the University of Colorado where tuition rates have been raised for all of the system’s campuses. Tuition at the Boulder campus will go up by 27.8 percent, from $3,480 to $4,446. Other University of Colorado campuses will see a similar increase.

And now the good news

Even though college tuition rates increase, more students than ever are benefiting from educational aid programs. According to a report from The College Board, “In 2003-04, the amount the average student actually paid for a public four-year institution, after receiving grant aid and education tax benefits, was about $1,300 per student.”

Government grants such as the pell grant provide funding for many college students. In fact for students who attend two-year colleges the grant award may cover the entire cost of tuition.

Scholarship programs awarded by colleges, businesses and non profit organizations are available to help students defray the cost of college tuition. There are many college scholarship programs available and it is becoming even easier to find these programs with the use of the internet.

With a combination of savings, financial aid, and scholarships many students today are able to afford college tuition and further their education.

About The Author Michael Carter is a contributor at College Financial Aid Guide, an online informational resource for educational funding, scholarships and student loans. Find out about more at: http://www.collegefinancialaidguide.com. (ARA) - The rising cost of tuition has put many families in a bind. A survey conducted by the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges found that tuition at public institutions increased in 37 of the states that responded. In Arizona, California and New York all surveyed schools reported in-state tuition increases of at least 20 percent. Tuition at the State University of New York has increased by 30 percent and at the University of California by as much as 40 percent over last falls levels. While all parents want the best education for their children, financial constraints can be a burden on the long-term investment in their childs education. However, with diligent planning, families can work together to develop solutions to this problem and be able to afford the best education for their children. Ray Loewe, college planning expert and advisory board member for the GE Center for Financial Learning, offers the following tips on college planning and ways to make the transition back to school more affordable. * While tuition costs are on the rise, interest rates for paying back college loans will drop to an all-time low. Its good news to those already paying off loans or who will start paying in the near future. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, someone with $25,000 in debt could save about $5,000 in 20 years if he or she consolidates at this rate. * Students should try and find a part-time job. Jobs offered on a college campus are ideal because employers know from the outset that theyre hiring college students with their irregular schedules, tests and exams. They know that education is a priority and are usually more forgiving as a result. * Many parents think that Saving for College will just disqualify a student from getting financial aid. The actual fact is that income most often keeps students from qualifying for financial aid, not their assets. At the same time saving for education is an investment. * There are four types of financial aid: scholarships, grants, loans and work-study employment. Colleges are not created equal regarding financial aid. Become familiar with your colleges financial aid packages. * Apply for a loan. Loans are financial aid available to both parents and students. They are subsidized by the federal or state government, financial institutions or the college and may have lower interest rates than regular loans. Generally, you do not start paying back these loans until after college graduation. There are many ways to prevent future financial hardships that can arise from paying for education, but having a plan is crucial. Web sites such as the GE Center for Financial Learning (www.financiallearning.com) can help you and your family take action to ensure an easy and trouble-free return to school each semester. Courtesy of ARA Content About the author: Courtesy of ARA Content Tags: Tuition Research ]]> http://tuition-research.com/tuition-research-wp/73178/tuition-free-university-868/feed/ http://tuition-research.com/tuition-research-wp/73177/tuition-answer-loan-808/ http://tuition-research.com/tuition-research-wp/73177/tuition-answer-loan-808/#comments Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:03:07 +0000 Tuition Research http://tuition-research.com/tuition-research-wp/73177/tuition-answer-loan-808/ My weapon - my intuition by: Bruce Hughbanks Copyright 2005, Bruce Hughbanks, Founder / Director / CEO - The Employment Alternative Group My weapon - my intuition! You heard about it everywhere: the prince in the fairy tales mentions it, the characters in your favorite book, the Greek legends bring it up etc. All these situations make you wonder whether intuition is something writers have invented. Could it exist beyond the borders of human imagination? Or, in other words, does intuition exist in real life? Strangely or not, intuition is a characteristic associated mainly with women. That happens probably because women are considered to be more sensitive and open minded. Modern studies, regarding the typology of the personalities, reveal that about a quarter of all women know how and frequently use this mental capacity called intuition. If you still have doubts whether intuition truly exists in real life, think about your own experience. Remember how, all of a sudden a great idea occurred to you in the most unexpected moment, or you discovered, spontaneously, the answer to a question that had been bothered you for quite a while. It also happened to you to run into somebody you know and to guess exactly what the person was about to say; or, also remember that sometimes you think about someone and after a few minutes, that person rings you up. All these examples, which do not seem to follow any logical path, can be explained by using the term intuition. However, we cannot always fallow what our visions or intuitions tell us, because we can’t always afford to be spontaneous and take the risk. Who hasn’t been wrong when following his or her intuition? Sometimes, it turns out exactly the opposite from what we expected it to happen and we discover that in fact, out intuition, was nothing but a fear, a thought that turned out not to be real. We feel very embarrassed at the moment and we don’t dare to trust our instincts anymore, which is precisely something that we should not do. Despite the occasions when you were wrong, you should never totally ignore your intuition, especially if you have a strong feeling about something or somebody. But, what is intuition more exactly? How would specialists describe it? By using our intuition we can say that we let, in a way or another, our mind or soul transmit to the eye those things that cannot be correctly distinguished. Instinct or intuition requires, in the first place, an open mind, capable to receive and transform information. It is also true that intuition helps us perceive meanings beyond logic, read between the lines etc. However, it is important to determine whether intuition has any effects on our everyday lives? Persons who use intuition frequently tend to analyze the possibilities and the effects certain actions might have, and they end up with a multitude of options, out of which they chose the most favorable one. There are two types of intuition: the one based on reason, typical for the persons who try to dominate the capacity of understanding, controlling and predicting the reality; and the intuition based on affection, representative for the persons recognized by the others as energy sources, as they influence in a positive manner all the people around them. Let’s not forget that intuition is, indeed, a real and positive characteristic, but nevertheless it must be combined with judgment and reason. About The Author Bruce Hughbanks is Dedicated to the Success of Business Minded Entrepreneurs World Wide. His In-Depth Views, Techniques and Dedication to helping others is second to none. Contributed to the Advancement of Internet Marketing Success, Copywriting and Joint Venture Affiliations. Find out how he can help you: http://www.ProfitZilla.com (Another TeagINC Network Production) Friends and Family Should be Priority! Experience True Freedom! The Employment Alternative Group http://www.TheEmploymentAlternativeGroup.com

