Tiger Woods' Masters First Round: What Will Be The Biggest Distraction?

Tiger Woods returns to golf Thursday afternoon at 1:42 PM Eastern Time. The competition is sure to be a pressure-packed event: Woods is making his highly scrutinized comeback on golf's biggest stage, the Masters. After enduring five calamitous months, there are an untold number of distractions he will face. Scroll down to see the biggest ones. Which will be his biggest obstacle?

The Neighbor's Young Daughter

In a bombshell report that dropped just one day before the Masters was set to begin, a new claim emerged that Woods bedded the then-21-year-old daughter of a neighbor in Florida. The pair may have had sex in Woods' nearby office.

The Dirty Texts

Woods reportedly sent explicit text messages to at least several of his alleged mistresses. His steamy exchanges with Jaimee Grubbs were the first to be made public. He allegedly called another possible mistress a "wh--e" in a text, and he apparently told his latest alleged lover, "I want to f--- you." And, of course, nobody who read the extremely graphic messages he purportedly sent to a porn star mistress will be forgetting them anytime soon.

The 'Porn Queen'

Devon James only recently stepped forward to claim a past relationship with Woods. In addition to her work in sex films, James may be employed as an escort. She says she had "dirty" sex with Tiger.

The Panicked Voicemail

While it was left many months ago, just before his post-Thanksgiving car crash, Woods' bizarre voicemail to a Las Vegas lover exposed a vulnerable, rattled side to the golfer that his competitors may have never seen before.

The Alleged Ex-Lover-Turned-Stripper

Porn star Joslyn James has blasted Tiger at every opportunity. While Tiger is golfing in Augusta, James will strip in nearby Atlanta. Her show's promotional material leaves little to the imagination.

The Playboy Model

Playboy model and escort Loredana Jolie has been called "one of [Tiger's] favorites." She is planning a book that will spill the beans on Woods' alleged sexual encounters with men. Jolie also proved herself to be unafraid to compare Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan's performance in the bedroom.

The Rumored Sex Tape

In early December, when new alleged mistresses were popping up left and right, it was rumored that a Tiger Woods audio sex recording existed. In January, a porn CEO said he was reviewing a video marketed to him as a Tiger Woods sex tape.

The British Booty

The News of the World reported that Woods had "awesome" sex with British mother-of-two Emma Rotherham. A source said Tiger "couldn't keep his eyes off her butt" and he "loved to see her in black stockings and suspenders."

The First Lover

Rachel Uchitel was the first woman outed by the National Enquirer, days before Woods crashed his SUV in Florida. Woods reportedly emailed her once to say that "I finally found someone I connect with." An Enquirer source called Uchitel a "celebrity whore."

The Sex Fantasies

A Playboy model who says she slept with Tiger called Woods' sex fantasies "not normal." A leaked email, meanwhile, suggests that Tiger fantasized about alleged lover Rachel Uchitel having a star-studded threesome with Derek Jeter and Bones star David Boreanaz.

The Cougar

Theresa Rogers has been described as a "cougar" who allegedly boasted that she taught Tiger "everything he needed to know to be a great lover." She reportedly conceived a baby while she was seeing Woods, but an article suggests she believes the father is a Serbian basketball player she was also seeing at the time. According to another article, Woods told Rogers that he only married Elin Nordegren to boost his image. The 40-something Rogers may have negotiated a payoff in exchange for her silence.

The OTHER Porn Star

Holly Sampson is a porn star (NSFW pictures, video) whose films include Descent Into Bondage and Diary of a Horny Housewife. She may have worked as an escort (NSFW) and appeared in a video in which she describes her "amazing" sex with Tiger Woods. In another article, she spoke about the "sensual, beautiful experience."

The Restaurant Manager

Mindy Lawton, a 34-year-old former restaurant manager, says she met Woods at her workplace and that they had sex in a range of locations -- including a parking lot, a shower and Tiger's garage.

Jaimee Grubbs

24-year-old Jaimee Grubbs reportedly had a 31-month affair with Woods. Since being named as one of the golfer's alleged lovers, Grubbs has not hesitated to strip down for the world to see.

Jamie Jungers

Las Vegas blonde Jamie Jungers says she and Tiger had sex the night his father died. (The same father who is now in a new Nike advertisement with Woods.) She describes her sex with Tiger as "wild" and "crazy" and against a wall. Jungers allegedly worked as a stripper.

