Guest Contributor for My L.A. Lifestyle

I love to bake. Pies, in particular. I often do this while listening to NPR on KCRW. So when I had learned that Evan Kleiman of the noteworthy KCRW show, “Good Food”, was teaching a class on pies at The Gourmandise School in Santa Monica, I signed up immediately.

I’ve made a lot of pies, but I’m self-taught. To learn from Evan — well, you can imagine (or maybe have experienced) the thrill of just standing next to someone who’s an idol (say, Kobe or Derek Jeter, Hillary Clinton or Annie Lebowitz) — it’s a kick and well, a moment.

Evan owned and ran her restaurant, Angeli Caffe, for about 27 years and made the hard decision to close it last winter. I’ve listened to scores of interviews that Evan’s done on her KCRW show and have always appreciated her straightforward conversational style, the inside scoop on the good food she’s discussing with her good humor. And Evan’s involved in so many projects and conversations that I find interesting and important (which, by the way, I didn’t know about until we talked about them later): Farm-to-table food, food policy, educating our kids about where food comes from, and how nutrition and the business of food impacts us.

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Finding one's true vocation, and, forming a healthy (self-directed) livelihood is really everybody's baseline responsibility in life. Most people think (or, they are told, and they believe it) that getting a 'good' job and an adequate if not comfortable income is the way to go. Others, who tend to be entrepreneurs, question whether either a job or an income are enjoyable, liberating enough ways to live.

Paradigm Shift Within

While it is true enough that our present age offers unparalleled opportunity for adopting one's own livelihood, there is another kind of healthy shift within oneself that is probably primary.

Some like to use the phrase, 'out of the box', and we could apply this to the ideas that employment and income are good, if we're open-minded enough to do that. We could, by contrast, think of entrepreneurship, humanitarianism, or even personal leisure as the new baseline — we would have to come up with another evaluation, this time somewhat lower, of jobs and income.

Livelihood Is Purposeful and Playful

Have you noticed that very often people who are self-directed are playful, and, people stuck in jobs they do not fully enjoy are not playful? True, it's very possible for many people to love their jobs, and to have jobs that permit them to have fun. However, even those people could experience something even better.

Doing something you are passionate about is playful, even though (like sports) the play may contain challenging moments. The content of our playful, creative energy (as in, the type of work we like to do, things we like to make, and so forth) is not universal — but our passion for what matters most is a gift we all have. Being able to learn something is a gift.

You will encounter many things that could slow you down, in a society of people who mostly settle for following others' agendas in their work lives. You will see, for example, many kinds of entertainment, such as online casinos that say visit our website to play and win, or other amusements, and these could distract. Stay firm and open to yourself, for your truest passion to emerge. It may even be mobile poker.

For starters, you are not the only one who was born not knowing what he wants to do when he grows up. So don’t be too harsh with yourself. Secondly, choosing a career is a serious decision that requires quite some reflection and consideration and it is perfectly fine to feel you need an extra pair of hands to find the right path. Below are a few tips on how to program your thinking so you can focus on your personal interests and desires, goals and talents, abilities and values and seal the right deal for your future.

Assess Your Skills

This means you will need to look deeper into your own self and discover which are the things you are truly passionate about or interested in. there are plenty of books and specialized online resources that should help you get started on this self-assessment journey. Take your time and be 100% honest and true to yourself. It’s your future you are trying to crayon after all! Career counselors are also extremely handy no matter how old you might be. There are plenty of people who start off on a certain path just to later on discover they have made the wrong choice. Also, if you find out your passion is to fix things, why not become a handyman or a locksmith like the trained, professional guys you can find on the 247locksmith site? For more details check out the type of work they do in the New Jersey area (and not only there) and see if you could imagine yourself earning your living like this. It is important to not force yourself into picking a career you do not actually enjoy simply because you feel pressures to do so. The wages of these professionals depend on experience, performance, educating, or location, but they can reach some nice numbers, so make sure you do all the necessary research before deciding upon one career/profession or the other.

Have you ever thought of yourself as being a narcissist? Have you ever felt that way about others? What is it that led to that opinion? According to many, we have more and more of these people around us; but what exactly is narcissism? Generally speaking, it is defined as a set of behaviors that focus on self-centeredness taken to the extreme. There are healthier expressions of narcissism in their moderate forms; healthy narcissism that stimulates us to work out and be fit to look good can however be taken to the wrong side of things. Namely, many confront with the so-called pathological form of narcissism that gets in the way of one’s happiness and ability to function as a normal individual. Which category do you think you fall into? Here are a few tips that should help you figure things out.