Intuition was a wonderful gift. It was also an awful curse. By instantly recognizing patterns, intuition was nature’s vital tool for survival. Life ceaselessly faced a train of unlimited choices and, often, baffling problems. These demanded instant decisions. An animal could not remain undecided, whether to drink water, or to eat grass. Should it be aggressive and fight, run away, or relax and accept the situation? It was intuition, which interpreted events to trigger emotions. Anger made them aggressive. Fear made them retreat. And familiarity supported relaxation. Each emotion eliminated groups of thoughts. If fighting was the option, amicable thoughts did not fit. If the decision was to cut and run, it was useless to marshal one’s militant strengths. The intuitive process eliminated mental activity, which did not fit the chosen course of action. Sadly, this elimination process was also the biggest weakness of the system.

Each emotion set off a focused drive seeking solutions. Anger, fear, or friendliness triggered competing drives. Intuition focused each drive by eliminating views that did not fit its compulsive focus. Anger eliminated amicable memories. Fear lost sight of fighting strengths. As any situation evolved, the emotional strengths of these partisan drives varied. Opposing emotions competed for control. Intuition acted in the emotional center, the limbic system, to select the most powerful emotion, which then ruled. If it was anger, it pulled the trigger. When the choice was made, the process inhibited competing drives, with contrary feelings. Opposing views were largely lost to consciousness.