Julie Postle

Julie Postle allegedly met Woods when she worked as a cocktail waitress in Orlando. Tiger was reportedly "obsessed" with Postle and "really hunted" her. She was also photographed in a bikini.

The Ecstasy Companion

Susie Ogren says she took ecstasy with Tiger and he hoped "to get me into bed."

Elin

Tiger's wife Elin Nordegren was spotted without her wedding ring just two weeks (and numerous mistresses) after Tiger's car crash. The Swedish former model has maintained a low profile since her husband's scandal began, but she has made occasional public appearances. She will not be attending the Masters this weekend.

Shroud Of Turin Going Back Up Before The Public

Turin, Italy : The long linen with the faded image of a bearded man is the object of centuries-old fascination and wonderment, and closely kept under wrap. Starting Saturday, and for six weeks, both the curious and those convinced the Turin Shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ can have a brief look.

By late Friday, 1.5 million people had reserved their three-to-five-minute chance to gaze at the cloth, which is kept in a bulletproof, climate-controlled case. Organizers said earlier this year they hoped some 2 million pilgrims and tourists would see the linen during the special viewing from April 10 to May 23.

That number doesn't include Pope Benedict XVI, who will fly up to Turin, Piedmont's capital, in northwest Italy, on May 2 for a day trip to pray before the shroud.

Traditionally, the public gets a peek at the 14-foot-long, 3.5-foot-wide (4.3-meter-long, 1 meter-wide) cloth only once every 25 years. But recent decades have seen much shorter intervals. The shroud went on display in 1998 after a 20-year-wait and then in 2000 during Millennium celebrations.

Church officials resisted putting the cloth on display when tourists poured into Turin in 2006 for the Winter Olympics. But, as city officials recently put it, in a nod to the "importance to the economy and employment" of this city that is automaker Fiat's hometown, they allowed that is being billed as the "first showing of the new millennium."

Since the linen's previous showing a decade earlier, restorers have removed patches sewn on by nuns in 1534, two years after a fire damaged the case then holding the it, Shroud Museum director Gian Maria Zaccone said in an interview with Associated Press Television News.

Taking off the patches allowed the linen to be fully extended and let restorers smooth out creases in what for centuries had been a rolled-up cloth, making for what restorers hope will be better preservation.

"A challenge to the intelligence" is how John Paul II defined the cloth in 1998 when he journeyed to Turin to view it. In a major papal pronouncement about the shroud, the late pope asked experts to study it without preconceptions using "scientific methodology" while keeping in mind the "sensibility of the faithful."

His balanced instruction reflected a Vatican tiptoe around the issue of just what the cloth is, calling it a powerful symbol of Christ's suffering while making no claim on its authenticity.

A Vatican researcher said late last year that faint writing on the linen, which she studied through computer-enhanced images, proves the cloth was used to wrap Jesus' body after his crucifixion.

But experts stand by carbon-dating of scraps of the cloth that determine the linen was made in the 13th or 14th century in a kind of medieval forgery. That testing didn't explain how the image of the shroud – of a man with wounds similar to those suffered by Christ – was formed.

However, some have suggested the dating results might have been skewed by contamination and called for a larger sample to be analyzed.

Among those in Turin on Friday for the start of the viewings this weekend was Antonio Lambatti, a professor of Christian history at the University of Parma, who describes himself as a skeptic.

"In my judgment, it's a fake," Lambatti told APTN. He cited historical research, specifically a declaration by a church official in 1355 that the cloth was a "representation" of the original cloth.

But the fascination about the shroud "goes beyond history and archaeology," Lambatti acknowledged. "It implies a choice of faith."

Besides the 16th-century blaze, the cloth has had other brushes with disasters, including a 1997 fire in the cathedral.

It also might have survived the covetous clutches of Hitler.

In the early weeks of World War II, the cloth was secretly whisked from its resting place in the cathedral to a monastery in Montevergine in the southern Apennine mountains, recalled Rev. Andrea Davide Cardin, director of Montevergine's state library.

"It wasn't so much that Hitler was looking for it, but that the Nazi hierarchy wanted it as a symbol of power, of omnipotence," Cardin said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press in Rome.

Because of a friendship between the monastery's chief abbot and the Savoys, the Piedmont royal family, long custodian of the shroud, Montevergine was chosen for safekeeping, and a hiding place carved in a wooden altar in a chapel of the abbey, Cardin said.

"During the war, no one knew it was there, except for the Victor Emmanuel III (then king of Italy), the head abbot and the Vatican secretary of state," he said.