You Are Obsessed With Your Looks

You spend tons of money on clothes and beauty products and accessories. You have an obsession for always looking glamorous and you enjoy wearing a lot of makeup, cleavage, expensive clothes that are usually flashy, drawing all the attention. You like to receive many likes and retweets on your favorite social media networks and you suffer a great deal when that does not happen or it takes some time to happen; your behavior is somehow similar to that of a business person eagerly waiting for important client phone calls and always keeping an eye on the efficiency of their marketing campaigns with the help of the Addsource call tracking system.

These folks are interested in achieving success for their business, and you, as a narcissist, are interested in feeling like the best. You use your pocket mirror, phone screen, other people’s sunglasses, shop windows and every possible item that can help you check out your reflection.  You find it hard to avoid a chance to check out your appearance, and this could lead to some rather dangerous situations while in traffic.

Mindful awareness is a concept that bring together certain practices and that can contribute largely to the improved leadership styles. A great leader is one who can figure out how to influence people and make them follow them, rather than simply think about how to reach their goals. Having sufficient influence on the people around you is not enough to make you an excellent leader, though. People need to be able to put their trust into you, while feeling your empathy, feeling hope and stability are coming from your direction. Below you will discover a few of the critical skills you will need to show off in order to significantly boost your leadership.

Get Connected The Right Way

Use as much connectivity you can make use of to achieve the results you desire; be as intuitive and strategic as you can and learn how important it is to know how to live with the world and evolve at the same pace. Focus on your messages and behaviors and make sure they produce the biggest possible impacts. If you health prevents you from staying on top of your game at all times, make sure you get a consult or go fix the health issues you already know you are confronting with. A top choice in terms of clinics around the word at a service quality-cost ratio is the Unimed clinic in Israel. Visit its http://en.unimed.org/ site and look at team of ohysicians they have in stroe for you.

Visualize change the minute it starts to occur. Be aware every waken minute of the time and notice everything molding toward your goals. You will manage to alter your plans as changes occur and they no longer fit your new needs and expectations. Adjust and adapt at the fastest pace and practice as much openness as you can when it comes to the limitless opportunities you have.

Guest Contributor for My L.A. Lifestyle

We all face those stuck times when anything we do feels futile and discouraging – especially during a job search. Here are seven tips to re-energize you, and bring that authentic you back to the game. With your re-invigorated perspective you’ll see something new, be fresh, open and ready – again.

Read the whole article here

Daisy Swan – Career Coach
Guest Contributor for My L.A. Lifestyle

It’s true. Jimmy Cliff sang it, so it must be true.

You really can get what you want. The trick is, as the song goes, “…you must try, try and try, try and try.” Sometimes, I think the tougher issue is that you must know what you want.

We tend to want so much, and yet don’t seem to stop and really consider what it is that we really want. Perhaps it’s out of fear, not inspiration, that we want what we want. And if it’s just lusting for something – craving something – it can feel kind of empty, and fear-based, like a greediness instead of a fullness and inspiration. Feeling a sense of yearning can show us what we want. Taking time to reflect and listen when we are open and clear, can allow us to hear our real truth.

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Daisy Swan,
new guest contributor to
LA Yoga Magazine!

Read her first article in the July/August 2012 issue…

When I look at my life, what do I want (and need) to learn that will enrich my experience of my work? What will add to my personal and professional growth and vitality?

I meet people all the time who are tired, exhausted really, by the work they do. They are putting in too many hours at the office or the studio; answering emails and texts has become part of family dinners, school drop-off, and even yoga class. So much so that we’ve all come to recognize the intrusion of these electronic demands in our romantic and family lives. People are running on empty, sucked into a sense of choicelessness so they don’t know — and simply can’t imagine — what needs to be done to make satisfactory changes to this situation. Options are obscured by the swirl and action and distraction of the responsibilities of life. Does this sound familiar? Finding ourselves in a kind of trance of believing this is the only way to live, we might even be adding more to our plate, to our busy-ness, in an attempt to fill ourselves up with a false sense of purpose. As my son once said to me when I was frantically multi-tasking around the kitchen getting into a frenzy, “JUST SIT DOWN!”