Across species, fear dictated an escape drive, which sought safety. A deer bounded away. A bird took flight. A fish swam off. While the activities of running, flying and swimming differed, it was the drive, which achieved the objective of escaping. Each drive evaluated experience and the environment. Escape was hardly possible by heading into the predator. Getting away demanded evaluation of many escape routes, including slipping into a safe sanctuary, inaccessible to the predator. Like the underside of a rock. Drives involved a search of multiple contexts to uncover the right answer. While intuitive drives usually delivered the answer instantly, some drives failed to uncover solutions.

Modern life offered few speedy answers. Senior positions had added problems. The higher the position, more the solutions needed for the myriad problems faced by a venture. Intuition, driven by emotions, was the creative force, which delivered answers. Hidden from view, drives constantly sought solutions. While one problem was consciously evaluated, subconscious drives continued search processes to solve other issues. Since, anger, fear or jealousy powered such searches, they often sought to achieve conflicting objectives. These hidden emotions troubled the mind, creating distressing internal conflicts. Sadly, this was the negative face of intuition, standing in the way of achieving peace of mind.

Conflicting viewpoints surged in the subconscious. How could they be integrated? In a harsh and unforgiving world, how could a multitude of clashing drives be graciously focused? How could the mind be stilled? Across the ages, many solutions were offered to focus the mind and still conflicts. Meditation, chanting and breathing routines were found to be beneficial. But, those practices treated the symptom, not the problem. The long term solution was to quiet the internal battles of these competing drives. All knowledge and experience lived within. These same drives were powerful search processes, which could delve deep, to deliver answers. Unique new insights and solutions waited to be discovered.

Drives provided windows into the mind. It was a drive, which assisted in the preparation of a simple shopping list. It searched memory and current context to deliver, line by line, a list of all the items you needed to buy. By contextually searching the mind, drives could be made to play a valuable, creative role. When particularly burdened by a problem, drives could draw out a list of one’s deepest concerns. With its sort facility, a spreadsheet could be used to list and comprehend the turmoils of the mind. The routine could begin by listing, line by line, different aspects of a problem, as it came to mind. Each, a short entry in a single cell of the spread sheet. It may have just begun with, say, “Feel awful” and gone on down. That was the first thought. Many conflicting emotions surged in the background. Each line would sum up a single feeling and its concern. It could be “Negative departmental report” Or, it could be just a hunch. “David will support me.” The worst fears were noted down. “Mortgage payments.” And the common sense thoughts. “This too will pass.”

Writing a list was a calming process. The questioning drive helped still the mind. Differing viewpoints were noted down. These views would arrive in conspicuous sequence. Each entry brought one viewpoint into consciousness - into the general view of isolated and competing drives. Sensible viewpoints would normally have been eliminated from view by angry emotions. Typically, about 60 odd entries would empty the mind of every related thought. Entering opposing viewpoints usually brought balance. The inquiry process stilled background turmoil. The most critical part of this process came next.

A label was entered for each line in an adjacent cell on the spreadsheet. “Fear,” “Opportunity”, or even “Unlikely” could be the labels. With every aspect already considered, it was easier to label an entry. Each label fitted a few more entries. The picture slowly cleared. Underground fears surfaced. Solutions emerged. The closing of one door usually opened another. Those 60 entries would fit a dozen or so categories. A “sort” of the labels column would arrange similar ones together, in alphabetic order. Listing similarly labeled ideas together would bring clarity. They became groups of consistent, allied thoughts. The sorted spreadsheet list integrated the mind.

Isolated drives were forced into the open and a balanced view emerged. Viewed together, “Unlikely” put a label on needless worries. The less likely outcomes could be ignored. The inevitable ones had to be accepted. That left you with the actions you could take. “Opportunities” formed the basis for a future plan. The rest of the list just climbed off your chest. Another threatening issue would have been acknowledged, accepted and foreseen. The spreadsheet evaluation balanced the mind and stilled hidden anxieties and conflicts. Lifted burdens. Anger and fear, love and altruism cooperated to search for solutions which met all the concerns of the mind. With the power of intuition, an integrated mind became the most creative force in the world.