The shroud was returned to Turin's cathedral in 1946, after the war's end, Cardin said. "What would have happened if, instead of entrusting it to the Benedictine monks of Montevergine, it was entrusted to the monks of Monte Cassino?" Cardin said, saying he was quoting a 1946 letter from then Turin Cardinal Maurilio Fossati in tribute to the shroud's survival.

The Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) to the northwest, was heavily bombed by the Allies in 1944, and many Savoy family documents about the shroud that were placed there for safekeeping during the war were destroyed, Cardin said.

Horse Racing's Finest Fans Turn Out For Ladies Day

AIR and Lingo Bubble

By David Buhril


I was a little boy when my mother narrated a story about a family in feud over the color of a necklace they dreamt of buying. All the members of the family wanted different colors, which severely divided the family’s cord even before they could buy their dream necklace.

Neighbors eventually had to intervene to stop the quarrel that was already progressing into a fight.

Despite the differences, the family could only be grounded by the fact that they did not even have the money to buy the necklace. My mother’s message to us was to be grounded and never to fight.

That was then. However, as I was going through the ongoing debates/discussion/comments that is doing the rounds in many of our exploding websites on the issue of AIR link language, I was reminded of my mother’s parable. Thought-terminating clichés murdering rational discussion.

Ranting like demented Othello. We surrender our moral autonomy to the growing Paris- like heroes of Troy who are diluting our reason in dealing with the already prickly subject. It is true that “we are cursed not by a cultural divide but by mutual cultural self-destruction”.

However, we must remind ourselves to shed the empty rhetoric’s that could invade our peace, which is our biggest resource. Once again, this reflects a breakdown of us. However, we should not allow their cheers for adversity invade all our valuable spaces to drown into the All India Radio link language issue. Please tell them that we have bled enough. We cannot afford to allow us to be another comfortably numb sacrificial lamb. We cannot feed ourselves with those raw fodders that could gnaw our peace into pieces.

Besides the supposed confronting actors (read: Hmar, Kuki and Paite), the concerned authorities ought to be sensitive to the issue as it is not just a spat. We have also allowed ourselves to go off the limits. Imagine this: Leaders of a particular community even went to the extent of becoming a forger, forging the signature of one of the presidents of another community, to expedite their interest. It is shameful that we have lost our integrity. If we care to retreat and take a peek of our current past, we cannot help but say that the ongoing debate is not merely about securing a link in the almost archaic All India Radio programme. Ethno-centrism and cultural prejudice is already tuning the cadence and temper of our debate, which is why we are all braying like the blinds who encountered the elephant. We are all right in our respective interpretation of everything. But I am ashamed. We never get to hear the elephant’s version. It must have said how blind and narrow we all are. It must have pained his animal instinct in seeing the unplough human reason trapped within us.

I think we all suffer from an incurable acute form of cultural supremacy complex, despite the blurred, but collective history. We share the German idea of “leading culture”, believes in war, armament, and other inconveniences that could reduce our humane existence. We make ourselves believed that we possessed the classical language of science, poetry, philosophy, music, etc. That could be one of the reasons that almost explode our chest as we sit behind the comfort of wall in urban jungles and burst mindlessly in front of black keyboard and glowing screen. But I have made myself believed that if all our love songs were on air with a stain of blood; I would rather choose to do without the bloody air breathing alive on the radio.

On the other hand, the cultural argument could be a mirror to reflect the intense feeling of political bitterness, enmity and victimization felt towards one another. The hyper-consciousness of our little explosive mindset that we all shelved within us, is actually driving us to forget the collective suffering of our own people wherever we are. Our marginalized state under Manipur Government with the absence of any basic facilities (health, education, infrastructure, etc.) and the failure of democracy and decentralisation, the “Chinese” or “Chinky” that we are called, and all the sour treatments as “others” outside our neglected homes, never seem to weave us together for that still absent union or realization. Are we just the blot of the scar?

We all know how the AIR project was stalled. Many of us were just growing up then. But the disease has recruited more victims. Sometimes I wonder what the role of our divisive politicians and bureaucrats would be in this matter, in their quest of erecting a hero-tombstone by conveniently exploiting our stinking divisions in the name of that elusive “nation” and its “glory”. Eventually, it is us, the common people who sacrifice and suffer, to further quench their thirst and hunger for that already overdosed power and glory, which they quest for more. Pandering behind them, the multiplying tribe based organizations and actors sought their own crown by fielding their innocent people who could go hungry and deprive anytime. I think we have given too much for that vain quest where nothing trickles down for us. For Paris blunder, thousands died for the “nation and land”. Remember we are not here on earth to re-live the battle of Troy. Forget the sick demagogues. Let us stop their destructive power-game.