Turns out (and neuroscience research supports this) that simply sitting down to breathe and be quiet several times a week — even for just 10 minutes — can genuinely help us to calm down and know what it is that we really want and need to live the life in which we can thrive, not just survive. The clarity we can access illuminates what we need to shift from the ‘impossible’ to the possible  including: a new career path, a new way of working, or an overlooked environment in which we can do what we do well.

Take a moment right now to ask yourself a few questions to mine for clues that can open you to new possibilities. First ask: What do I most enjoy doing such that when I do this activity I feel energized and satisfied? This could be drawing or writing, organizing, listening to a friend, or negotiating a good deal. Whatever comes to mind, find a way to create the space to do this today, tomorrow, or several times in the week. Look for the essence of the activity that is so meaningful to you. Whatever it is, do it more often, and listen to what you learn.

Next ask yourself: When I look at my life, what do I want (and need) to learn that will enrich my experience of my work? What will add to my personal and professional growth and vitality? You may notice that ideas or answers will spring to mind, followed by all of the reasons you can’t do whatever it is that appears. Take the time now to follow that answer in order to set in motion the steps you need to do to add more of this to your life. You will find the time, the space, and the support, once you set the intention. Remember that thriving energy inspires both ourselves and others. Your actions and emotions are contagious. Living your life right will inspire countless, perhaps even unknown, others to inhabit happier lives.

It’s often the little things that help us to feel a bit more in control, more fulfilled, and more satisfied in our work. Write to us and share with us what simple actions you’ve taken to add more satisfaction and joy to your life. We’ll continue to discuss small – and large — changes that build upon each other to create the lives we really want to live.

Daisy Swan – Career Coach
Guest Contributor for My L.A. Lifestyle

I’ve been thinking a lot about innovation and creativity. For years, actually. Most of the people I work with want to be creative in their work – or more creative, in fact, since many people I work with already are pretty creative. Seems like most of us feel really satisfied when we generate something unique, different, new, and which solves a problem in an elegant way. And getting paid and recognized for that, makes it even better. (No kidding.) But what helps us to be creative?

When I started reading Jonah Lehrer’s book “Imagine: How Creativity Works,” I felt like I hit pay dirt. I’d like this book to be required reading for folks in business, the fine and commercial arts, high schools, the sciences…there are so many useful nuggets in this book that we could put to work in our schools, workplaces and communities that could genuinely impact our level of innovation as a nation. Big statement, I know.

Read the whole article here

Today the job market is no more the same place of a few decades ago. Probably, there are more jobs that in the past didn’t exist at all (such as the jobs related to the internet), but it’s a matter of fact that job condition today are worse than ever.

There is a lack of certainty about future and young people find it difficult to start to plan a life and a family, unless they are older and have a constant job career.

Difficulties exist as well as job opportunities

Employees may often times feel unsure about their current job place as in some cases there isn’t guarantee about a lifelong durability of that job place. This is upsetting and many young employees begin to lose their hope about a good career.

It happens with a higher frequency that employees leave their job place to find a better one and sometimes single employees have to sing in more job contracts in the same year because of monthly contracts.

However, even if the general situation may look a complete disaster there are still a few opportunities for job searchers that are worth the game.

In fact, keeping one’s resume updated and applying for job requests aren’t the only things to do. you should also keep an eye wide open on new job opportunities coming from the web.

Binary options: what are these?

In case you have never heard about binary options, just know that by its definition a binary option is a kind of option in which the payoff can be either fixed (if the option expires in the money)or nil (if the option expires out of the money).

So, in short, a binary option is successful on the basis of its yes / no proposition (from this point comes the term “binary”, that is made of two).

Investors are generally attracted by binary options because they basically have to guess if something will or won’t happen. If you invest money on a given firm whose share price is X and by the date of expiring that share price is higher than X, your option is positive and you get a preset amount of cash.

Only a few important platforms are authorized

To trade binary option you need a good online platform which is into the subject: actually, only platforms that are regulated by the SEC (or similar agencies) can be legally authorized. In particular, if you look for a trustworthy and legal trading platform, visit optionrally and register to try your first options.

The fact that most trading platforms out there aren’t regulated in any way puts investors at a greater risk of fraud. In order to start to trade online, register and make a deposit on Optionrally, follow the tips you can find on its website and learn all about the marketing tools you may use in order to progress your knowledge about binary options. With Optionrally you can choose a Revenue Share Plan or a Cost Per Acquisition Plan.