About the Author

Abraham Thomas is the author of The Intuitive Algorithm, a book, which suggests that intuition is a pattern recognition algorithm. The ebook version is available at www.intuition.co.in. The book may be purchased only in India. The website, provides a free movie and a walk through to explain the ideas.

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Since early 2001, I have been living a dream–a vision–that surfaced from using my intuition. By tuning into my inner guidance, I was able to build a national organization for women writers in just over 4 years that currently has over 11,000 newsletter subscribers and over 2,700 members (as of 2005). When I first came up with the idea to start the National Association of Women Writers (NAWW), I was a suburban mother of three small children who had a somewhat bold dream to connect and support other women writers like myself.

Intuition can be defined as a quick and ready insight. This insight can steer you on a correct path, warn you of danger, and/or connect you to your creativity. In Shakti Gawain’s book, Developing Intuition, she describes how “the most successful people are often very intuitive. Consciously or unconsciously, they follow their gut feelings. Following intuition puts us in the flow–a very alive, productive, and desirable state.”

Developing your intuition allows you the ability to not have to look to others to give you strength or to teach you what they know. Using your intuition allows you the ability to look internally, find the answers and the strength to be bold and act on your inner guidance.

Accessing your intuition is like many other creative activities you might engage. As you string together words or put paint on a canvas, you must listen and pay attention to these mental insights. They allow you to keep moving forward. The more you trust these insights, the more your craft will improve. Of course, you must add liberal amounts of perseverance and some organizational skills as well, but the end results will pay off as you see your dreams and goals come to fruition.

Following are five suggestions for developing and accessing your intuition so that you may find, follow, and fulfill your dream! Continually use these techniques to make decisions and reach goals.

ONE: REFLECT ON LESSONS ALREADY LEARNED

You must reflect to process information. In February 2000, I had just given birth to my third child and finished my MA in Organizational Management. At 30 years old, I was at a crossroad and in a position to finally pursue a career I loved. I just had to figure out what it was. For seven months I read about and researched different subjects that I was interested in, such as women’s issues, writing, and business startups. I journaled a great deal during this time, reflecting on the past and looking towards the future. I came to understand through this process that I wanted to use my social work experience, my love of writing, and my organizational management skills. While intuition led me during those months to make these decisions, journaling helped me to document the insights and focus along the way.

TWO: GET BACK TO NATURE

Developing your intuition requires the absence of chaos. It is impossible to fully listen to this inner guidance with all the interruptions that occur in our lives. To tune in to your intuition, to succeed, you have to get away from the chaos. For me, I jog or walk outside at least 30 minutes each day. Nature provides me with just the right sounds and scenery for my intuitive senses to come alive. I make this activity a priority in my life because this quiet time calms my soul, supports my creativity, and gives me the mental space I need to tune into my inner yearnings. I have used my “getting back to nature” time for over five years to make crucial business decisions and to figure out many pivotal solutions to roadblocks in my personal and business lives. Nature is the perfect prescription for anything that ails you. Experiencing the solitude that nature provides is a form of meditation that calms the soul and purges the stress from your life.

THREE: TRUST YOURSELF

Understand that most people usually act on impulses and societal cues. Those who slow down and pay attention to their own inner guidance find that they can think clearly and make difficult decisions. When my close friends and family were not supportive of my new dream, they would often say negative things. They honestly weren’t trying to be mean spirited, but simply could not visualize how I could possibly succeed at building an organization from scratch with three small children to care for. Past lessons taught me I was on the right path. I had done enough research and my strengthened intuition faithfully guided me through the difficult times. Another benefit of learning to trust yourself is that you will also nurture your self-confidence and build your self-esteem in the process.