We cannot forget our realities in the small landscape of Manipur’s Churachandpur district. The colonial divide and rule policy had divided and “scheduled” all of us equally as “tribe”. Their seed of divisions were further oiled by their ignorance of our collectivity and emphasizing on our dialect/language that further fragmented us. When shall we realize the sick game? Forgetting everything, we sell and surrender ourselves like desperate prostitutes who even failed to wear protection in such vulnerable times. We clap with thunder as long as it fulfils our sordid quest. After the great division, the controversial project cannot be isolated, but has to be seen as a government’s experiment to further plumb the society by pitting demagogues ordained confrontationists. We are mere victims of hollow clichés.

While saying that the AIR project cannot be isolated, it is, again, important for us to see the entire developments from the perspective of the Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT). The theory attempts to explain social movements by viewing individuals as rational actors that are engaged in instrumental actions that use formal organizations to secure and aggregate resources and foster mobilization (McCarthy and Zald, 1987). In a communally divided society, the “instrumental actions” of any “rational actors” is always discounted and interpreted as an attempt to incur resource for a minority by leaving out the greater collective. This is when the concerned authorities ought to be sensitive to the complex developments.

As it is visible, the aspirations of the engaged actors is to secure a win-win situation respectively. Knowing this, policy maker’s need to walk that extra mile to explore ways and means to make the existing laws flexible and inclusive to accommodate conflicting interests. Imposing an archaic legislation without opening up space for necessary change that could, otherwise, stir constructive collective participation and foster peace and unity, would merely point to the absence of any democratic process. What if we collectively pursue that pursuit and widen the content of existing policies, terms and conditions that are already taming our recognized divisions. That would inevitably allow us to aspire for a fertile avenue where every language/dialect is evenly accommodated.

On the part of the government, instead of waiting and designing to plant the old seed of discord in a communally dormant society, it will do good to everyone if they could grow out of their stagnant boxes and devise an empowering strategy in the form of community radio that is already building healthy communities in different parts of the country. If policy makers/decision makers could not adopt new workable strategies and policies, it is high time they realize that their mugging-up of history and geography to score marks for significant post is already an outdated leverage that only act to polish their matrimonial column. It is high time they stop their pandering role as watchdog of repressive government policies. They ought to be responsible for any outcome of their insufficient policies, rules and conditions. They should also be responsible for their silence. Let them know that their experiment is not an intellectual drama tuned to a Shakespearean history play. Otherwise, Shakespeare also believed that the debasement of language, which is a prelude to violence, is the curse of modernity. Let them not invite a Shakespearean tragedy out of their adventurous weakness.

And us, who are always seeking that elusive chaff of power and glory in everything, we are living the pain of that vain painted veil. I’d rather choose a clean, unpolluted air in a distant corner and not one clogged by AIR airwaves with innocent stains of my own brothers and sisters. Let everything happen for good. For virtue. For Progress. For Peace. For Unity. For justice.

Rail Link From Manipur to Vietnam on Cards: Tharoor

Sinlung Says: Not sure if Tharoor is serious or just one of those Cattle Class dialogues, if this is a plan in the pipeline, it really give hope and we surely believe Northeast India will shine brighter than its mainland counterparts….But that where the Crux is…Does the India govenrment really want Northeast to develop?

Shillong, Apr 10 : As part of initiatives to improve connectivity between Northeast India and Southeast Asia, the government is considering a rail link from Manipur to Vietnam, Union minister Shashi Tharoor today said.

"Efforts are underway to have a rail link from Jiribham (close to the Assam border) to Hanoi in Vietnam passing through Myanmar," Tharoor told a seminar 'From Land Locked to Land Linked: Northeast India in BIMSTEC' here.

The Union minister of state for external affairs said improved connectivity between the Northeast and the Southeast Asian countries will not only help the region to discover a larger market, but also will integrate India with the those countries.

"The Asian Highway Network which is being coordinated through the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific office in Bangkok, envisages a comprehensive network of roads connecting the countries of Asia. There is separately an East-West Highway Project running from Vietnam through to Myanmar, through which India could get access to all mainland Southeast Asian countries," he said.

He underlined that from India's perspective, the Trilateral Highway Project between India, Myanmar and Thailand, was very critical. "The project is under construction. Thailand and India in fact have completed construction of the link roads on either sides," he said.

According to Tharoor, some portions of the internal road connectivity in Myanmar remains to be completed and that country has requested for grants and funding to enable this project to be completed which will eventually link the Northeast to the East West Highway and the Asian Highway Network.

The requests, he said, are under consideration of both India and Thailand.

"We are also working on enhancing digital connectivity with the Southeast Asian region. An optical fibre cable link between Morek in Manipur and Mandalay in Myanmar is being set up," he said.

Joint Committee Suggested to Fight Manipur Child Trafficking

Imphal, Apr 10 : To stop frequent child trafficking in Manipur, an NGO working on child and women rights in the Northeast has suggested setting up of a 'joint committee' of government officials and NGOs.

''It is becoming increasingly difficult to detect cases of child trafficking in the districts of Manipur,'' a spokesperson for the Shillong-based Impulse NGO Network (INN), Hashina Kharbinh, said.

INN is the nodal agency fighting against human trafficking in the Northeast.

Kharbinh, who was here recently, said there was an urgent need for a collective network of NGOs in the state as well as districts to seriously tackle the problem and felt that accountability of the Manipur government in addressing the issue was of prime importance.

Claiming that religious institutions are involved in most cases of child trafficking, she said most of the children landed unregistered children's homes in other states, particularly Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

On the pretext of providing education and jobs, these religious institutions take advantage of the trust reposed on them by the parents of the children.

How to Improve Yourself With 42 Practical Tips

Are you someone who likes to grow? Do you constantly seek to improve yourself and become better?

If you do, then we have something in common. I’m very passionate about personal growth. It was just 4 years ago when I discovered my passion for growing and helping others grow. At that time, I was 22 and in my final year of university. As I thought about the meaning of life, I realized there was nothing more meaningful than to pursue a life of development and betterment. It is through improving ourselves that we get the most out of life.

After 1.5 years of actively pursuing growth and helping others to grow through my personal development blog, I realize there is never an end to the journey of self improvement. The more I grow, the more I realize there is so much out there I don’t know, so much that I have to learn. For sure, there is always something about ourselves we can improve on. The human potential is limitless, so it’s impossible to reach a point of no growth. Whenever we think we are good, we can be even better.

As a passionate advocate of growth, I’m continuously looking for ways to self-improve. I’ve compiled 42 of my best tips which might be helpful in your personal growth journey. Some of them are simple steps which you can engage in immediately. Some are bigger steps which takes conscious effort to act on. Here they are:

1. Read a book every day. Books are concentrated sources of wisdom. The more books you read, the more wisdom you expose yourself to. What are some books you can start reading to enrich yourself? Some books I’ve read and found useful are Think and Grow Rich, Who Moved My Cheese, 7 Habits, The Science of Getting Rich and Living the 80/20 Way. I’ve heard positive reviews for The Tipping Point, Outliers and The Difference Maker, so I’ll be checking them out soon.
   
2. Learn a new language. As a Singaporean Chinese, my main languages are English, Mandarin and Hokkien (a Chinese dialect). Out of interest, I took up language courses in the past few years such as Japanese and Bahasa Indonesian. I realized learning a language is a whole new skill altogether and the process of acquainting with a new language and culture is a totally a mind-opening experience.
   
3. Pick up a new hobby. Beyond just your usual favorite hobbies, is there something new you can pick up? Any new sport you can learn? Examples are fencing, golf, rock climbing, football, canoeing, or ice skating. Your new hobby can also be a recreational hobby. For example, pottery, Italian cooking, dancing, wine appreciation, web design, etc.  Learning something new requires you to stretch yourself in different aspects, whether physically, mentally or emotionally.
   
4. Take up a new course. Is there any new course you can join? Courses are a great way to gain new knowledge and skills. It doesn’t have to be a long-term course – seminars or workshops serve their purpose too. I’ve been to a few workshops and they have helped me gain new insights which I had not considered before.
   
5. Create an inspirational room. Your environment sets the mood and tone for you. If you are living in an inspirational environment, you are going to be inspired every day. In the past, I didn’t like my room at all because I thought it was messy and dull. A few years ago, I decided this was the end of it – I started on a “Mega Room Revamp” project and overhauled my room. The end result? A room I totally relish being in and inspires me to be at my peak every day.
   
6. Overcome your fears. All of us have fears. Fear of uncertainty, fear of public speaking, fear of risk… All our fears  keep us in the same position and prevent us from growing. Recognize that your fears reflect areas where you can grow. I always think of fears as the compass for growth. If I have a fear about something, it represents something I’ve yet to address, and addressing it helps me to grow.
   