FOUR: BLOCK OUT NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AND PEOPLE

Once you begin to trust yourself, you will inevitably have to start blocking out the negativity of others. Some of this negativity will come from loved ones. It is human nature for people to negate things and events they do not understand or have no personal experience with. Change causes stress and many people subconsciously dismiss new ideas because it makes them feel more comfortable to do so. One of the most important steps you will have to take to reach any goal is to be able to block out and/or redirect negativity. You have to trust yourself to be able to do this. The time you spend in nature will help you to purge the toxic feedback from others out of your mind and out of your life. Everyone that was close to me did not understand nor share in my dream in the beginning. Only after they started to see my dream materialize did they begin to support it. That is why it is essential to block out or at least filter the negativity. Understanding the cause of these behaviors and reactions makes it easier to dismiss them and to follow your own (more in tune) thoughts instead.

FIVE: ACT

The last and most important suggestion I can give you for developing intuition is to be bold and to act on the inner cues that are being sent to you as mental/emotional/spiritual signals or urges. Developing intuition is a cyclical process and, like any other innate talent, you must act on it to further develop it. Often we are drawn to people, subjects, and events through our intuition. I was drawn to establish the NAWW because I like to help people as evidenced by my obtaining a bachelor degree in social work. I have always used writing as a tool to heal and express myself. And lastly, I have always been an entrepreneur–even in the first grade when I made my own address books and sold them at school for 10 cents each. When my intuitive side sent the messages of what to do to start the NAWW, I listened. I acted by researching my competition (other writing associations), by asking my customers (my women writer colleagues) what they wanted, and by building a website and starting the official weekly newsletter. I acted quickly. In less than two months from the moment I conceived the idea of the National Association of Women Writers, the website and newsletter were born. My “baby” continues to grow and mature at a healthy rate.

When you continually use these five suggestions to develop your intuition and to test your inner guidance, you will find that it will become easier to make decisions and to live peacefully with those decisions. Your life won’t automatically become problem-free, but you will begin trusting in the ultimate outcome of events as working in your favor for the future. By filtering through the physical and subliminal cues inside and all around you, you will learn to develop your intuition and succeed.

About the Author

Sheri McConnell is the President of the National Assn. of Women Writers (www.NAWW.org). She helps women writers and entrepreneurs discover, create, and profit from their intellectual knowledge! Free reports available with subscription to NAWW Weekly. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband Seth and their 4 children. Contact her at: naww@onebox.com or her toll free number at 866-821-5829.

Have you ever used your intuition to solve problems? Can you trust your intuition? Can you improve it?

Have you ever used your intuition to solve problems? Can you trust your intuition? Can you improve it?

What Is Intuition?

Intuition is simply a feeling , sense, or hunch based on information not available to your conscious mind. Some say this comes from the ether or wherever, but I’m content to believe that our minds have a lot more going on in there than we know.

How can Gary Kasparov win a chess game against a computer that can calculate positions many moves further ahead than he can? By using his intuitive grasp of the game. His experience allows him to combine analysis with a “sense” of which move is best.

Intuition can also warn us. My wife and I felt we shoudn’t get on that bus in South America. We knew crowded busses were prime hunting grounds for pickpockets, and we saw the drunk man bumping into people. We didn’t think about these things consciously, but they registered in our minds, and warned us. We ignored our intuition, and I was robbed.

Of course, you can have a hunch for irrelevant reasons too. If you were hit by a taxi as a child, you might have “intuitive” hunches not to get into taxis for the rest of your life. So how do you know when to trust your intuition?

Three Simple Steps To Better Intuition

1. Watch for it. You’ll have hunches and ideas more often. I bought a conversion van, and now I see them all over. Have you had a similar experience? The same process will happen if you watch for your intuition - you’ll start to see more of it.

2. Question it. If I had asked myself why I felt bad about that bus, I might have thought, “Oh yeah, crowded busses are a bad idea. I know that.” Try to see in which areas your intuition works best, or not at all. If, for example, your hunches about people are always wrong, don’t follow them.

3. Give it good information. Your skill, knowledge and experience determine the potential effectiveness of your intuition. A weak chess player will never intuitively beat that computer. So learn enough about a subject, before you expect any good hunches. Remember the programmer’s maxim: garbage in - garbage out.

Do these three things and you’ll have more useful intuition more often.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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