7. Level up your skills. If you have played video games before especially RPGs, you’ll know the concept of leveling up – gaining experience so you can be better and stronger. As a blogger, I’m constantly leveling up my writing skills. As a speaker, I’m constantly leveling up my public engagement abilities. What skills can you level up?
   
8. Wake up early. Waking up early (say, 5-6am) has been acknowledged by many (Anthony Robbins, Robin Sharma, among other self-help gurus) to improve your productivity and your quality of life. I feel it’s because when you wake up early, your mindset is already set to continue the momentum and proactively live out the day. Seth recently wrote a waking up early series which you should check out to help cultivate this habit.
   
9. Have a weekly exercise routine. A better you starts with being in better physical shape. I personally make it a point to jog at least 3 times a week, at least 30 minutes each time. You may want to mix it up with jogging, gym lessons and swimming for variation.
   
10. Start your life handbook. A life handbook is an idea I started 3 years ago. Basically, it’s a book which contains the essentials on how you can live your life to the fullest, such as your purpose, your values and goals. Sort of like your manual for your life. I started my life handbook since 2007 and it’s been a crucial enabler in my progress.
    
11. Write a letter to your future self. What do you see yourself as 5 years from now? Will you be the same? Different?  What kind of person will you be? Write a letter to your future self – 1 year from now will be a good start – and seal it. Make a date in your calendar to open it 1 year from now. Then start working to become the person you want to open that letter.
    
12. Get out of your comfort zone. Real growth comes with hard work and sweat. Being too comfortable doesn’t help us grow – it makes us stagnate. What is your comfort zone? Do you stay in most of the time? Do you keep to your own space when out with other people? Shake your routine up. Do something different. By exposing yourself to a new context, you’re literally growing as you learn to act in new circumstances.
    
13. Put someone up to a challenge. Competition is one of the best ways to grow. Set a challenge (weight loss, exercise, financial challenge, etc) and compete with an interested friend to see who achieves the target first. Through the process, both of you will gain more than if you were to set off on the target alone.
    
14. Identify your blind spots. Scientifically, blind spots refer to areas our eyes are not capable of seeing. In personal development terms, blind spots are things about ourselves we are unaware of. Discovering our blind spots help us discover our areas of improvement. One exercise I use to discover my blind spots is to identify all the things/events/people that trigger me in a day – trigger meaning making me feel annoyed/weird/affected. These represent my blind spots. It’s always fun to do the exercise because I discover new things about myself, even if I may already think I know my own blind spots (but then they wouldn’t be blind spots would they?). After that, I work on steps to address them.
    
15. Ask for feedback. As much as we try to improve, we will always have blind spots. Asking for feedback gives us an additional perspective. Some people to approach will be friends, family, colleagues, boss, or even acquaintances, since they will have no preset bias and can give their feedback objectively.
    
16. Stay focused with to-do lists. I start my day with a list of tasks I want to complete and this helps make me stay focused. In comparison, the days when I don’t do this end up being extremely unproductive. For example, part of my to-do list for today is to write a guest post at LifeHack.Org, and this is why I’m writing this now! Since my work requires me to use my computer all the time, I use Free Sticky Notes to manage my to-do lists. It’s really simple to use and it’s a freeware, so I recommend you check it out.
    
17. Set Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs). I’m a big fan of setting BHAGs. BHAGs stretch you beyond your normal capacity since they are big and audacious – you wouldn’t think of attempting them normally. What are BHAGs you can embark on, which you’ll feel absolutely on top of the world once you complete them? Set them and start working on them.
    
18. Acknowledge your flaws. Everyone has flaws. What’s most important is to understand them, acknowledge them, and address them. What do you think are your flaws? What are the flaws you can work on now? How do you want to address them?
    
19. Get into action. The best way to learn and improve is to take action. What is something you have been meaning to do? How can you take action on it immediately? Waiting doesn’t get anything done. Taking action gives you immediate results to learn from.
    
20. Learn from people who inspire you. Think about people you admire. People who inspire you. These people reflect certain qualities you want to have for yourself too. What are the qualities in them you want to have for yourself? How can you acquire these qualities?
    
21. Quit a bad habit. Are there any bad habits you can lose? Oversleeping? Not exercising? Being late? Slouching? Nail biting? Smoking? Here’s some help on how you can quit a bad habit.
    
22. Cultivate a new habit. Some good new habits to cultivate include reading books (#1), waking up early (#8), exercising (#9), reading a new personal development article a day (#40) and meditating. Is there any other new habit you can cultivate to improve yourself?
    
23. Avoid negative people. As Jim Rohn says, “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”. Wherever we go, there are bound to be negative people. Don’t spend too much of your time around them if you feel they drag you down.
    
24. Learn to deal with difficult people. There are times when there are difficult people you can’t avoid, such as at your workplace, or when the person is part of your inner circle of contacts. Learn how to deal with them. These people management skills will go a long way in working with people in the future.
    
25. Learn from your friends. Everyone has amazing qualities in them. It’s up to how we want to tap into them. With all the friends who surround you, they are going to have things you can learn from. Try thinking of a good friend right now. Think about just one quality they have which you want to adopt. How can you learn from them and adopt this skill for yourself? Speak to them if you need to – for sure, they will be more than happy to help!
    
26. Start a journal. Journaling is a great way to gain better self-awareness. It’s a self-reflection process. As you write, clarify your thought process and read what you wrote from a third person’s perspective, you gain more insights about yourself. Your journal can be private or an online blog. I use my personal development blog as a personal journal too and I’ve learned a lot about myself through the past year of blogging.
    
27. Start a blog about personal development. To help others grow, you need to first be walking the talk. There are expectations of you, both from yourself and from others, which you have to uphold. I run The Personal Excellence Blog, where I share my personal journey and insights on how to live a better life. Readers look toward my articles to improve themselves, which enforces to me that I need to keep improving, for myself and for the people I’m reaching out to.
    
28. Get a mentor or coach. There’s no faster way to improve than to have someone work with you on your goals. Many of my clients approach me to coach them in their goals and they achieve significantly more results than if they had worked alone.
    
29. Reduce the time you spend on chat programs. I realized having chat programs open at default result in a lot of wasted time. This time can be much better spent on other activities. The days when I don’t get on chat, I get a lot more done. I usually disable the auto start-up option in the chat programs and launch them when I do want to chat and really have the time for it.
    
30. Learn chess (or any strategy game). I found chess is a terrific game to learn strategy and hone your brainpower. Not only do you have fun, you also get to exercise your analytical skills. You can also learn strategy from other board games or computer games, such as Othello, Chinese Chess, WarCraft, and so on.
    
31. Stop watching TV. I’ve not been watching TV for pretty much 4 years and it’s been a very liberating experience. I realized most of the programs and advertisements on mainstream TV are usually of a lower consciousness and not very empowering. In return, the time I’ve freed up from not watching TV is now constructively used for other purposes, such as connecting with close friends, doing work I enjoy, exercising, etc.
    
32. Start a 30-day challenge. Set a goal and give yourself 30 days to achieve this. Your goal can be to stick with a new habit or something you’ve always wanted to do but have not. 30 days is just enough time to strategize, plan, get into action, review and nail the goal.
    
33. Meditate. Meditation helps to calm you and be more conscious. I also realized that during the nights when I meditate (before I sleep), I need lesser sleep. The clutter clearing process is very liberating.
    
34. Join Toastmasters (Learn public speaking). Interestingly, public speaking is the #1 fear in the world, with #2 being death. After I started public speaking as a personal development speaker/trainer, I’ve learned a lot about how to communicate better, present myself and engage people. Toastmasters is an international organization that trains people in public speaking. Check out the Toastmaster clubs nearest to you here.
    
35. Befriend top people in their fields. These people have achieved their results because they have the right attitudes, skill sets and know-how. How better to learn than from the people who have been there and done that? Gain new insights from them on how you can improve and achieve the same results for yourself.
    
36. Let go of the past. Is there any grievance or unhappiness from the past which you have been holding on? If so, it’s time to let it go. Holding on to them prevents you from moving on and becoming a better person. Break away from the past, forgive yourself, and move on. Just recently, I finally moved on from a past heartbreak of 5 years ago. The effect was liberating and very empowering, and I have never been happier.
    
37. Start a business venture. Is there anything you have an interest in? Why not turn it into a venture and make money while learning at the same time? Starting a new venture requires you to be learn business management skills, develop business acumen and have a competitive edge. The process of starting and developing my personal development business has equipped me with many skills, such as self-discipline, leadership, organization and management.
    
38. Show kindness to people around you. You can never be too kind to someone. In fact, most of us don’t show enough kindness to people around us. Being kind helps us to cultivate other qualities such as compassion, patience, and love. As you get back to your day after reading this article later on, start exuding more kindness to the people around you, and see how they react. Not only that, notice how you feel as you behave kindly to others. Chances are, you will feel even better than yourself.
    
39. Reach out to the people who hate you. If you ever stand for something, you are going to get haters. It’s easy to hate the people who hate us. It’s much more challenging to love them back. Being able to forgive, let go and show love to these people requires magnanimity and an open heart. Is there anyone who dislikes or hates you in your life? If so, reach out to them. Show them love. Seek a resolution and get closure on past grievances. Even if they refuses to reciprocate, love them all the same. It’s much more liberating than to hate them back.
    
40. Take a break. Have you been working too hard? Self-improvement is also about recognizing our need to take a break to walk the longer mile ahead. You can’t be driving a car if it has no petrol. Take some time off for yourself every week. Relax, rejuvenate and charge yourself up for what’s up ahead.
    
41. Read at least 1 personal development article a day. Some of my readers make it a point to read at least one personal development article every day, which I think is a great habit. There are many terrific personal development blogs out there, some of which you can check here.
    
42. Commit to your personal growth. I can be writing list articles with 10 ways, 25 ways, 42 ways or even 1,000 ways to improve yourself, but if you’ve no intention to commit to your personal growth, it doesn’t matter what I write. Nothing is going to get through. We are responsible for our personal growth – not anyone else. Not your mom, your dad, your friend, me or LifeHack. Make the decision to commit to your personal growth and embrace yourself to a life-long journey of growth and change. Kick off your growth by picking a few of the steps above and working on them. The results may not be immediate, but I promise you that as long as you keep to it, you’ll start seeing positive changes in yourself and your life.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this article or anything about personal growth. Feel free to share your thoughts in a comment below and I’ll get back to you! If you have any other suggestions to add to the list, please share with us too!

[ via Stepcase Lifehack ]

IPF Strongly Condemns The Coward Reaction, Response of Assam Police

A Press Release

The Indigenous Peoples Forum (IPF) of Assam’s NC Hills, in the quest for a political solution to the ongoing flux in the hill district, organized a peaceful bandh today (April, 2010) to assert our democratic and citizenship rights. However, we are sorry to become victims of discrimination and high-handedness of the Assam Police. Despite the peaceful bandh, the police forces tackled the volunteers of Indigenous Peoples Forum by employing brutal force and resorted to use their destructive guns and weapons that severely shot and put the following persons in a critical conditions:

1. Lalengzaua Hauhnar (24) S/o Thommin Hauhnar
N Leikul Village
Bullet injury in the chest and arm

2. Tongginlal Lhouvum (22) S/o Ngulkholun Lhouvum
N Leikul Village
Bullet injury in the abdomen

3. Luthau Singson (24) S/o Letlam Singson
Bullet injury on the right arm

4. Sumsanglawm Zate (30) S/o Laihlitho Zate
Bullet injury on the right leg

5. Teusuibe Zeme(32)

6. Teutuile Zeme (22)

7. Miss Isatleing Riame (22)

8. Haimuing

9. Miss Adinle Kuame (30) D/o (L) Kileiting Kuame

The Indigenous Peoples Forum (IPF) strongly condemned the coward reaction and response of the Assam Police in dealing with democratic assertion and protest of its citizens. Such untoward responses are undemocratic, inhumane and uncalled for. Moreover, the brutal response of the Assam Police was a negation of the democratic and citizenship right of the indigenous peoples of NC Hills.

The Indigenous Peoples Forum (IPF) opines that Amitabh Singha APS (ASP) and O/c Shankar Swarggwary of the Assam Police, currently posted in Haflong, NC Hills be  suspended as they have come under the whims and fancy of the communal Dimasa people. We strongly condemned the two officials who have lost their integrity, fairness, truth and justice in such crucial time.

The Indigenous Peoples Forum (IPF), in pursuit of our democratic, constitutional and citizenship rights of the indigenous peoples of Assam’s NC Hills demands that:

1. NC Hills is bifurcated into two autonomous district council; one for the diverse tribes who composed the majority (64%) under the same NC Hills and one for the Dimasa (34%) with whatever name of their choice.

2. The Group of Minister’s Committee that was appointed to change the name of NC Hills be made null and void on moral grounds and a new Committee be reconstituted with new members for finding just and lasting political solution.

3. The victims of Assam Police atrocities be duly compensated and medically treated.

D.B. Thiek
Organizing Secretary
Indigenous Peoples Forum